For the 1995 Series episode of the same name, see "The Haunted Mask"
"The Haunted Mask" is the second episode of Season 1 of the Disney+/Hulu series, Goosebumps.
Synopsis[]
A mask gives Isabella the courage to speak her mind, but it starts to control her life.
Plot[]
Halloween
Isabella's alarm goes off at 7:00 AM. She grabs her phone and starts scrolling through social media, using a dummy account to troll her classmates.
Downstairs, she helps her brother, Alan, with his breakfast and reads the replies to her comments.
Isabella enters the gym at school and sees James showing off his fake mascot muscles. She hears Coach Rifkin tell Isaiah there will be a scout at that week's game, so it has to be his best game. Isabella tries to talk to Rifkin, but he ignores her and goes to talk to his players. She tries to tell him she has the footage he asked for, but she again goes ignored.
In the hallway, Isabella overhears Margot talking to Mr. Stokes about her mom not coming home for the weekend, even though it's her birthday. Margot questions why she wouldn't want to spend her birthday with her husband and child. As Margot walks again, Isabella asks if she's okay and gets ignored again.
As Isabella goes up stairs, Lucas rides down the same stairs on his skateboard, nearly hitting her. When she calls him out on that, he says he didn't see her.
Isabella leaves more trolling comments as she walks down the hallway. She runs into Allison. She apologizes, but Allison ignores her. She listens as Allison and Wendy talk about Allison's party, including Allison saying her parents don't know. Isabella immediately sends the invitation to Allison's parents.
Allison tells Isaiah about the troll sending the invitation to her parents. She questions who could hate her that much. Isabella listens, unnoticed, as Isaiah says she just needs a new venue.
At home, Isabella sees a post about thew party being moved to the Biddle house. Alan, who is dressed as a doctor with bloody scrubs, shows her her old vampiress costume. She asks why she'd go to a party she tried to sabotage. He reminds her that she failed. He thinks it's fate and asks if she doesn't want to see the Biddle House in person. She says no and she hasn't worn the costume since she was 12. He says vampires never go out of style. He thinks she should go. She says she can't because no one at school knows her. She's invisible to them. He thinks that's because she never joins in. He holds out the costume.
Isabella arrives at the party. She sees Allison and her friends laughing and steps away from the crowd. As she stands near the basement, the door opens on its own and she hears a voice calling her name. She goes down the stairs into the basement. She follows the voice to a mask, that says to put it on because she deserves to be seen. She puts on the mask.
Isabella, now more confident, comes out of the basement. She dances around Isaiah and Allison.
Isabella comes home and tries to take off the mask, but finds it difficult to remove. She flops down on her bed. Next to her, the mask smiles.
Isaiah sits among get well cards and remembers seeing Harold at the game. He has a series of unanswered texts to James. He calls James and gets voicemail. He leaves a message asking to talk to James. Margot comes in and Isaiah tells her that everything sucks right now. And every five minutes, someone shows up with another baked good. She asks what happens now. He says rehab for at least six months. She apologizes for not listening to him when he said he was in trouble. He offers her some baked goods, looking for one that doesn't have nuts in it. As she continues talking about the camera, he realizes all of the treats have nuts. She takes his arm and asks him what the saw on the field before he broke his arm. He says she's better off staying far away from this. He thanks her for coming and says goodbye.
The mask calls to Isabella as she goes to leave, so she puts it in her bag to take it with her.
Bratt is asleep on the floor. He wakes up and puts his glasses on. He trips as he walks. He's horrified to see that it's Monday and he races to the door, which he struggles to open.
Bratt trips again as he walks through the hallway at Port Lawrence, then he slams into a locker. He has to fight his body to go where he wants it to. He gets to a bathroom and throws water on his face. When he looks in the mirror, he sees Harold Biddle, who asks Bratt to help him find "him." Bratt tells Harold he's not real. Harold stares at Bratt and then after a few seconds, Bratt, now under Harold's control, smiles.
Rifkin coaches the football team at practice. Isabella stands on the sidelines, controlling a drone. Isaiah notices the drone landing and asks Isabella if she gets footage of all the games. She says she does and he asks for Friday's footage. She asks if he's sure he wants to see it. Isaiah tells her they watch film to learn from their mistakes. She says it's on her cart. She has the video coordinator watch the drone while she takes Isaiah to it.
While Isabella gets the footage, Isaiah asks how long she's been doing A.V. club. She says since freshman year. He finds it weird that they've been in school together for years and he knows nothing about her. She says that includes her name, which Isabella, not Susan as he called her. He apologizes, but she says it's fine. She shows him how to start and stop the footage and leaves him to watch it. He thanks her and she watches him watch the footage for a few seconds until she hears the drone and runs out.
