The House by the Cemetery

The Boyle family—Norman, Lucy, and their son Bob—move into Oak Mansion in New Whitby, Massachusetts, so Norman can research old houses. Bob notices a photograph of a house with a frightened girl on display as his mother packs, hinting at the house's unsettling past. Norman begins perusing Peterson's materials and local records to learn more.

Mae Freudstein appears across the street and warns Bob to stay away, and Bob is the only one who can see her. The eerie encounter foreshadows the supernatural danger tied to the Freudstein legacy. The warning sets the tone for the family's troubled stay.

In the local real estate office, Mrs. Laura Gittleson reluctantly hands the Freudstein keys to the Boyles, insisting the house is Oak Mansion. She promises to arrange a babysitter, introducing Ann to watch Bob while the parents settle in. The house's ominous past begins to intrude into ordinary life.

Ann, the assigned babysitter, arrives and is shown the cellar door, which is locked and nailed shut. The locked cellar hints at something living beneath the surface of Oak Mansion. The family begins to sense that security in the house is an illusion.

That night Norman hears strange noises and discovers Ann unblocking the cellar door, indicating that someone is tampering with the house’s forbidden depths. The discovery raises questions about what Peterson and the past residents left behind. The family becomes increasingly unsettled.

Norman visits the local library to study Peterson's private research on area disappearances connected to Freudstein. The chief librarian seems to know more than he reveals, while the assistant librarian confirms Peterson's odd, secretive work. The past begins to intrude on the present.

Mae shows Bob a tombstone labeled Mary Freudstein, insisting she is not buried there. Meanwhile Lucy discovers an indoor tomb labeled Jacob Tess Freudstein, suggesting the house contains odd and ancient secrets. Norman returns and opens the cellar, only to be attacked by a persistent bat, which he defeats by stabbing.

While the family waits for a move, Mrs. Gittleson returns to the house to discuss a new property, but she is suddenly killed by a killer who stabs her with a fireplace poker and drags her into the cellar. The house proves it will retaliate against intruders. The event escalates the sense of danger inside Oak Mansion.

Lucy discovers Ann cleaning a fresh bloodstain on the kitchen floor and presses for answers, but Ann remains evasive. The mystery deepens as the family realizes someone is hiding terrible secrets in the house. Paranoia grows as events spiral out of control.

Norman travels to New York to research Freudstein and finds an audio cassette from Peterson describing his madness. He later destroys the cassette by dropping it into a furnace pipe, erasing a potential warning about the house's past.

Ann goes to the cellar looking for Bob and is decapitated by Freudstein, leaving Bob terrified as he witnesses his mother's severed head. The killer's presence becomes indisputably deadly. The family’s fight for survival grows more urgent.

Norman returns and hacks at the cellar door with a hatchet while Freudstein's rotting hand restrains Bob. The weapon finally breaks through, severing the ghoul's hand and enabling a desperate escape attempt. The cellar becomes the site of a grisly confrontation.

In the cellar, Norman and Lucy confront Freudstein, a living corpse who regenerates using victims’ parts. Norman stabs Freudstein, causing flesh and maggots to ooze from his old lab coat, but Freudstein rips Norman's throat out in retaliation. Lucy and Bob scramble to flee the horror.

Lucy drags Bob toward a ladder to reach the surface, but Freudstein drags her down the stairs; her head bangs against each step, killing her. Bob fights to escape as the house's dark forces close in around him.

As Freudstein ascends the stairs, Bob is saved by Mae, who is accompanied by her mother Mary Freudstein. Mae leads Bob and Mary into an apparent ghost world beyond the grove, leaving the fate of the living uncertain and the house's horrors unresolved.