I've lived my whole life on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end,
and a forest of shady trees at the other.
But what lies in between
is anything but normal.
Remember, we have to focus
if we want to contact the other side.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
People always poke fun at kids for being afraid of the dark,
but no one is afraid of the dark.
They're afraid of what the dark hides.
When you can't see what's out there,
your mind fills in the blanks,
and there's no place scarier than your own imagination.
[whooshing]
[glass shatters]
The problem is
I didn't just imagine that.
I'm sure Ranger will be here any minute.
That's what you said 15 minutes ago.
This is a job for three people.
Here. Check this out.
How is that scary?
It's a skeleton.
There are 206 bones in the human body.
This'll take longer than I thought.
Maybe we could just use it to imply skeleton.
I don't need implied scary. I need actual scary.
That's the blood moon tradition.
I've waited four years for this.
We're gonna stay up late, tell incredibly scary ghost stories,
and it's going to be the best party ever.
But right now your level of scary is
somewhere around rubber snake.
What? I can be plenty scary.
This is why I need Ranger here.
He's good at coming up with scary stuff.
I'm sure he's just running late.
You know, he's on Ranger time.
Yeah, but he's always late.
Even when it's really important.
He said he'd videotape my recital last week,
and he completely missed the first half.
He didn't even have an excuse.
He's on Ranger time all the time.
He just gets distracted.
If you want to get fed, you gotta do a flip.
Come on. Flip.
Flip!
[sighs] I can wait here all day.
You call it distracted, I call it rude.
Hey, guys, what's up?
Making stuff for Mel's party.
Great. What can I do?
Nothing. We took care of it.
I've gotta go get ready.
Gortimer, I'll see you at the party.
Ranger, I'll be amazed if you're there before dawn.
Jeez. She's mad.
Well, you are two hours late.
Or am I 22 hours early for tomorrow?
It's not funny.
Mel's right. You need to get yourself a watch.
What do you call this?
One with an alarm.
[bird squawks]
[squawks]
Gortimer: Hey, everybody.
- Oh, hey. - Hey, Gortimer.
No Ranger?
Ranger time. He'll show up eventually.
Or maybe he won't.
Either way, I'm letting it go.
[inhales, exhales]
I was just showing off the modifications I made.
I'm gonna document the whole event.
Just wait until you see the pictures.
Who knows? I might even get one published.
Cool.
You didn't go with the dual refractor?
I wanted to, but the camera threw off the balance.
What I lose in magnification, I make up in resolution.
Yeah, gotta magnify that resolution.
Super important.
Stanley, are you interested in telescopes?
Uh, I know which end to look in.
Let me get you up to speed.
To really understand telescopes,
we need to go back to Egypt 700 BCE.
I don't think we really need to go back that far.
Guys, if I promise not to touch the telescope,
can we stop talking about this, please?
- Absolutely. - Thank you.
Actually, it'll be a couple of hours
until the eclipse really gets underway,
which leaves plenty of time...
to kill.
As you know,
a blood moon isn't just an excuse to throw a party.
It's also a harbinger of doom.
Yeah, I was promised pizza.
Oh, there will be pizza.
But first, ghost stories.
Bring 'em on, I've heard all the ghost stories before.
Oh, no, this isn't just some story.
This is about what actually happened
the last time there was a blood moon over Normal Street.
You see, when the moon is red,
the dark ones roam free,
and woe be it to any kid who crosses their path.
It was four years ago,
the night of the last blood moon,
and everyone on Normal Street
was doing their best to stay indoors.
Well, everyone except for Mahesh Patel.
No one ever warned him about what hides in the shadows.
Mahesh knew he wasn't alone,
but try as he might,
he couldn't catch a glimpse
of who or what was following him.
The faster he ran,
the faster the darkness seemed to close in around him.
Before he knew it, there was nowhere to turn.
And poor Mahesh was never seen again.
So, Mahesh died?
Oh, no. Much worse than that.
He became one of them.
Now he comes back every blood moon
to help collect more victims.
I wouldn't worry, Stanley.
I'm not worried.
Hungry, yes, but worried? No. No.
[wind blowing]
Wind?
All the windows are closed.
Nice try, Mel. You almost got me.
Still, it is kind of chilly in here.
Stanley, uh, would you mind getting me a blanket from that trunk?
Oh, yeah, sure.
[screams] Spiders!
Ha! Totally got you!
Who's scary? Gortimer. King Scary? Gortimer.
What's really scary is that dance.
Horrifying.
I. Hate. Spiders.
Come on, Stanley, it's just a joke.
Is it my turn?
'Cause I know a very scary story.
It's about a kid named...
Mortimer.
And how he got what was coming to him.
Mortimer thought he was so funny.
He liked pranking people.
