Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! I’m sure you’ve noticed two things recently. First of all, I haven’t uploaded in a WHILE. Second of all, it’s getting closer to Halloween then you all realize. Don’t worry, my friends, I have tricks up my sleeve. Welcome everyone, to the OCTOBER HORROR FEST HALFWAY EXTRAVAGANZA! On October the 21st (and a TINY bit into the 22nd) I will be releasing an ENTIRE WEEKS worth of articles! I wanted to spice things up, and I can’t be TOO repetitive, although that is the name of the game! So, my friends, welcome to Article one. It’s gonna be a ride!!! Today, I decided to watch a ghostly movie, but not a scary one. It’s a friendly one! I was shocked I haven’t seen it before, and I was so happy I did. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

Casper

Our film opens unusually to say the least. We see two teens break into a mansion. This mansion is old, rickety, and TOTALLY haunted. They step inside, and go to take a picture of the surroundings. When this happens, Casper the Friendly Ghost steps in, and takes the picture himself. The teens scream, and we go right into our opening credits. After our pretty awesome opening credit montage, we meet our main villain, Carrigan Crittiden. She is the most spoiled person in the entire world. Her father recently passed, and instead of being upset about this, she just wants whatever is in his will. However, she only gets the old manor from the opening scene, located in Friendship, Maine. The Whipstaff Manor is so extremely haunted, and Carrigan and her “friend” Dibs find a map within the will. It says that treasure lives within the manor, and of course, they hit the gas and speed to Maine. But, it does not go how Carrigan thought it would.

Once the duo arrives, they realize the true scale of the haunting. Carrigan is INFURIATED, and begins to try and rid the Manor of the haunting. However, it doesn’t work. Through several methods, one of them even trying to demolish the manor, the ghosts don’t leave. My favorite moment of this montage is when (I’m not joking) RAY STANZ cameos as himself, telling the duo to “call someone else”. I FLIPPED. Casper is lonely, and reveals himself to Carrigan. She runs out of the manor, screaming. Casper, lonely, retreats to a living room in the manor to watch T.V. However, from the T.V., comes our heroes of this story. On the T.V., we see the story of Parapsychologist self proclaimed “Ghost Therapist” James Harvey and his daughter Kat. Harvey lost his wife just last year, and the media believes he is dragging Kata along. Casper immediately falls for her, and yeah, he’s a ghost. However, undeterred, he flies over to Carrigan’s house, and uses his powers to have her T.V. play the add on Harvey. Carrigan accepts the idea, and immediately has the Harveys move to Whipstaff, hoping he can finally be rid of the haunting. In the car, Kat expresses her sadness to her father. She wants to just be normal. She wants to go to a school without moving, or finally be able to have real friends. James pulls over to the side of the road, and truly talks to his daughter. He says that if it doesn’t work out in Friendship, it’s over. He’ll stop looking for his wife, he’ll quit the ghost business entirely. Kat is thrilled, and the two set back out.

The Harveys make it to Whipstaff, and are greeted by the extremely passive aggressive Carrigan. She “welcomes” them inside, and speeds off. The Harveys begin to settle into the new environment, and everything seems well. This is, until, Casper finally introduces himself to Kat. She screams, and Casper feels awful. She then passes out when he talks. James runs upstairs, and sees Casper, and is shocked. Casper tries to make friends with the Harveys, but it does no good, as his ghost uncles attack, and cause an epic fight with James.

After the day is over, the Harveys are still having trouble trusting Casper, or even believing in him. He tries his hardest to get into their favor (Kat’s favor, most importantly), and makes them breakfast. James tries to begin his “therapy” with the other ghosts and Casper’s uncles, as Kat heads to her first day of school. She arrives, and meets a boy named Vic. He’s nice, but taken by Amber, the Regina George of this story. At school, Casper is blending in, hoping to keep Kat safe. Kat begins to talk about herself in front of the class, but is ferociously laughed at until she reveals she lives at Whipstaff. Everyone in the school knows Whipstaff, and she becomes popular. Amber, however, is done. She recruits Vic (unwillingly), and they plot to bring Kat down. One of the classmates asks if Kat can host a party at her house, and she says yes. That’s where Amber will strike…

Back with poor Doc Harvey, James is having a rough time with the trio of ghosts. He is unable to get anything out of them, and they have the most control. This is, however, until they ask the doc for a deal. They know Amelia, his wife. And they truly promise they will get him a meeting with her, only if he agrees to have Carrigan leave them alone. James immediately takes the deal. After school, Kat comes home, and begins to become closer with Casper. While she talks to him, he becomes jealous of Vic, who asks if he could hang out with Kat at the party. Casper reveals he has no memory of his life from when he was alive. Shocked, Kat finds a box of Casper’s things in a dusty box in the attic, and restores his playroom back to life. It’s bustling with toys and happiness. Casper recognizes a wooden sled in the room, and his memories return. Casper recounts how he was a young boy, he took the sled into the snowy mountains far later than his father told him, and died of a severe cause of pneumonia due to it. He became a ghost because he had unfinished business. He couldn’t move on. He kept his father company, and his father noticed his presence. Eventually, his father (a genius inventor), was declared legally insane after building his masterpiece, the Lazarus. The Lazarus is a machine that can bring the dead back to live (similar to the Lazarus Pit from DC Comics). Casper wants to show Kat, and brings her down into the basement. Once down there, Carrigan and Dibs also try to obtain the formula that powers the machine. They want to grant each other immortality.

To do this, they promptly try to kill each other. Besides Carrigan being OUT OF HER MIND, it’s very in character. They want to obtain the treasure, which they believe is somewhere in the basement. Carrigan tries to hit Dibs with her car but loses control and flings herself off of a cliff, dying and becoming a ghost. Back with the good doctor, James is depressed about his wife, and his inability to get anything out of the ghosts he is trying to help. The ghosts fly James out of town and to a bar, where they plan on killing him so they can become a quartet. Before they kill him, James yields. He promises he will do anything necessary to get rid of Carrigan so the ghosts can stay. They are overjoyed, but not for long, as James also falls to his death.

In the basement laboratory, Dibs tries to get his hands on the treasure in the vault. However, Carrigan arrives as a ghost, and attacks Dibs. Kat and Casper act fast, and are able to convince Carrigan that she does not have any unfinished business. She’s done. With this, she is sent to the afterlife. The treasure box falls from Carrigan’s grip, and it is revealed to be a baseball signed by Duke Snider, which was always in Casper’s possession. It’s his ball, and he is overjoyed to have it. James arrives with the ghosts, and Kat immediately cries. She is in despair. And Casper, knowing what he has to do, sacrifices his chance for a new life to use the Lazarus and bring James back to life. Our family is reunited, and Casper is happy.

Our film ends with the Halloween party. Vic and Amber’s plan is stopped after they are terrified by the ghost trio. Suddenly, upstairs, as James watches his daughter have fun, Amelia appears. The ghosts kept their promise after all. The two have a heart wrenching goodbye, but it becomes a see you later. Amelia finally is able to move on. She became an Angel, as she had no unfinished business. Before she goes, she tells her husband that all will be okay, and she grants Casper one last wish. A boy dances with Kat, and kisses her downstairs. He glows, and it is revealed to be Casper. The entire school is terrified, and runs. Casper flies around with Kat, as the ghostly trio plays his theme song…

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I’ve been planning this “Halfway Extravaganza” since Horror Fest started this year, and I’m so excited to finally see it begin. I’ve still of course been writing these and watching movies every day, but you all should know I always have surprises in store! Thank you all so much, and enjoy the next four articles today!!! Before you go, remember, not all ghosts are evil…