After the Joker is apparently blown to bits in an escape attempt from Gotham Penitentiary, what appears to be the ghost of the Joker carries on a crimespree, in Gotham City. The Joker's "ghost" leads his gang in a string of ghost-oriented crimes, such as robbing the box office of a theater showing the play THE RETURN OF THE PHANTOM, stealing the $50,000 prize money in a race won by a horse named Poltergeist, and taking over a yacht called THE FLYING DUTCHMEN in order to steal a gold prize cup. Investigation leads Batman and Robin to the Joker's hideout, a marionette factory closed for vacation time. The Joker's "ghostly aura" turns out to be phosphorescent paint, and his "ghost" tricks were accomplished with the use of a magic lantern--a trick which Batman and Robin turn back on the Joker