How to Sell a Haunted House

Pupkin cries out to Louise, in his same voice, from Poppy’s mouth. Ian tells her that Poppy had a vision, and she and Ian’s mother made Pupkin together. Louise has a flashback to cutting off Mark’s arm and nearly passes out, peeing on herself. She tries to jerk Pupkin off Poppy’s arm, forcing her daughter to the ground, until Ian pulls her off. While Ian comforts Poppy, Pupkin leers at Louise.

Louise doesn’t know how to explain everything to Ian. She tells him that Pupkin was her mother’s and she doesn’t want it in the house, but he thinks it is sweet that Poppy made something after Nancy’s death. Ian insists that Poppy keep the puppet, and Louise realizes that she didn’t protect her daughter. She manipulates Ian so that he will leave and then cries at the thought that it is not over.

She can’t burn Pupkin in her apartment but decides to use her Vitamix to destroy him. When she goes into Poppy’s room, her daughter is sleeping, but Pupkin is on her hand, looking at Louise. She steps toward Poppy, and Pupkin waves at her. Louise loses her nerve, returns to the living room, and falls asleep.

Louise wakes up to the smoke alarm beeping. Poppy has trashed the kitchen and has a hot pan on the stove. Pupkin is on her hand, and when Poppy turns, she nearly falls off the chair she is standing on. Louise catches her and pulls Pupkin off her hand. Poppy bites her hard, and Louise is so shocked that she doesn’t resist when Poppy takes Pupkin back. Louise stops the smoke alarm and goes into Poppy’s room. Her daughter is raging around the room, and Louise can’t hold onto her. She finally leaves the room.

Louise decides she needs help protecting Poppy from Pupkin and calls Ian. However, Ian remains firm that she cannot take the puppet away from Poppy. Louise makes Poppy lunch and puts her in front of the television with Pupkin. Then, she goes into her bedroom and calls Mark.

When she tells him the story, he believes her without question. He confirms that she has to destroy it but wants to think about it more and then call her back. After they disconnect, she spends the rest of the afternoon tiptoeing around Poppy and Pupkin. When Poppy goes to bed that night, Louise whispers in Pupkin’s ear that she will kill him again. Then, she struggles against falling asleep, afraid of what might happen.

When she wakes up, Poppy and Pupkin are in the kitchen, and Pupkin is cutting long deep scratches down Poppy’s arm with a knife. Louise takes the knife away and cleans Poppy’s arm.

She puts Poppy back to bed, and then it occurs to her to find out what Pupkin wants. When she asks, he asks where her mother, Nancy, is. She tries to explain that Nancy is dead, but Pupkin doesn’t understand—he thinks she is playing hide and seek. Louise calls Mark and tells him about the conversation. He tells her that she and Poppy need to return to Charleston to deal with Pupkin. He has called Mercy and is going to bring Aunt Gail into the situation.

Flying with Poppy is difficult because she won’t take Pupkin off. On the plane, she is disruptive to the point where the flight attendant threatens to land the plane and remove them. Louise decides to take a page from her mother’s book and tells Pupkin that if he doesn’t behave, he won’t get to see Nancy. He behaves for the rest of the flight.

Mark picks them up when they land, having learned to drive with one hand. He is shocked at the sight of Pupkin. When the puppet begins to taunt him, Louise again threatens to withhold Nancy, and Pupkin behaves for a time. The manipulation is working, but Louise doesn’t know for how long. Mark tells Louise that Aunt Honey is in the hospital, and they go straight there.

When they get to the hospital, Mark stays in the truck with Poppy while Louise visits Aunt Honey. She sees Aunt Gail, who is surprised that she flew in and more surprised that she brought Poppy. Louise broaches the topic of the house being haunted, and Aunt Gail accepts it matter-of-factly.

Louise tells Aunt Gail the entire story about Pupkin. Aunt Gail doesn’t react, even when she tells her about cutting Mark’s arm off and about Poppy. At the end, Aunt Gail just hands her a tissue, and Louise feels relieved after letting all of it out. Aunt Gail suggests they visit Aunt Honey, pick up her daughters, and begin the process of destroying Pupkin forever.

The entire family meets on Constance’s deck, while Brody keeps Poppy and Pupkin busy in the yard. Louise and Mark tell the entire story again. Brody comes onto the deck, saying that Poppy is asking about Nancy, and Louise says they will visit Nancy at the house tonight. Aunt Gail announces that they will exorcize the puppet that day at her friend Barb’s house and that everyone will need to participate.

On the way to Barb’s house, Pupkin is acting out, while Poppy seems completely disconnected. Barb’s house is covered in decorations and lawn ornaments, and she exuberantly bursts out of the house to meet them. Mercy stays outside with Poppy, and the rest of them go inside. Barb’s house is filled with dolls, which makes Louise nervous, but Barb assures her they are not possessed. Barb tells them that Pupkin is cursed by a demon but she can solve the problem. Louise agrees to her plan to deal with Pupkin and then deal with the house.

They all squeeze into Barb’s living room and make a circle. Mercy brings Poppy inside, and Barb puts her in the center of the circle. Poppy isn’t aware of what is going on, but Pupkin is watching avidly. Barb begins praying as they all join hands. As Barb questions Pupkin, asking his name, dolls begin to fall off the shelves, hitting everyone on the way down.

