JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Part 1: Phantom Blood

Akari, Hirohiko. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Part 1: Phantom Blood, Vol. 1. 2015. 245p. ISBN 9781421578798. In the graphic novels section of the library.

When Dio Brando arrives at the Joestar's estate's new adoptive son, Jonathan, heir to the Joestar's fortune, fully expects to become best friends with him. Dio, however, has his eyes on the fortune, and he will do everything he can to undermine Jonathan in front of his father, so he can secure the title of heir. And immediately, Jonathan discovers that Dio will do anything to make him miserable.

When Dio's father came upon a broken and destroyed carriage, he hoped to secure the riches of the dead people inside, but Jonathan's father was still alive, and, to thank the man, he offered to take care of his son when he came of age, and provided him with money to educate him. A strange stone mask of the Aztec was also in the carriage when it crashed.

Over the years, Dio kills Jonathan's dog, sexually assaults his first love, and humiliates him in front of Jonathan's friends and acquaintances. As the two grow even further part, the climate at the Joestar's estate gets worse. When Dio's attempt at poisoning his adopted father is discovered by Jonathan, Dio fears there's now nothing left to do but kill Jonathan. Having read the research Jonathan did on the stone mask, Dio realizes that this might in fact be the one tool he can use to dispatch the rightful heir. Unfortunately, his plans fail when he's outfoxed by Jonathan, so Dio elects to use the stone mask on himself as he escapes the estate ...

Infested

Colón, Angel Luis. Infested. 2023. 304p. ISBN 9781665928410.

Manny is upset, and rightfully so. It is the summer before his senior year of high school, and his mother has decided to move the family from Texas to the Bronx, in New York City, to be with his stepfather, who has just secured employment as caretaker for a condo building. One of the perks of the job is a free apartment, and her mother is thrilled she will be able to save some money for Manny's college. Plus, maybe New York will be a better place all of them, including Manny's sister, who is not yet in school.

As a result, Manny moves away from his friends in Texas, and has to quit his job. Al, his stepfather, tells him he can work for him in the building to make some spending money. Manny also has to find a new school to enroll for his senior year, something he dreads. When he meets Sasha outside the building, he learns that she is protesting the building being turned into luxury condos, to the detriment of the neighborhood. Sasha is also soon to be a senior, and she knows a lot of people, so despite his misgivings about her protesting Al's place of work, Manny soon becomes friends with her.

Manny also connects with Mr. Mueller, the elderly German immigrant who owns an extermination company. With his son Peter, Mr. Mueller has been hired to removes all bugs from the building, and for some strange reasons there are cockroaches everywhere. Manny even dreams that they enter his mouth! Soon, however, what was merely annoying and gross becomes horrific as Manny finds roaches crawling under his skin, and in other places they should not be. Then Manny and Sasha discover that Mr. Mueller actually died in a fire he had deliberately set decades ago on the same spot that the condo building now stands.

With his family still living in the building, Manny and Sasha must devise a way to defeat Mr. Mueller and his insect minions before this building also goes up in flames!

Creepy and fast-moving, Infested will keep the reader on the edge of their seat as they discover with Manny the dastardly deeds Mr. Mueller has committed and his reasons for doing so. Fans of horror and paranormal will enjoy this scary tale.

The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House

 Gaiman, Neil. The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House. 1990. 232p. ISBN 9781563892257.

When Morpheus was imprisoned in Sandman, Vol. 1, one of the people who suffered greatly was Unity Kincaid. Caught in a dream, Unity rarely woke up, and as decades came and went, she floated through them and barely remembered anything. She did recall having a baby while she slept, however. After Morpheus was freed, Unity tracked her child, who by now had a daughter of her own named Rose, and she invited them both to come to England so she could tell them about her life and learn about theirs.

After the initial shock of learning they are related, Rose is tasked by Unity to track down her missing brother, Jed. She returns to the United States, and tracks her brother to Florida. She secures a room in a house filled with strange individuals. Her brother, meanwhile, is being abused by a foster family, who chains him in the basement of their house so they can collect the money the state gives them every month.

