Downstairs, Charles has a diagram set up of what he plans to do with the town. "We've got Ed Cornwall to head the wax museum dedicated to 50 great moments of the paranormal, here in Thanksgiving Park", explained Charles as he uses the pointer to indicate Thanksgiving Park explains to his guests. "You must remember Ed, Maxie. He's the genius who gave us the talking Marcel Marceau statue. And D-Con is on its knees to sponsor the insect zoo in the old hardware store. We can't lose!" Delia half-heartedly claps, looks at Sarah, then looks at Charles; she winks at him. "Lydia, you finally decided to join us", said Charles to his daughter. "Honey, I just, uh, I just finished the initial presentation. And now I think it's time to have a stretch and to invite our friends to meet your friends, okay?" "Are they here yet?" asked Sarah. "Charles, we're here to see some ghosts", said Maxie. "You —", said Charles. "They're not here... anymore", said Lydia.
"Every time she says that, the paint peels and some wild creature tries to kill us", said Charles as he scoffed. "No, really", said Lydia. "They said they'd come back, and we could all live here if you agreed not to tease them or make them do stupid tricks." "She has such a tendency to overreact", said Delia. "Don't worry, we're not relying on her. We have... Otho." "Are they still here, Otho?", asked Charles. "Otho, are they still here?", asked Delia. "Oh, they're still here", answered Otho. "They're just hiding out. Probably feel guilty about what they did to me." "Yeah, they're sorry they didn't kill you", said Delia. "Well, I don't know from guilt", said Maxie "I just wanna see them." "Otho, can ya do it?", asked Charles. "It will be tricky, but...", answered Otho as he dramatically holds up the Handbook "I think I can handle it." "No!" exclaimed Lydia as she begins to think about this scene and she shifts to another point of view. "Wait. What am I worried about, Otho, you can't even change a tire." "I'll be needing something personal of theirs", said Otho. "You'll have to go to the Goodwill", said Lydia. Delia gets an idea. "Excuse me", said Delia.
Using the handbook and the Maitlands' wedding clothes, Otho performs a seance that forces the couple to appear before them. "The wedding clothes", said Otho. On the table are the wedding clothes Adam and Barbara wore while they were still alive. "The words", continued Otho. Everyone joins hands. "Hands vermillion, start of five. Bright cotillion, raven's dive. Nightshade's promise, spirits strive. To the living, let now the dead come alive." Thunder crashes and we cut to the outside of the house. In the attic, Barbara is starting to fade. "Barbara?", said Adam. 'As sudden thunder pierces night," continued Otho. As magic wonder mad affright, rives asunder man's delight, our ghost, our corpse, and we rise to be.' The wedding gown rises, and Barbara appears in it. "Oh no", said Lydia. "Barbara?" said Adam. Barbara starts to shrivel. Otho inadvertently performed an exorcism instead of a Séance. "Stop it!", exclaimed Lydia. "Shhh!" shushes Maxie to Lydia. ""As flies the lizard", continued Otho. "serpent fell, as goblin vizard at the spell, the buried, dead and slain rise again." Adam starts to fade, too. Soon, he appears in the tuxedo.
"What's happening to them?", asked Delia. " I don't know", answered Otho. "Are they suffering?", asked Charles. " They're dying!", exclaimed Lydia. "No, they're not. They're already dead.", said Maxie. "They can't feel a thing." "That's not true!" exclaimed Lydia. Look at them!" "All right, Otho, that's enough", said Charles "Can you stop this? Otho." "It's too late, Charles", said Otho. "I'm sorry."
YOU ARE READING
Beetlejuice: The Novelization
HorrorAdam and Barbara Maitland die in a car accident and become ghosts trapped in their home. When a new family moves in, the ghosts try to scare them away, but fail. The only one who can see the ghosts is Lydia Deitz , the teenage daughter of the new fa...
