Zel is a fortune teller. She lives and works in an old house at the edge of the woods. The house is crowded with ghosts (including a priest, a bride, a mute child, some washed up vaudevillians and a noisy, sight-impaired group of musicians among others) that have been there for as long as she can remember. When a mysterious light appears in the woods the ghosts realize that they are trapped and begin to rebel. Zel is forced to come to terms with the origins of these spirits and letting go of the only family she has ever known.

The clumsy and unfunny clown Richard "Stitches" Grindle entertains at the 10th birthday party of little Tom, but the boy and his friends play a prank with Stitches, tying his shoelaces. Stitches slips, falls and dies. Six years later, Tom gives a birthday party for his friends at home, but Stitches revives to haunt the teenagers and revenge his death.