Meanwhile, some of Morpheus' dream creatures have escaped the dream world and found residence in reality. Morpheus sets to find his errant creatures and either bring them back or eliminate them. But he soon discovers that Rose is a vortex, a rare human being who can rip the barriers between the dream world and human reality, and therefore must be eliminated.

As Rose continues her search, she finds herself in the middle of a serial killer convention, which is attended by some of Morpheus's creatures, one of whom has captured Jed and plans on killing him. As dreams and reality collide, can Rose find a way to save her brother while escaping Morpheus' goal of eliminating her as a threat of his real?

The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes

Gaiman, Neil. The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes. 1995. 234p. ISBN 9781563890116.

Morpheus, the Dream Lord, has just managed to escape his imprisonment at the hands of an occultist who had sought to capture Death instead. For seventy years, Morpheus has denied his captors his power, despite their promises of violence or reward. Meanwhile, the world stopped dreaming. People who were already in dreams remained caught, and were not able to escape what became known as the sleep sickness.

A mistake on the prison guards' part allowed Morpheus to escape, but he did not find his tools, the mask, the ruby, and the pouch of sand. These were stolen from the cult a long time ago. With so much work to do now that he is released, Morpheus returns to his castle, and plots the retrieval of his missing items. However, powerful forces stand in his way. First, Morpheus seeks his sand pouch, which has been abused by a former drug addict. He enrolls a private detective to help him retrieve it. He then visits Hell, to secure his mask. Finally, he confronts Doctor Destiny, who seeks to make everyone mad through the use of the ruby amulet.

With his items secured at last, Morpheus sets out to rebuild his kingdom, but not before having a conversation with Death ...

The story continues in Sandman, Vol. 2.

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. 2004. 324p. ISBN 9780743487580. 

The story of Frankenstein is a familiar one to most, even if the details are hazy. Everyone is familiar with the monster that Dr. Frankenstein created, but what if the real monster was the good doctor? In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is a dedicated man of science who is intrigued in the possibility of conquering death, and devises experiments to discover how to prevent people from dying. But to really stop dying, one must first figure out how life begins. Stealing body parts from corpses or murdering people to obtain them. Victor builds a man stitched together, and uses electricity to bring it to life. Unfortunately, he is immediately stricken with how hideous and horrific his creation truly is, and he renounces his newborn.

Left to rot and fend for himself, Frankenstein's monster loses what little innocence he had at the beginning, and he vows revenge on Victor and those he loves to punish him for his hubris. Chased by a relentless monster he cannot bring himself to destroy, Victor must flee to the end of the Earth, hoping against hope that he will find a salvation that will never come.

Written by Mary Shelley when she was only 18 years old, Frankestein inaugurated both the science fiction and the gothic genres, and explored what it means to be truly human. Frankestein is a must-read for fans of gothic horror, and in the modern age of genetic manipulations and science that pushes back the limit of what is possible, the questions that Frankenstein raise remain important.

Through the Woods

Carroll, Emily. Through the Woods. 2014. 208p. ISBN 9781442465954. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Through the Woods tells five stories of the horrors of loneliness and difference. Illustrated with reds and blacks, each story confronts the theoretical monster that lives in the dark or under the bed. Each of the five main characters are isolated in their own lives, either due to their nature or to circumstances, and each of them find themselves in a situation where the evil that lurks behind their imagination suddenly becomes very real.

Fans of horror will appreciate the darkness that permeates Through the Woods, but will want to keep the night light on after they're done reading.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

White, Kiersten. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein. 2018. 304p. ISBN 9780525577942. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Orphaned, Elizabeth Lavenza was entrusted to a group home where she was abused by the woman who was supposed to care for her. Rescued by Mrs. Frankenstein, who wishes her to be her young son's friend, Elizabeth meets Victor, and immediately realizes that the boy is very odd. He seems incapable to actually caring for other people. However, even at six years old Elizabeth realizes that Victor is her way out of the gutter, and she agrees to care and play with Victor.

