The Dale family lived on the family farm for generations. When their mother developed lung cancer, and finances drove son Tim to move home, it seemed like the only logical thing for everyone to be back under that big old roof. Little did they know of the weight that was also there.
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The Dale family lived on the family farm for generations. When their mother developed lung cancer, and finances drove son Tim to move home, it seemed like the only logical thing for everyone to be back under that big old roof. Little did they know of the weight that was also there.
29615
Tim and Steve take a walk out to Uncle Will’s old house. It’s condemned, and rightfully so. It’s also creepy as hell, especially when they both start hearing the pounding of their hearts in their own heads. Steve heads back to the family’s house, but Tim remains, hearing bells. Over in the old barn, Dan hears the same bells while he’s working. Tim follows the sound, and comes face-to-face with his brother.
29616
In the barn is the creepy old well. It’s the only source of water on the farm, and when the boys were kids, Dan had to go down into the well to recover a dead raccoon. While Dan had been down there, he’d heard someone talking. He hadn’t been alone.
29617
Dan is spending the evening taking care of his mother, who isn’t expected to survive the weekend. She had been unconscious for the previous day, but as he steps out to get some water, she wakes. She sees something distressing, but cancer claims her life before she can warn her son.
29618
Dan takes his girlfriend, Vaunette, to Uncle Will’s old house as a kind of family initiation. When she’s spooked by a broken floorboard upstairs, he manages to talk her into exploring the basement. There are odd holes in the wall, which he tells her is where Uncle Will used to keep his treasure, and the holes would cut off the hand of anyone who tried to reach into it. Tempted, Vaunette uses sticks at first, until something compels her to touch one.
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Vaunette’s arm is grabbed, and she feels a burning pain in her hand and forearm. When she finally gets her arm out of the hole, there are teeth marks. They look like human teeth marks. What on earth bit her?
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Dan, Tim, and Vaunette are out hunting one day when all three hear the bells/spurs. Dan gives chase, but can’t track down the source. As they are on their way back to the farm house, Vaunette stops by the old barn to catch her breath and drink from her canteen. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a figure hanging from a noose near the top of the barn.
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Tim and Dan begin having nightmares. They both dream of being surrounded by evil. This evil speaks of them being unable to run and an overwhelming sense that something bad is going to happen. Their mother appears in both of their dreams and forces them to get out. In Tim’s case, at one point he wakes up standing outside Uncle Will’s old house in his underwear, barefoot, in about six inches of snow. Uncle Will isn’t the Boogeyman. He’s real.
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The nightmares remind Tim and Dan of when they took their football buddies in high school out to Uncle Will’s house. The ghost has wasted no time in chasing them right back to the fence with a supernatural speed.
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With no one else to turn to, Dan seeks out his aunt Mary. He explains what is happening at the house, and what others have experienced. Mary shows him a family photo of his Uncle Will, and asks if that’s who he saw? It most certainly is. Mary tells him the story of an African-American farm hand back in the early 20th Century that Uncle Will and some others had lynched for his association with a white woman. Suddenly, it all makes sense.
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Tim’s daughter, Laura, begins having nightmares of her own. One night, as she is having trouble sleeping, she sees someone come into the bedroom she shared with her baby sister, Melissa. Laura wants nothing more than to pinch herself to make sure she’s dreaming, but she can’t move. When she finally realizes it’s not a dream, Laura screams. Someone has stolen Melissa. The cops search. The locals search.
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Tim’s brother-in-law, Herman, comes to join the search for Melissa. Compelled to search a particular area, even though he’s told the cops have already gone over it, Herman is the one who finally finds Melissa in the cold, dark woods. In 2001, the family finally decides to sell the farm. Read Vaunette's follow-up interview HERE!