Outside, Isabella finds Lucas standing on the edge of the roof with the drone flying above him. He jumps up and grabs the drone, then falls to the ground.
Lucas holds an ice pack to his face, promising Mr. Stokes he'll never hang from a stolen drone again. Stokes says Lucas doesn't need to apologize to him because it's not his drone. Lucas tells Isabella he's sorry. His defense is that he didn't know it was hers. He explains his thought process, but Isabella hears the mask telling her that he doesn't mean it. After listening to him, Mr. Stokes says he thinks Lucas needs to make financial restitution. Lucas says he can do $5/week until it's paid for. Mr. Stokes asks if Isabella can agree to that. The mask urges Isabella to say no, but she says yes. The mask tells her not to back down, so she stands up for herself, saying the drone cost $3000. Lucas will never make the money back flipping burgers. She says Lucas is pathetic. She's saying to his face what others say behind his back. The Jackass facade is sad. Mr. Stokes tells her to take it down a notch, so Isabella tells Stokes he failed at life because he's a high school guidance counselor. He says he's there because he loves helping kids. Isabella says he didn't help her. He made her life a lot worse because now her mother is going to kill her because Lucas is an idiot and Stokes is weak. Isabella then comes back to herself and apologizes. She looks at the mask and tells them to forget what she said. $5/week is fine. She takes her bag and leaves. Mr. Stokes sends Lucas to detention.
Isaiah goes into the locker room and remembers the night of the game, finding the camera in his locker. He grabs his helmet off the shelf and the camera isn't there. He hears a whistle and turns to find Bratt in a referee outfit. He's practicing to be a referee. He tells Isaiah that his dad did some work on Bratt's house. He knows Ben used to play football at the high school and Isaiah asks how he knows that. Bratt says he knows a lot about his students. Isaiah leaves to go back to class and Bratt says he's sorry about the arm.
Mr. Stokes brings Nora coffee, but realizes it's silly because she works in a coffee shop. She says she can use all the coffee she can get. She thought she was seeing him tonight and asks if he's cancelling. He says no, it's about Lucas. He tells her about Lucas destroying Isabella's drone. Nora says she can't pay for that and he offers to talk to her parents and work something out. But Lucas has to get his act together. Stokes doesn't want this to affect his future. She knew it was going to be hard when Dennis died, but she thought he would be sad, not reckless. Stokes says she's doing a great job with Lucas, but it's hard. Elsie comes in and Stokes pulls away from Nora. Elsie asks about his wife and he says she's doing great. She's in Seattle for work, so the gardening has fallen to him, which is unfortunate for the plants. Elsie asks him to say hi for her. Nora says she needs to get back to work and leaves.
Isabella explains to her mom, Victoria, that Lucas stole the drone, so it's not her fault. Victoria asks if Lucas borrowed it from Isabella's father without permission and took it to school. Isabella says her dad isn't even around to ask. Victoria says the drone was in her care when it broke, so it's her responsibility. Victoria grounds her. Isabella says it's par for the course for her to stay home these days. Victoria includes no phone, internet, or compute in the grounding. Isabella asks how she's supposed to do her homework like that and Victoria says she'll have to do it longhand. Victoria takes her devices and leaves.
Victoria puts Isabella's laptop and phone into a drawer and locks it.
Bratt comes into the coffee shop. Nora tells him they're closing because they're not open for dinner. He was hoping to get an egg sandwich. She offers to warm one up for him. When she realizes he's Mr. Bratt, she says her son loves him or at least says he's not the worst, which is the highest compliment he gives these days. She asks if he lives nearby and he says he lives on the edge of town, in the old Biddle house. He's only lived there for a few days. She asks if he's seen anything strange there. He says no, but he did hear the story. Nora says it was sad. Bratt says kids can be cruel. Everyone seems to have forgotten about Harold and moved on. Nora says not everyone. She turns to bag up his sandwich, but when she turns back, he's gone. She looks around and he pops up next to her behind the counter. She says he shouldn't be back there. He says he wanted some cocoa. He takes a packet and gives her cash to pay for his stuff.
Isaiah takes out the trash. Nora comes by and helps him. She starts to ask him about the game, but Ben interrupts and tells Isaiah to go inside. Once he's gone, ben reminds Nora that he said he didn't want her bringing that up around his family. He doesn't believe Nora's claim that Harold's ghost broke Isaiah's arm. He tells her to go home. He's calling the others because they need to talk. As he goes inside, Nora sees Margot walking down the street and asks to talk to her. She gives Margot a photo of Harold and asks her to give it to Isaiah and ask if he recognizes him.