Adopted by the Frankenstein, Elizabeth is not allowed to go to school across the lake from their manor residence, so she reads every book in the house, and listens to Victor retell his day and what he learned. They both are fascinated by how bodies work, and Victor is morbidly fascinated by death and how to prevent it. In their teens, they meet Henry, the child of one of the Frankensteins' creditors, and they soon form a trio of adventurers. Along the way Elizabeth rescues Justine, a child that was just like her, and Justine becomes the governess to Victor's two young children.

When Victor finally goes to University in Ingolstadt, Elizabeth is left behind with Henry. When he asks for her hand in marriage, and not having heard from Victor in months, she dispatches Henry to find Victor and secure his agreement, knowing that Victor will not give it. Henry does not return home, however, and Elizabeth despairs at not hearing from Victor. Along with Justine, they travel to Ingolstadt to track Victor. Elizabeth soon realizes that Victor has been experimenting on creating the perfect human being, but that instead he created a monster that is now causing havoc on the town.

As the monster gets closer to the Frankenstein, the family suffers one death after another. With her life in danger, will Elizabeth manage to escape the clutches of the Frankenstein monster?

Fans of Frankenstein will love this retelling, which, like the original story, explores what it means to be a monster, and what it means to be human. 

Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha and Omega

Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha and Omega. 2015. 192p. 9781613778531.

With Dodge now in possession of all the keys except for the head key, the demon from the other side of the door can open the gate in the caves underneath Locke mansion and release the foul beings. But Dodge doesn't just plan to unleash these forces. He has crafted an exquisite strategy that will enshrine him at the top of the pyramid, and he plans on using the prom party to celebrate the end of the school year to do so.

Meanwhile, Tyler received his father's message loud and clear, and he takes to crafting keys with Duncan, waiting for the right moment to melt down the fishing hook his father built with the magical metal from the other side of the gate. Kinsey is getting ready to celebrate her junior prom with the friends that she made, but first she needs to reconcile with them. Now that her fear and loathing are back in her head, this might prove hard to do.

Following the loss of his mother, Rufus is slated to be moved to a group home, but when he comes and visits the Lockes for the last time he immediately recognizes that Brode is now possessed by Dodge, and he attacks him. Condemned to the mental ward, he connects with Erin, whose head has been emptied, and he manages to escape and make his way back to Lockheart.

With the prom beginning, Dodge's efforts are about to come to fruition, and only the Locke children can save the world from catastrophe.

The concluding chapter of the series, Alpha and Omega is bittersweet as the bloodbath continues and favorite characters meet their tragic death. But not all is lost, and the Locke family is able to regain its humanity and understanding for each other. Fans of horror and graphic novels will appreciate how the authors complete the story, even if they find the ending not as satisfying as it could have been.

The Witcher, Vol. 3: Curse of Crows

Tobin, Paul and Joe Querio. The Witcher, Vol. 3: Curse of Crows. 2017. 136p.  ISBN 9781506701615.

Geralt is on his way to Novigrad and he is traveling with his daughter, the beautiful Ciri. They have been contracted to slay the Striga that plagues the city. A mythical monster stronger than most and exceedingly violent, most witchers stay clear of Strigas. Geralt, however, once confronted one and survived to tell the tale. With his daughter at his side, Geralt believes they can successfully defeat the Striga.

On the trip over to the sinking city, Ciri asks Geralt to explain how he defeated the first one. He tells her of the Duke who impregnated his sister and tried to marry her. She died in childbirth, and so did her child, but not before the midwife, who now runs a bath in Novigrad, witnessed the horrible creature that was birthed. 

This midwife is in fact the one who contracted the witchers to solve the Striga problem. Her son meets Ciri and reveals he can transform into a crow, and that his sister is the Striga they seek. Yennifer, Geralt's former wife, pays him and her daughter a visit, and attempts to stir them away from the Striga, convinced that they are in danger if they attempt to slay it. But Ciri wants her own adventure ...

The Witcher, Vol. 2: Fox Children

 Tobin, Paul and Joe Querio. The Witcher, Vol. 2: Fox Children. 2014. 136p.  ISBN 9781616557935.

