The movie’s villain is a spectral risk by way of the name of Stingy Jack, a neighborhood legend celebrated by way of the townsfolk of Bridge Hollow on the Halloween carnival every yr. Mayor Tammy (Lauren Lapkus, wearing a wide Boston accessory) loves the tale of Stingy Jack such a lot that she now not best drives round in a pickup truck embellished like an enormous pumpkin, however wears a sweater that tells his tale in its design. The legend is going that Stingy Jack was once so hated by way of the townspeople that they hanged him within the the town sq.. However Jack had a minimum of one pal: The Satan himself, who would permit Jack to go back to lifestyles one evening a yr to wreak havoc upon the dwelling. However what Mayor Tammy and the remainder of Bridge Hollow do not notice is that Stingy Jack is all too actual, trapped inside of a locked field within the attic of the Gordons’ new space, simply looking forward to any person to free him.
Because the movie appropriately notes, the true legend of Stingy Jack in part impressed the custom of Halloween jack-o-lanterns, first within the legend’s local Eire after which in america (by the use of Nationwide Geographic). One distinction, regardless that, is that the movie’s model has been closely altered so as to make Jack a transparent villain. Within the authentic folktale, Jack is a trickster who fools the Satan however is barred from Heaven due to his normal unsavoriness, cursed to wander the Earth for eternity. The movie’s Stingy Jack is a extra malevolent drive, regardless that the selection to give him this type of violent backstory feels atypical, particularly when Mayor Tammy welcomes what seems to be Bridge Hollow’s best Black circle of relatives whilst dressed in a sweater depicting a lynch mob.