It's Fourth of July Weekend, and the recently discovered corpse of Sgt. Sam Harper rises from the dead to punish the unpatriotic.

The week before Halloween, Jason Hollway's parents separate, and his dad moves out. Jason is depressed and doesn't want to go trick or treating with his friends Jenn, Ted, and Austin. His mom and grandpa encourage him, first by a trip to a pumpkin patch and then with the promise of a party at the end of the evening. The neighborhood has a scary story of a son's murder of his father 25 years before, so all the kids are frightened of Sam Hain: they ring his doorbell and run. All evening, the kids talk about the Sam Hain house: one by one, Jason's pals disappear; soon, it's just him and a silent Pumpkin Man walking up to Sam Hain's door. What will Jason do?

Two former geeks become 1980s punks, then party and go to concerts while deciding what to do with their lives.