Looking for transport to Novigrad, Geralt the Witcher and his dwarven friend Addario book passage on a ship heading for that city. The passengers, led by Mr. Fysh, happen to be on a secret mission. At first glance it appears they have been hired to retrieve a child that has been kidnapped by a vulpess, a fox imbued with intelligence, the ability to transform into a human, and the cunning skills of a master illusionist. Unfortunately for the group, they were unable to find the child, so instead they captured another vulpess child and are bringing that creature back to Novigrad to collect the reward. Geralt knows this is a really bad idea, but since the ship is already underway, it is too late for him and Addario to get off.

As they sail down the river, the crew soon becomes aware that the mother vulpess is trailing them. Soon the ship and its crew finds itself hopelessly lost in the swamp, and dangerous illusions begin to play havoc on the dim-witted crew members. Sometimes, however, the real monsters are not the creatures out there in the swamp, but those on the ship ... 

The Witcher, Vol. 1: House of Glass

Tobin, Paul and Joe Querio. The Witcher, Vol. 1: House of Glass. 2014. 120p.  ISBN 9781616554743.

Geralt the Witcher is traveling when he encounters Jakob, a hunter living on the edge of the Brokilon forest. A welcomed sight after days without human contacts, Geralt and Jakob are both happy for the company. Geralt saves Jakob from a Drowned attack, and the two then spend some time hunting and fishing. Jakob tells Geralt about his wife Marta, who was captured by female vampires and transformed into one of them. Ever since, she's been haunting these woods, and Jakob feels he can't depart and leave her behind. Geralt agrees to enter the forest with him and see if they can find Marta.

Venturing deep in the forest, they are confronted by a Leshen and a grave hag, before stumbling upon a manor house, with Marta standing on the balcony. The manor is not what it seems, and its denizens are under a curse. Geralt and Jakob soon find themselves in danger as they seek to discover what happened to Marta and who is holding the inhabitants back...

Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks

Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks. 2015. 160p. 9781613772270.

The history of the Locke house is revealed as Tyler and Kinsey get their hand on a time traveling key. They discover the origins of the gate in the caves under the sea, and they find out that the keys themselves were crafted out of the metal that the demonic entities transform into when they enter this world. They witness the efforts of Ben Locke to close the gate forever by designing an ingenious systems of locks crafted from the very metal that comes from the other side. Ben Locke's own history is also a tragedy, with his parents hanged for harboring rebels who remain on the property in the caves, and who first discovered the gate. 

They also witness the role their father played in this drama when he and his group of friends opened the gate so that they could experience the last key before the power imbued in them made them forget. It is at this time that the entity that the Locke children knew as Zach Wells came across, and possessed Lucas Caravaggio, also known as Dodge. Two friends were lost that day, and the rest of the group was never the same.

As Tyler and Kinsey travel through time, Bode, who is now possessed by Dodge, continues his search for the Omega key that would allow him to open the gate in the flooded cave below the house, to untold consequences. With time running out, the siblings are a breath away from complete catastrophe.

Head Lopper & The Knights of Venora

MacLean, Andrew and Jordie Bellaire. Head Lopper & The Knights of Venora. Vol 3 of the series. 2019. 224p. ISBN 9781534313330. 

Norgal the Head Lopper heads to the walled city of Venoriah, still carrying the head of the witch Agatha. Both of them seek answers of their own to explain what happened to them. On his way there, Norgal rescues the Third Sword from a goblin attack, and discovers that the city itself, built around what many believe is an enormous egg, is under threat of a goblin assault.

In Venoriah, Norgal meets First Sword, the captain of the king's guard, who was bravely injured during his patrol with Third Sword, and he recognizes the man who was there at the time Norgal chopped Agatha's head off. First Sword had fostered a magical stone into Norgal's hand, and ever since the Head Lopper has been plagued with doubts and powerful visions, guided by the goddess Verona herself.

Enemies of the Head Lopper still seek the witch's head, however. Maneuvering in the shadows, a powerful being triggers his agents in the city of Venoriah, and soon the city is confronted by a mob of goblins on the outside and reptilian assassins on the inside. As it descends into chaos, the egg begins to break apart, and its content is shockingly revealed to all. The dangers threatening Norgal and Agatha have never been so deadly!

