abstract
| - Jenny Bennett was seen on the street selling Halloween chocolates. DJ and Chowder see her going to Nebbercracker's house, and they rush out to warn her, managing to catch her before she is eaten by the house. Jenny decides to call for the police, but when police officers Landers and Lester arrive, they do not believe their story, as the house does not react to the kids' teasing while the cops are there. The trio seek advice from Reginald "Skull" Skulinski, a strange video game addict working in a pizza parlor who is claimed to be an expert on the supernatural. They learn that the house is a "domus mactabilis" (Latin for "deadly home"); a monstrous being created when a human soul merges with a structure. They assume the house is inhabited by Nebbercracker's soul. The only way to kill the house is to destroy its heart; its source of life. They conclude that the heart must be the fireplace, as DJ realizes that the chimney has been smoking since Nebbercracker died. The plan almost succeeds, but Officers Landers and Lester arrive and thwart it. Landers discovers the cold medicine inside the dummy, which Chowder took from his father's pharmacy, and arrests them. The cops place the trio in the police car while they examine the house. The house eats Landers, Lester, and the car. DJ, Chowder, and Jenny escape the car but are trapped in the house. The house falls asleep and they begin exploring. They fall into the basement and find an enormous collection of toys accumulated from Nebbercracker's lawn, as well as a locked cage that DJ opens with a key he found on the lawn. They find the body of Constance the Giantess, Nebbercracker's wife, encased in cement. The house realizes they are inside and begins attacking them. DJ, Chowder, and Jenny force the house to vomit them outside by grabbing onto its uvula. The trio are surprised when Nebbercracker arrives home alive, but with his arm in a sling, revealing that the house is possessed by Constance. The house breaks free from the house's foundation, with trees to support it (the arms), and chases the group to a nearby construction site. DJ is given the dynamite, and he and Jenny climb to the top of a crane while Chowder distracts Constance. DJ throws the dynamite into the chimney, destroying the house. The trio see Nebbercracker with Constance's spirit for the last time before she fades away. Nebbercracker thanks DJ, Chowder, and Jenny for freeing him and Constance after 45 years of being trapped. That night, children in their Halloween costumes are lined up at the site of Nebbercracker's house, where DJ, Chowder, and Jenny help him return all of the toys to their owners. Jenny's parents pick her up and DJ and Chowder decide to go out trick-or-treating, which they had previously thought they were too old for.
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