Barb breaks the circle and begins to manipulate Pupkin, talking to him and feeding him treats until she has Poppy and Pupkin on her lap. Eventually, Pupkin tells her he is sad because he misses Nancy. He begins to talk about why he hurt Eric and Mark, and Barb asks him who he used to be. Pupkin says the name Freddie, and they realize that Pupkin is possessed by a ghost, not a demon.

Barb tells them that ghosts have unfinished business and need to move on. Constance asks Aunt Gail how Freddie died, and she tells the story of the rusty nail and lockjaw—but she doesn’t know firsthand because she was only four years old when it happened. The only person who is old enough to remember the event is Aunt Honey, and Louise decides to take Mark and Poppy to see her in the hospital immediately.

Aunt Honey avoids telling the truth about Freddie’s death until Louise loses her temper. She tells them that Pupkin was Freddie’s toy, the only thing that Nancy had after he died because their parents got rid of every trace of him. Freddie drowned in a hotel pool while Nancy, seven years old, was supposed to be watching him. Afterward, Aunt Honey kept Nancy with her for several days. She told Nancy the lockjaw story, and the rest of the family adopted it. In the aftermath, Nancy was sent to different relatives because her mother couldn’t bear to be near her.

Aunt Honey reasserts that they shouldn’t sell the house, and when Louise asks why, she admits that Freddie is buried in the backyard. Louise decides they need to dig him up and bury him with his family.

They decide to go to the backyard and look for Freddie. In the truck, Mark tells Louise that Spider has appeared to him a few times since that night and is in the back of the truck right now. While they are talking, Poppy opens the passenger door and flings herself out of the car. Louise catches her and pulls her back in, and they close and lock the door.

They don’t know where in the yard to dig, so Mark suggests that they ask Pupkin. Louise teaches Pupkin the hot-cold game so that they can use him to find Freddie when they get to the house. Poppy escapes the car again, this time out the driver’s side door, and Louise chases her down the median. They are at the intersection where her parents died, and when they reach the exact spot, Poppy begins to howl in pain. Mark pulls up; they get into the truck and continue driving to the house.

When they finally arrive, Mark mentions that Freddie and Poppy are both five. Louise says that she was five years old when she tried to drown Mark. They go into the backyard, but Pupkin doesn’t want to help them find Freddie’s body and runs into the house.

Mark and Louise enter the house and follow Pupkin’s voice to the living room, where they are shocked to see that all of the dolls are back on their shelves. In Nancy’s workroom, all the puppets are gone. Pupkin asks Louise to stay and take care of him, and when she says that he needs to go be with his family, he refuses. All of the puppets come rushing out of their parents’ bedroom, and Louise and Mark take refuge in the bathroom. The puppets bang against the door, and they turn to see the Mark and Louise dolls in the bathroom. The Louise doll begins to walk toward them, and Louise grabs both dolls and throws them into the bathtub.

Mark suddenly remembers that, when he was wearing the mask and being Pupkin, he saw where Pupkin lives in Tickytoo Woods. He is sure that Freddie is buried near the cypress tree in the backyard. Louise breaks the glass in the bathroom window, and Mark holds the puppets back while she climbs out and runs for the cypress tree.

Louise digs furiously at the base of the tree. She hears the glass patio doors explode, and Mark flies out of the house and hits the ground. Louise sees a large shape following him and realizes that the puppets have all joined together in one massive creature. It comes toward her, and she begins to dig faster. She dances around the creature, trying to avoid it, and then turns and runs.

She hears Mark whistle, and Spider bounds out of the dark and attacks the creature. Louise begins digging again, this time with her hands, even though it has begun to rain. After Spider destroys the creature, Louise tells the dog to dig at the base of the tree. When the dog’s claws hit a smooth surface, she tells it to stop. She pulls the tin trunk Freddie is buried in out of the ground, takes it to Pupkin, and opens it. She tries to explain death to him and tells him he needs to go. She puts Poppy in her lap, and slides Pupkin onto her own hand.

Louise finds herself in Tickytoo Woods. Freddie is nearby, wearing Pupkin on his hand. He asks Louise where Nancy is, and she tells him to go see and that it is time for him to go home and be with his family. Freddie and Pupkin walk away, and Louise is suddenly back in the backyard. There are people everywhere, and Aunt Gail reaches out to her before she passes out.

Louise leaves Poppy’s hospital room to return to the house. She finally begins to cry for her mother but is interrupted by an irate neighbor complaining about the puppets scattered around his yard. She calls the cleaning crew and asks them to come back again. Louise brings her original stuffed animals back to the hospital and introduces them to Poppy, telling her that they are all going home to San Francisco.

In October, Louise and Poppy return for Freddie’s funeral. Louise is sure that Aunt Honey will still be angry with her, but her aunt barely remembers it. After the burial, Mark and Louise talk about the house. Since they couldn’t sell it immediately, Mark took out a loan and renovated it. When he says he has news, Louise braces herself, thinking that Mark has failed to finish a project; however, he tells her that the renovations are done and Mercy has found a buyer. She reluctantly agrees to go to the house and see the renovations.

Louise can tell that Mark wants her approval, and she tells him the renovations are great. The house looks like a different place, and Mercy has asked him to help with other houses she is selling. When he tells her what the house is selling for, it is more than she ever expected. Suddenly, Louise, Mark, and even Poppy smell stollen, and, though Mark wants to stay, Louise convinces him it is time to go.

For the rest of her life, Louise will think about what happened, sometimes dreaming that her parents never died at all. Whenever she wakes up, feeling that terrible grief, she calls the only person who understands—her brother.