Sammy Baker, 12, is a quiet kid who wishes he wasn't so shy and timid. He is frightened but eager to prove he can be brave. On Halloween night, he follows his friends to the Barlow House, an abandoned mansion on the edge of the woods. It's rumored a whole family died in the house many years before, and everyone knows there are ghosts there. Just past midnight, he feels a cold tingle at the back of his neck. The cold seeps down, a heavy chill he has never felt before. Soon, his whole head feels like a block of ice. He's about to scream — but the cold feeling vanishes. He realizes the others are watching him — because he's panting so frantically. Sammy doesn't realize that his body has been invaded by a ghost known as The Haunter. The Haunter takes over Sammy's brain and gives him instructions that he has to obey. But The Haunter's commands become more and more dangerous. And then life-threatening. And to his horror, Sammy realizes The Haunter's goal — to turn Sammy into a ghost, too!