In 1989, the Carmichael family mourns the death of Margaret Carmichael, Victoria Andrunik, in a car accident, and Patrick Carmichael, Gideon Berger ailing with a hard line on punishment, refuses to let the incident fade away. The story then jumps to a carnival in 1993 where Troy Hopewell, Kenneth Andrew, is attacked and killed by the evil clown that haunted the earlier films, a menacing presence that seems to reappear at pivotal moments.
In the present day, the focus shifts to Vanessa Shepherd, Elizabeth Vermilyea, a bar owner and former TV personality who had been closely following the events surrounding Russell Wynn during the previous installments. Since that notorious night, Vanessa has endured PTSD and unsettling visions of a dilapidated house. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Farrell, Felicia Curry, notes that these symptoms appear to be spreading after the death of three investigators at Carmichael Manor, a clue that ties Vanessa’s fate to a larger, darker pattern.
After therapy, Vanessa encounters Bobby Hopewell, Bo Bogle, a former employee and Troy’s son, who reaches out with a message she never hears in time as the evil clown murders him. Dr. Farrell later informs Vanessa of Bobby’s death, a blow that deepens her sense of danger.
Vanessa then partners with Alicia Cavalini, Searra Sawka, a true-crime author who had been working with Bobby. Their investigation reveals that Troy Hopewell, Kenneth Andrew, along with four friends, caused Margaret’s car crash, and that many of their relatives have disappeared or died under mysterious circumstances. A chilling clue emerges: a red ball is found near the body or last-known location of each victim, linking the incidents across time.
Tom, Matthew Dalton Lynch, becomes another target of the clown, and Vanessa wakes from a nightmare to discover a red ball left in her room, deepening the sense that the horror is personal and persistent.
Alicia seeks help from Father David, Mike Sutton, to perform an exorcism on Carmichael Manor. As the danger escalates, Alicia entrusts Vanessa with a complete dossier of her research on the town’s evil and on Andrew Tully, and the two, along with the caretaker Donald, Michael Caprioli, attempt to enter the home to banish the malevolent presence. Their mission ends in tragedy as they perish within the house, leaving Vanessa to confront the nightmare alone. She later dreams again of the house and comes to realize it is Tully’s former residence.
Through these visions, Vanessa learns that Donald is an associate of Tully and that they worked to influence Patrick to help realize a plan involving the Abaddon Hotel and the creation of a cult aimed at immortality. In a chilling moment, Donald acknowledges Vanessa as one of two children born to a woman Tully had impregnated, a fact that binds her fate to the town’s hidden history.
The film closes on a startling note: Vanessa, jolted back to reality after pursuing a figure near Carmichael Manor, recognizes the man as her twin brother Mitchell — a revelation that lands with abrupt finality and leaves the truth shrouded in mystery.