People like Manley,
the coolest, nicest kid in town.
- Yah! - Ahh!
[laughing]
But what Mortimer didn't realize
was that Manley wasn't the kind of kid
who forgave or forgot.
Ever.
Officer!
Officer.
You gotta help me. There's this kid, Manley,
he's everywhere I look.
Really?
Does he look anything like this?
[laughing]
Oh, no!
And that's when Gortimer realized that I had finally--
I mean, that's when Mortimer realized
that Manley had finally gotten his sweet, sweet revenge.
They were just plastic spiders.
Who's king of scary now?
Neither of you.
There wasn't even a ghost in that story.
[thud]
Whoa.
Nice work, Gortimer.
It wasn't me.
Mel, then. How'd you do it?
String? Some sort of hydraulic?
[clicking]
Okay, for the record, none of this is my fault.
It's just Mel trying to freak us out.
I'm not. I swear.
You're the one who pulled that prank.
One prank, not all this.
Come on, how'd you do it?
I'm sure it's just on a remote.
Okay. That's weird.
Well, weird good or weird bad?
Gortimer: When is anything ever weird good?
I don't know.
There's a gap in one of the window frames.
A breeze blew the papers,
and probably made the books move, too.
And the switchboard?
Static build up?
It was the ghost of Mahesh Patel.
Guys, it wasn't Mahesh Patel.
Trust me. I'd know if my own house was haunted.
Um, Mel, when did that happen?
I'm sure there's a rational explanation.
Right, Catherine?
Not really.
[slamming]
Well, it's always fun hanging out with you guys,
but I gotta go!
Okay.
No one's leaving yet.
I'm not giving up on this party.
I'm not pranking you guys.
I don't know for sure what's going on,
but I promise you, there is nothing,
nothing to be afraid of.
[banging]
What was that?
It's him.
It is not him.
Why would a ghost knock?
Yeah, they can go right through walls.
If they want to get you, a door is not gonna stop them.
Thanks a lot.
[banging]
Someone answer it.
[banging]
Everyone, behind me.
On three.
One.
Two.
Is anybody--
[screaming]
Sarah. What are you doing here?
Mr. Zips Pizza.
Pizza in a zip.
[nervous laugh] I thought we were gonna die.
Of hunger.
Uh, money first.
I thought you wanted to go home.
After facing down the spirit realm,
I'm not going anywhere 'til I get a slice.
Blood moon party, huh?
I used to do those when I was your age.
So, you know about the ghost?
There's something out there tonight
that's far scarier than any spirit.
Something so terrifying that
I shouldn't tell you.
Tell us!
Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you.
This isn't some story, this actually happened,
and it could easily happen again.
It was a night just like this,
in a room just like this,
when four kids not unlike yourselves,
faced the most terrifying thing in the world.
It started out as a warm summer night,
but suddenly it was like the icy grip of death
had sucked all the heat out of the world.
And that's when they heard it.
[creepy voice] Give me what I am owed.
It wouldn't be satisfied until it collected everything it was owed.
What did it want?
Brains? Blood? Souls?
Sarah: Something far more valuable.
[creepy voice] Give me what I am owed.
What do we owe you?
You owe me...
$15.50 plus tip.
Sorry.
I guess we got a little distracted.
Relax.
They're just stories.
Well, I gotta go.
The pizza.
Why is this locked?
Better than nothing.
Did you guys see that?
Let me try.
This door locks from the inside.
How can it be stuck?
Wait, we're trapped in here?
With a ghost?
If the ghost locked us in, it must be for a reason.
Ghosts always have a reason.
It all started 80 years ago.
80 years?
We don't have time for that.
Skip to the end.
Okay.
Young couple, scary old house, noises upstairs.
Stuff moving around, old pictures in the attic,
kid with a doll, something about the fireplace.
They dig up the garden and find the doll,
and the ghost was gone for good.
So, we have to find a doll?
No. We need to figure out what this ghost wants.
And how do we do that, exactly?
We ask.
We have a séance.
Mel: Okay. Fingers on the paperweight.
Remember,
we have to focus if we want to contact the other side.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Ghost or not, you don't steal a man's pizza.
We call out to whoever's in this room.
Identify yourself.
Roentgenium.
Well, his name's obviously not roentgenium.
Suddenly you're a ghost expert?
Okay. Let's try again.
Why are you here?
[paperweight thudding]
All right, fine.
Forget the séance.
Just write down what you want.
[wind blowing]
[paper rustling]
Maybe he just hates homework.
Ranger.
Typical. The ghost wants Ranger,
and he didn't even bother to show up.
Or did he?
I thought I saw... a-ha!
Isn't this Ranger's?
We can leave.
Good luck with the ghost thing,
and next time...
order tacos.
[door slams]
Now, if Ranger were here,
where'd he go?
