Hell House - Recap

Two months ago, four teenagers go out into the woods and approach a house in Richardson, Texas. It's rumored to be haunted, and Craig Thursten, the boy who found it, insists that they going. Inside they find a pentagram drawn on the floor and symbols on the walls. As they explore the house, Craig talks about how the legends say that the ghost of the house preys on young girls and hangs them up in the root cellar. They go into the cellar and find a girl suspended by her neck from the ceiling.

In the present, Dean and Sam arrive in Richardson. Dean is driving and notices that Sam is sleeping, and sticks a spoon in his mouth. He takes a photo and then turns up the radio, waking his brother up. Sam warns that when they've pranked each other in the past, it always escalates and he doesn't want to start it up again. Dean tells him to bring it on, and has Sam go over the information they have. Sam figures the accounts sound sincere, and admits that he checked out a local paranormal website called hellhoundslair.com. Dean isn't impressed, but Sam figures that since they split up from their dad, they need to hunt something.



When the brothers arrive in Richardson, they go to the local fast-food place and teenage hangout. The descriptions of Craig's three friends don't match, but they do direct the Winchesters to Craig, who works at a record store. Dean and Sam pass themselves off as reporters, and Craig tells them the story of Mordechai Murdoch, who lived in the farmhouse with six daughters during the Depression. Mordechai supposedly killed his daughters rather than let them starve, and then hung himself as well. He admits that he heard the story from his cousin Dana, and didn't believe it until he and the others saw the ghost.

Sam and Dean go to the Murdoch farmhouse and try to pick up EM readings. The local power lines mess up the sensor, so they go inside. There are symbols on the wall, but some are ahead of Mordechai's time. Dean thinks one of the symbols looks familiar, but can't place it. They hear a noise and find two teenagers in the kitchen. They identify themselves as Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler, the creators of hellhoundslair.com. Dean claims they're fans, and the two investigators dismiss them as amateurs. As they show off their EMFs, they admit they've never really seen a ghost.



Back in town, Sam turns up info on Mark Murdoch, who lived in the house in the 1930s and had two sons, but didn't kill anyone. Dean figures that it's a hoax, maybe set up by Harry and Ed. As Dean gets in the car and turns it on, he discovers that Sam has cranked up the volume on the radio as part of their war of practical jokes.

That night, three teenagers go the farmhouse on a dare and one of them, Jill, has to go inside to get a souvenir. She enters the farmhouse and finds her way down to the basement. She grabs a jar but drops it when she hears a sudden noise. As she turns, a farmer wraps a rope around her neck and strings her up from the rafters.



The next day, the police remove Jill's body. The brothers arrive and talk to a neighbor, who explains that the police have dismissed Jill's death as a suicide, but she had a promising future. Dean figures that they missed something. That night, the brothers sneak up to the house, but the police have it sealed off. They notice Harry and Ed approaching the house, and Dean calls the police over. While they chase Ed and Harry, Dean and Sam sneak into the farmhouse and go down to the cellar. They hear a noise from a cabinet and open it, and find rats inside. Mordechai's ghost attacks them, and their rock salt fails to destroy it. As they try to get out, Mordechai attacks them and Sam tries to hold it off.

Ed and Harry circle around and watch as Sam and Dean burst out the front door and run away. The two hellhound investigators see Mordechai's ghost in the door and run right into the arms of the police.

Back at the motel, Dean draws the symbol and tries to figure out where he's seen it. They try to figure out why the ghost keeps changing it patterns, and Sam checks the website. There's a new blog post describing what they just say. Meanwhile, Dean finally realizes where he's seen the symbol. They go back to the record store and confront Craig, Dean explains that the symbol is the logo for Blue Oyster Cult. Craig admits that he and his cousin Dana set up the farmhouse to make it look like it was haunted. They painted a variety of symbols, including some from a theology textbook, and made up the story about Mordechai. However, Ed and Harry put it on their website and it took on a life of their own. He's shocked that Jill is dead and insists that they made the whole thing up.



Later, Sam is taking a shower when Dean comes back and puts itching powder in his underwear. Sam suggests that Mordechai is a tulpa. They go to get something to eat, and Dean has trouble sitting down. He explains that a group of Tibetan monks imagined a spirit, a tulpa, into being, and notes that 20,000 Internet bloggers could create something much stronger. One of the symbols that Craig and Dana painted on the walls was a Tibetan focusing sigil. There's a photo of it on the website, and all the people seeing it caused the tulpa to come to life. As the legend changes, people think different things and Mordechai keeps changing. Now the tulpa has taken on a life of its own. Worse, Harry and Ed have posted video of their sighting on their website, and their hits have quadrupled. Dean gets an idea and says that they have to find a copy store. As they go, Sam realizes that Dean has pulled another prank on him.



Harry and Ed are at their trailer, and Ed is trying to psych Harry up to go back to the house. Dean and Sam arrive and tell them to shut down their website. Ed insists they have an obligation to their fans to publish the truth, so Sam says that they know a secret about Mordechai. They finally tell them in return for a promise to shut down their website. Once the investigators agree, Sam and Dean claim that Mordechai died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound from a .45, and he's been vulnerable to them ever since. Ed and Harry quickly run off to publish their newest scoop.



At a diner, Sam checks the Internet and confirms that Ed and Harry have posted their new story. He figures that by nightfall, Mordechai can be destroyed by guns. As they share a toast, Dean discovers that Sam has put superglue on his beer bottle.

That night, Sam and Dean lure the sheriff and his deputy away with a talking fish plaque. They get inside the farmhouse and discover that Harry and Ed are there. Mordechai bursts out of the cellar and Sam and Dean open fire. The tulpa disappears briefly, but then reappears and attacks Harry. As it fades away, the investigators explain that their server crashed and their story didn't take. Harry and Ed run for it, but Mordechai is waiting. Sam lures him away and wrestles with the tulpa, and tells Harry and Ed to run. Meanwhile, Dean spreads lighter fluid throughout the house. He then sets a spray can on fire to drive Mordechai back, and tells Sam that they need to destroy the house, since Mordechai can't leave. The brothers run outside and watch as the tulpa dissipates. Sam wonders what happens if the legend changes again and Mordechai can leave the house, and Dean figures they'll have to come back.



Later, Sam and Dean go to see Harry and Ed. The investigators say that they've sold their story to a Hollywood producer. They're off to Hollywood to develop their property, and the Winchesters wish them luck. Once they're gone, Sam admits that he's the one who called and told them he was a producer. Dean admits he put a dead fish in their back seat. They agree to a temporary truce in their prank war. and drive away.



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