The story revolves around Annie and Jessica Andrews, two teenage sisters who, after their mother's death, live with their father Brian. They experience strange occurrences in their house, including tapping sounds and moved furniture, which they initially attribute to their grief and the influence of a Ouija board seance they conducted.
One night, they hear tapping sounds in Annie's bedroom and find writing on the walls, which leaves them horrified. They run out of the house, and when Brian arrives home, he finds the house in disarray and the writing on the walls, but no one else. He calls the police, who find no evidence of anyone else being in the house.
A second incident occurs a few weeks later, with more writing on the walls and the same tapping sounds. Again, the girls run out of the house and call the police. This time, the police find the house in disarray, with furniture flipped upside down and pennies glued to the ceiling. They also find a crawl space behind the washer and dryer, where they discover Danny Laplante, a deranged teenager who had dated Annie and had been living in the crawl space for months.
Danny was arrested and put into a juvenile detention center. Later in 1987, he was released and broke into someone else's house, where he murdered almost an entire family.
1. The story is about a family that experiences strange occurrences in their house after the death of their mother.
2. The family consists of two teenage daughters, Annie and Jessica, and their father, Brian.
3. After their mother's death, the girls start hearing tapping sounds, which they initially attribute to their mother trying to communicate with them.
4. The tapping sounds persist for several days and start disturbing the girls' sleep.
5. The girls' father, Brian, initially dismisses their claims, believing they are grieving and making up the tapping sounds.
6. The girls' father eventually decides to ask them to see a grief counselor.
7. The tapping sounds stop when the girls' father is home, but resume when he leaves the house.
8. The girls start hearing tapping sounds coming from the basement and find writing in red on the walls saying "come find me, I'm in your closet".
9. The girls run out of the house, feeling threatened, and seek refuge with their neighbors.
10. Brian returns home to find the writing on the walls and confronts the girls about it.
11. The girls insist that the writing is not their doing, and Brian, believing them, starts seeing them to a grief counselor.
12. The tapping sounds and writing on the walls resume, and the girls again run out of the house.
13. Brian decides to search the house himself, but finds it in disarray and sees a man in a dress standing in the closet.
14. The man in the dress runs out of the house, and Brian calls the police.
15. The police find nothing in the house and suggest that the girls and Brian stay with relatives until the situation is resolved.
16. After two weeks, Brian and his daughters decide to return home, with the police still watching the house.
17. As Brian is driving up his street, he sees a light on in the second floor of his house and calls the police.
18. The police surround the house and find Danny LaPlante hiding in the crawl space.
19. Danny LaPlante, a teenager who had briefly dated Annie, had been living in the crawl space for months, moving furniture around and writing on the walls.
20. After his arrest, Danny LaPlante was put into a juvenile detention center.
21. Later in 1987, Danny LaPlante broke into a house and murdered almost an entire family in cold blood.