An American Ghost Story

Day one in the Browning house.

It's moving in day

Been going at it since pretty early this morning.

Uh, Stella should be home in a couple of hours,

and hopefully everything should pretty much be in its place.

No activity thus far.

All right, house... show me what you got.

Hey, lady.

Hi.

How was your day?

It was good, it was very good.

Wow!

You got a lot done.

Not too bad, right?

Uh-uh.

So... you ready for your first night in a haunted house?

As ready as I'll ever be.

Oh, hold on one second, I gotta show you something.

Okay.

Check those out.

What are they?

Those are pictures of the house after the crime scene

was cleaned up and there's even one of the family in there.

So this is them?

Yeah.

It's horrible to think they all died in here.

Who's bedroom was this?

That was the little boy's room.

I'd like you to play close attention to that picture

cause I would really love it if you could decorate that room

to look just like the picture while I finish

the office tonight.

What? Why would I do that?

Well, supposedly, if you recreate the house

to look like it did when they lived here,

it can actually make the spirits more active.

Okay, that's a little creepy.

You ready to go to work?

No...

Can't we just enjoy our first night together?

The box is already in the room.

But, when it's empty...

Doesn't seem right.

Decorating a room for a dead kid.

Paul?

What was the kid's name?

Uh, it was Tom.

Sorry about what happened to you, Tom.

There's definitely something off about this place.

It's like the air is heavy or something.

It has a certain energy to it, doesn't it?

Yeah... it's kind of exciting.

Isn't it?

Yeah... and a little creepy.

No need to worry, little lady, I'll protect you.

Oh, well that's reassuring.

Ouch.

You're so mean to me all the time.

Oh, do you think they would let us paint the walls

while we're staying here?

Yeah, I think so.

Awesome.

Why? What color were you thinking?

Well, you know how I like color, and lots of it,

so I was thinking, how about a deep blood red.

Blood red.

Yeah, it'll match right? The ghosts will like it.

Yeah, it'll probably match what the house used to look like.

There was a lot of blood on the walls.

You didn't tell me that something actually happened in this room.

Yeah.

Great, what?

The guy shot his wife in this room.

Are you - Exactly where you're laying right now.

Shut up.

Wait.

What? What's that?

Oh, look, it's brain matter.

Oh, my god.

Night. Thanks.

Oh, come on. I'm just teasing.

Mm-hmm.

Paul... Paul wake up.

Huh? What?

I heard something moving around out there.

And didn't we shut the door last night?

Yeah, I think so.

It's open now.

Where are you going?

I'm gonna go take a look.

Who knows, maybe our experiences will start tonight.

Nothing.

I know I heard something.

It was probably just the sounds of the house settling.

We're not used to them yet.

I swear it sounded like someone moving around out there.

I looked everywhere. There was nothing there.

Come here.

Boo! Ah!

Asshole.

Ooh, what's the matter?

Haunted house got you a little spooked?

No, but you sneaking up on me and yelling "boo"

in my ear does.

Hey, where's Stella?

She break up with you already?

She's at work.

What are these?

Oh, those are from, uh, after the crime scene was cleaned up.

No shit?

No, why do you have these exactly?

I'm putting together the house to look like it did

when they lived here.

That's a little sick, dude.

It's supposed to make ghosts more active.

You really believe in this stuff don't you?

Yeah, I do.

So, did you actually find out what happened here?

Yeah, I did.

And it was definitely the father who killed the family.

There wasn't a break-in or anything like that.

Those were all just rumors.

The details are a little bit hazy but, the gist of it is,

he shot his wife in their bedroom,

and then he shot the kids in their rooms.

He covered each of the bodies with a sheet,

and then he shot himself.

And they found his body in the living room

sitting up in a dining room chair, brains blown out.

Kinda weird.

Ah, I got a bunch of boxes and stuff outside.

Can you help me move those into the garage?

Yeah.

Hey, be careful with that, that's my radio.

You still have not finished this thing yet?

Oh, my god.

All right, I'm putting it here.

Collecting dolls now?

Yeah, Sam. I'm collecting dolls now.

It's Stella's.

So, how is it? Living with Stella?

Yeah...

It's... it's great. I mean it's only been a day,

but, she's still here.

That's a good thing.

What about you? You got a fling of the month?

Who is it this time?

Uh, Summer?

August?

Moon?

Chelsea, yeah, her name was Chelsea.

And?

She was... immature.

Too immature for you?

Yeah, she didn't even know how to cook.

I did all the cooking.

Treated her like a queen.

And what did this queen eat?

Macaroni and cheese? Hot dogs?

A little grilled cheese on special occasions?

And hamburgers...

Frickin bomb.

You know what you need?

You need to find a girl who's exactly like your mom.

Somebody who'll take care of you, and will cook you

three meals a day.

Yeah...

Which shouldn't be that difficult, seeing as your mom

really was not a good cook.

Better than your mom.

You're mom never cooked.

Yeah, that's cause she died when I was seven.

That's what I'm sayin'.

You realize we're getting old.

It's not even 11 o'clock on Friday and we're in bed.

You're getting old, I'm not.

Nice try, You're older than I am.

Ah, so, grandma wanted to know something.

Um...

I know...

I know you want to write a book about the house and all, but...

Why?

I think it's a good time right now.

I mean, everything that has anything to do

with paranormal activity is huge right now.

I know, but, what's driving you?

Fame... fortune.

Stop.

Seriously, what's behind it?

I want to prove to myself that I can actually

finish something I start.

I'm thirty.

I'm a part-time ad writer for a newspaper.

My biggest accomplishment has been writing an obituary.

I want to be somebody that you can be proud of.

I am proud of you.

You are?

Yes.

And I'm excited to see you really excited about something.

Paul?