Maybe Mahesh got him.
Maybe he's one of the dark ones now.
But that's just a story.
Ranger can't really be gone.
Can he?
[ticking]
What's that sound?
It's coming from Ranger's backpack.
[ticking]
A pocket watch?
Ooh, and popcorn.
Since when does Ranger carry a pocket watch?
It's running super fast.
[ticking]
What's wrong with it?
Knowing Ranger, he probably just wound it too tight.
How do you unwind a watch?
You can't unwind a wa--
[whooshing]
Gortimer. I'm saved.
[sighs] I was so bored.
Ranger, what are you doing here?
I was stuck.
Oh, crumb cakes.
I'm still stuck.
We're both stuck.
I blame you for this.
I don't understand. What's wrong with them?
Ranger: Nothing's wrong with them.
We're the ones who are in trouble.
I took your advice and bought a new watch
so that I wouldn't be late again.
Wound it up and headed over to Mel's for the sleepover.
At first, everything seemed perfectly normal.
It wasn't until I got to Mel's that I figured it out.
Hey, Mel.
Everything was frozen.
- Mel. - I couldn't get Mel's attention
no matter what I did.
Mel. [snaps finger]
Mel.
[sighs]
That's when I realized she wasn't frozen.
She was just moving really, really, really slow.
Somehow, the watch made me faster than everybody else.
So, it was you the whole time,
the noises, the disturbances?
Why?
Do you know how long I've been here?
It's super boring.
[thud]
Bored.
[thud]
Bored
Bored.
Bored!
How long have you been like this?
40 bajillion years. I don't know!
Long enough to get super hungry.
So you never just tried to talk to us or communicate with us somehow?
I tried.
I did Morse code on the switchy thing.
[sighs]
But you don't know Morse code.
I do now.
Okay, but I don't know Morse code,
and why did you lock the door?
I had to make sure you weren't gonna leave me like this.
Okay, uh, so if we're moving too fast for people to see us,
then why don't we try and stand still?
I tried that. It's impossible.
How long has it been?
Less than 10 seconds.
Plus, she's mid blink.
Forget it.
Can we, uh, turn it off somehow?
The watch only winds one way.
Mel could figure this out.
If only we could get a message to her.
How? The chart was a complete waste.
RG? Ranger.
What am I supposed to do, spell it out for you?
Oh, wait, that's exactly what I did.
Plus, the paper just shreds when I try to write on it.
The pen moves too fast.
Maybe we should try writing on something a little harder.
Whoa.
Where did he go?
The ghost got him.
[slamming]
"Stop the watch"?
And where did this come from?
Wait! Don't touch it.
That thing made Gortimer disappear.
How are we supposed to stop it if we can't touch it?
Why don't we just take something and--
We could suspend it in some sort of liquid and freeze it.
Water?
Or maybe something that solidifies at room temp,
a gelatin or--
Listen, I was thinking that if we just take something and--
Wait. Should we run some tests
so we don't commit to anything we can't undo?
Okay, I'll check the EM readings,
you run the standard neutonium profile.
[banging]
Fixed it.
[whooshing]
Ranger!
Gortimer!
That took forever.
That took two forevers. And a tomorrow.
Stanley, you're a hero.
Eh, the hammer did most of the work.
Just break the watch?
That's all you had to do?
You never tried to just break it?
Hey, the thing cost me 25 cents.
So, should we still be worried about the ghost, or--
Wait. There's a ghost.
Since when is there a ghost?
You were the ghost.
See, what happened was,
Ranger and I were supposed to meet Mel
to make decorations for the eclipse--
The eclipse!
We forgot to take any pictures.
It's not a total loss.
You wanted to throw a scary party,
and this certainly qualifies.
Scary for you guys.
I was bored out of my mind.
Wait. The memory card is almost full.
Ranger, were you messing with this?
No.
Well, I mean, I was playing with the little button thingy.
Why? What does it do?
It triggers the camera.
Oh. I was pressing it all night long.
There's gotta be, like, 10,000 pictures here.
One of these will definitely get me--
get us on the cover of Junior Astronomer.
Come on, we're missing the last of the eclipse.
Ranger, this party wouldn't have been the same without you.
I'm glad you came.
Me, too.
Better late than never.
The dark is full of mysteries.
But as long as you have friends by your side,
you shouldn't be afraid of what you'll find.
Whether it's a ghost,
a curse,
or even just a practical joke,
there's always an explanation.
And once in a blood moon,
you may even find a chance to set things right.
Hey. You ready?
You're a little early.
The recital's not for another hour.
Yeah. I know.
I want to make sure I don't miss a second of it.
I know what it's like having to wait around for people.
From now on, early is Ranger time.
♪♪ w on, early is Ranger time.