Isabella tries to get into the drawer to get her electronics, but the key won't work. She goes back to her room and finds Alan on her bed. He wants to show her something, but she says she's not in the mood. He says it's evidence and shows her a video on his phone of Lucas breaking the drone. He says she can show their dad and prove she's innocent. Isabella says she'll handle this. Alan is excited, but her plans don't include him. She pushes him out of the room. Then she hears the mask saying to let it help her.
Margot shows Isaiah the picture and tells him she got it from Nora. Isaiah recognizes him. He saw Harold on the football field, where he was the referee. Then he was on fire. Isaiah asks who it is. Margot looked into it and thinks it's Harold Biddle. She thinks they need to go to Nora because she clearly knows more than she's telling them.
Lucas leaves the Harbor Stop on his skateboard. He falls trying to do a trick. He hears someone and calls out. Isabella, wearing the masks, drags the skateboard as she walks toward him. He asks her not to drag it because it was expensive. She throws it at him, knocking him to the ground. He holds up the board to defend himself and she breaks it in half, then hits him with it and throws him. Then she puts down her hood and turns into a troll. Isaiah and Margot suddenly appear with improvised weapons and hit Isabella with them. She gets up and runs away. Then they tend to Lucas, who is confused. Isaiah notices something in the distance and stares at it.
Isabella watches her mom through the window as Victoria leaves a message for her husband asking how to deal with Isabella. She hangs up and looks around suspiciously. Alan appears behind her, asking for a fruit gummy. She says no and gives him an apple instead. She tells him she's been called in, but Isabella should be home any second.
Alan is reading in bed when he hears a thudding noise. He gets up and goes downstairs, where he finds Isabella, in troll form, throwing objects around the house. He hides and reaches for the phone. He calls Isabella and then turns to see her phone ringing in the her pocket. He calls to her and she turns, scaring him. She follows him out to the tree house. He hides and she leaves when she can't find him, but then she breaks through the wall behind him, grabbing for him as he begs her to stop. He says he knows he's in there and this isn't really her. She starts to fight the mask and takes it off over the mask's objections. Once it's off, she hugs Alan and apologizes to him.
Alan and Isabella stand on a bridge and Isabella holds the mask. She doesn't think Victoria will believe their story that a bear came into the house. Alan says she won't have a choice of they stick to the story. Isabella drops the mask into the water and they watch it sink. They tell the mask to rot in hell. They leave and Mr. Bratt/Harold comes out from behind a tree and looks down into the water.
Isabella says she's sorry for the trashing the place, but she doesn't understand why she had to come with Victoria while Alan got to stay home. Victoria says she can't trust Isabella right now. They go up to the door. Eliza answers and is surprised to see Isabella there with Victoria. She calls James to come take her to the game room.
Ben asks Nora how they can get her to stop the ghost nonsense. Nora tells him, Victoria, and Eliza that Harold is back and she thinks he's coming for their children. Ben says that's the kind of talk that can get her in trouble. Victoria adds that she could lose custody of Lucas. Nora feels threatened by their statements. Eliza says the real threat is to Lucas, who could spend his last years in high school without a mom. Nora takes a dig at Eliza, saying at least she's present in her son's life.
From the game room, where they're playing pool, Isabella and James watch the conversation. James wonders what they're talking about. She thinks Eliza's really laying into Nora, but James says that's typical for her. He misses his shot and hands her the cue stick. She hits a ball and it hits James, splattering him into goo.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Zack Morris as Isaiah Howard
- Isa Briones as Margot Stokes
- Miles McKenna as James Etten
- Ana Yi Puig as Isabella Chen-Lopez
- Will Price as Lucas Parker
- Rachael Harris as Nora Parker
- Justin Long as Mr. Bratt
Guest starring[]
- Rob Huebel as Colin
- Leonard Roberts as Ben
- Ian Ho as Alan
- Ben Cockell as Harold Biddle
- Rhinnan Payne as Allison
- Francoise Yip as Victoria
- Laura Mennell as Eliza
Co-Starring[]
- Aiden Howard as Sam
- Gardiner Millar as Coach Rifkin
- Sophia Carriere as Wendy
- Michelle Cyr as Elsie
- Edward Escobal as Video Coordinator
- Riley Davis as Skater Friend #1
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Nameless, Faceless" | Courtney Barnett |
|
| "menace" | mazie |
|
| "It Girl" | Kah-Lo, Karma Fields, Associanu |
|
| "Wounded and Blue" | Daniel Farrant, Paul Rawson |
|
| "Terrible Lie" | Nine Inch Nails |
|
| "Bet My Brains" | Starcrawler |
|
