When Good Ghouls Go Bad

When Good Ghouls Go Bad is a 2001 Fox Family television film based on a book written by R. L. Stine. The story is set in the fictional town of Walker Falls, Minnesota, during the Halloween season.

Danny Walker (Joe Pichler), and his father James (Tom Amandes), who has gotten a divorce from his wife, have just moved to the town from Chicago so his father can fulfill his dream of re-opening the family chocolate factory. Danny and James are staying with James' father, known by all as "Uncle Fred" (Christopher Lloyd). Uncle Fred is considered crazy and is a bit childish, but Danny loves him very much. Danny dislikes his new life in Walker Falls, and it seems no one likes him, especially the football coach Mike Kankel (Joe Clements) and his son Ryan (Craig Marriott), the school's biggest bully. The only person who seems to be nice to Danny is Taylor Morgan (Imelda Corcoran), the school nurse and James' childhood friend.

Danny is surprised by how few decorations are up with Halloween only a week away. The people of Walker Falls do not seem to be making any effort at all to celebrate the holiday. Sheriff Ed Frady (Alan Flower) even takes down the decorations that Danny puts up. When walking home from school, Ryan and his pal, Leo (Daniel Karr) push him into the cemetery, lock the gate, and tell him that Walker Falls does not celebrate Halloween because of the legend of a curse. Years ago, Curtis Danko (Brendan McCarthy) was an artistic boy, who was ostracized by "normal" people. When competition was held for all the eighth graders to design a sculpture of their personal hero, Curtis kept his project covered during the day, then came to school at night to work by the light of captured fireflies. On Halloween night, he went to work on his sculpture, and Mike Kankel and his friends were walking by when they saw Curtis from the window. When Kankel returned the next day, he noticed the kiln had been on all night. He opened the door and found Curtis's charred skeleton and a message in the ashes, saying that if the town ever celebrated another Halloween, he would come back and destroy them. Kankel was blind for three days after seeing Curtis' finished statue. He said it was like being face to face with the devil himself. Everyone in the town believed the legend and, since then, Halloween has never been celebrated.