Parker Brennon’s “Hauntology” (2024) is an anthology of ghost stories revolving around a neighborhood in Ohio. The stories of diverse subgenres of horror– from witchcraft to rural horror then to a giallo and finally ending in Gothic Victorian– feature one central predilection: the question of the place of the queer. The narrative and its elements try to mirror the isolating experience of being a queer individual in a sprawling American locality. The loose threads of each story are finally tied in the final showdown and endowed with an ending of certainty.
Hauntology (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
While driving past her suburban Ohio neighborhood, Jazmin spots her younger sister, Venus, flouncing out of their house over a disagreement with their parents. With her luggage, Venus is ready to leave the house and live independently. Jazmin warns Venus that Ohio has gained significant notoriety due to its haunted places. Jazmin cunningly strikes a deal: she will let Venus run away only if the latter lets her narrate all the haunted stories while driving her around the haunted spots scattered all over Ohio. Thus begins the road trips of the Price sisters.
What happens in ‘Witchcraft Becomes Her’?
The first story in the anthology begins at an isolated wooden cabin by the forest. It was the den of a witch. The witch was born with the identity of a boy but did not adhere to it. Unable to get their parent to accept their identity, the witch, who is shown to be transgender makes the wooden cabin their sanctuary away from the close-knit neck of the woods.
A powerful magic worker, Annalisa Drouais, visits the witch. Annalisa’s book of rituals is a pathway for the witch to discard the male-lenient body and, finally, turn into a female. However, Annalisa warns them not to open their eyes during the occult ceremony. That night, the backyard is decorated for the ritual with candles encircling an occult circle made in the grass. The witch summons a devil that helps the former become a woman. However, the woman flouts the rules and catches a glimpse of the devil.
The next morning Annalisa is surprised to see the transformation of the witch, Julian. However, Annalisa is livid to learn that Julian had eye-to-eye contact with the devil. The next morning a man announces himself at Julian’s door. The man introduces himself as Jacob. Jacob seems to be attracted to Julian but the latter maintains a firm boundary. That night, Jacob brings Julian her favorite flowers which at once shocks and baffles Julian. Despite Julian’s rejection of his proposal for a dinner date, Jacob tries to get into her house on the pretext of taking a close look at a painting of a certain Felner.
Julian explains to Annalisa that Jacob seems to be an exact manifestation of the ideal man of her dreams and therefore he is a red flag. To ward off the evil, Julian and Annalisa prepare for an elaborate occult ceremony. They crush and grind herbs and hang a string of hand mirrors to deflect negative energy. Annalisa explains that the monster feeds off the negative energy that the witch had been carrying as baggage for all these years. The spirit is in fact a creation of Annalisa. Jacob arrives once again and for the last time before he is banished for good.
How is Mabel Bishop related to the Price family?
After the first story ends, Jaz drives her sister to a graveyard for the premise of their next story involving their kin, Mabel Bishop. It is somewhat hinted that Venus had left her home due to disagreements with her parents pertaining to her own sexuality. Their great-great-great grandmother, Mabel Bishop’s story thus becomes relevant to her to draw inspiration or warnings from.
Jaz explains that Mabel was never allowed a place at the local cemetery due to her identity as a homosexual person. Back in the late nineteenth century, Mabel was a woman of high repute. However, what tarnished her ‘image’ among her neighbors was her sexual and romantic preference. After her death, her family buried her near a lake in the woods. One particularly influential man was after her life. A flashback shows that the man might be behind the disappearance of Mabel’s body.
The film then switches to the contemporary story of a lesbian couple who start living in Mabel’s house. The two women have a nasty break up following which Mabel is summoned by one of the partners, Jade. Jade and Mabel have a supernatural union. Both of them are on a revenge spree. With the help of Mabel, Jade digs a grave for her ex-partner, Iris. Sadly, Iris faces the ultimate betrayal at the hands of Jade as the latter transacts her life with the life of Mabel. After narrating the story, Jaz looks over her shoulder and finds a rather vintage-looking old man staring at them.
Is the artist May Felner from the first story also related to the sisters?
The third story is the story of the Artist May Felner, the same artist whose artwork elicited a reaction from Jacob. Invoking the subgenre of Giallo, the story ‘Paint And Black Lace,’ revolves around the tragic story of Felner and how tragedy lurks around like her shadow even after her death. Life partners and owners of a niche art gallery, Shane and Owen, are hosting an exhibition of the purportedly original artworks of May Felner. However, ‘purported’ is the keyword– they are simply selling cheap rip-offs. They have the perfect narrative up their sleeves in case the public doubts their originality. These are early works of Felner which they discovered after buying her old Victorian mansion.
When somebody from Felner’s inner circle drops by, things get hostile. Owen is nervous and is in two minds about this cheating. Christina, Felner’s former friend, is quick to notice the weirdness of the color palette. Later, Shane gets a call informing the murder of their realtor. The next morning, the gallery manager is found dead. Realizing that Owen is the more trustworthy one of the two, Christina requests him to meet her at the park. A nervous Christina tells Owen that Felner’s spirit is growing uncontrollably hostile following the article that the couple put out regarding the discovery of the paintings.
Christina is certain that Felner is using her as a medium to carry out her revenge-seeking. She begs Owen to fix their mess. Christina believes that she might have caused Felner hurt by rejecting her love. Back at home, Owen is surprised to see Shane being obsessed with the popularity of the gallery without realizing the consequences. Owen fails to change Shane’s mind so Felner possesses him. The end is brutal for Shane as he is killed by Owen and left in a pool of blood with splotches of paint.
Why has the Cashel House earned so much infamy as a haunted house?
In the last story, a local reporter Madeline Ishii drops by at the gothic Cashel House. The housekeeper Mrs. Boxell receives her warmly but lays down the rules to traverse inside the house. The most important of the rules is to leave all electronic devices in the custody of the housekeeper while inside the house. The housekeeper leads Madeline to the backyard garden to meet the owner, Josephine Cashel. Mild in nature, Josephine does not seem threatening. Miss Cashel reveals that the rules were made to appease the ancestor who lives in the walls: William Gwen Cashel. Josephine mentions Mabel Bishop and William’s obsession with her.
At night, Madeline tries to sneak out her phone and use it outside the mansion. However, finding the backdoor locked, she takes it to the basement. At this point, William appears and grabs her hand. Madeline is spared as she drops her phone at the right time. Somehow she manages to sleep inside the mansion. The next morning, when Madeline ventures into the basement once again to fetch her phone, she is greeted by the ghost. Following this, she bolts out of the mansion. Madeline and Josephine have an altercation. Josephine warns Madeline that since she has looked into the eyes of her ancestor, he will be following her from this point.
Hauntology (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How do the sisters tie all the loose threads of the stories and put an end to the evil?
That William Gwen Cashel is the same man from the cemetery is by this point understood by Venus. Venus is shocked to see that her sister has arrived at the Cashel house. If that is not all, she is also carrying Annalisa’s book of rituals. Venus realizes that her sister plans to banish Cashel. Jaz spraypaints an occult circle and asks Venus to help her find one of Cashel’s belongings from the house. To ward off Cashel’s spirit, Jaz leaves her an obsidian. Holding the obsidian tight helps Venus to ward off the evil.
The spirits of both Mabel Bishop and May Felner help the girls in procuring their belongings to carry out the occult ritual. Venus is given Cashel’s hat by Bishop’s ghost. The girls begin the ritual. When Cashel’s hostile spirit arrives, it does its best to jeopardize the process. In the end, it is a personal win for the girls as they free their ancestors from the eternally threatening grasp of evil and, by doing that, they free themselves as well.