Head Lopper & the Crimson Tower

MacLean, Andrew and Jordie Bellaire. Head Lopper & The Crimson Tower. Vol 2 of the series. 2018. 200p. ISBN 9781534305083. 

Following his adventure on the island of Barra, Norgal, also known as the Head Lopper, had secured a boat and a crew for himself, the talking and conscious head of the witch Agatha, Zhaania, of the Kota, and her apprentice Xho, who was to be sold as a slave to the witches of Barra. Norgal accompanies Zhaannia and Xho to the Crimson Tower, a large structure in the jungle where the best warriors are invited every year to participate in a challenge organized by the necromancer Ulrich, the Twice Damned and master of horrors in the tower. Zhaannia is searching for her mother, who came to the Crimson Tower the last time to save the Kota village from Ulrich's depradations.

Joined by a hero of the local Fonda Leaf people, the group enters the tower, only to be confronted by deadly traps and warriors. Ulrich is thrilled that Agatha's head is in, as he wishes to add it to his collection. Navigating the challenges will be hard, but at the end stands Berserk, Ulrich's best creation and ultimate defender of the Crimson Tower. Can Norgal and his friends defeat the necromancer and rescue Zhaannia's mother and sisters?

Locke & Key, Vol. 4: Keys to the Kingdom

Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, Vol. 4: Keys to the Kingdom. 2015. 152p. 978-1600108860.

With Zach still lurking and searching for the keys, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode are continuously besieged by horrors and monsters. With most of these events happening during the weekend, Tyler is slowly coming to the realization that Zach is somehow involved, since he's supposedly away in Boston doing research during this time. Bode finds a key that allows him to transform into an animal, and he becomes a bird. Zach uses the same door, and becomes a wolf that then attacks the family out in the woods.

A contemporary of the Locke children's father lives in the local asylum, and Kinsey is convinced she knows something, since her name was on the list found in an underground sea cave. Using a mirror found by Bode, she transforms into an African-American teen, and makes her way to the asylum. Unfortunately that woman also recognized Zach, and he uses one of the keys to enter her room, stumbling on Kinsey. Kinsey discovers that Dodge is an actual person.

Tyler breaks up with Jordan after finding another guy in her bed. Kinsey has a fallout with her friends after using the memory key to get in their heads. Rufus comes over to play with Bode but meets an unfriendly ghost and tells Bode that Zach Wells is the enemy. Uncle Duncan's boyfriend emerges from a coma and tells Tyler enough information to cast even more suspicion on Zach. 

With the cops snooping around, and the Locke children putting more clues together, Zach is forced to make a deadly move ...

oe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Locke & Key unwinds into its fourth volume in Keys to the Kingdom. With more keys making themselves known, and the depths of the Locke family's mystery ever-expanding, Dodge's desperation to end his shadowy quest drives the inhabitants of Keyhouse ever closer to a revealing conclusion.

The Raven's Tale

Winters, Cat. The Raven's Tale. 2019. 368p. ISBN 9781419733628.

Following the death of his mother, Edgar Poe became the ward of a rich family, the Allans. His foster father hoped to guide Edgar towards a productive and responsible role in society, but the teen's desire, no, the existential need to write poetry created a rift between them that could not be mended. Inspired by the  muse Lenore that proves to be real, Poe heads to university, but his father is witholding funds from him and refuses to pay the full tuition, leaving Poe in the throes of poverty and starvation.

Struggling to make ends meet and put food on his table, Poe goes from bad to worse as he gambles away the little money he has. Meanwhile, he continues to write feverishly, and Lenore haunts his days and nights. Is Poe condemned to settle for his foster father's desired path for him, or can he make a break and lead his own poetic life?

The Lucky Ones

Reisz, Tiffany. The Lucky Ones. 2018. 365p. 628 mins. ISBN 9780778331162. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

At seven Allison found herself an orphan following a drinking and driving accident. Sent to an orphanage, she was soon adopted by renowned brain surgeon Dr. Vincent Capello, who recognized her intelligence. Allison went to live with him and six other adopted children in his great green house, appropriately called the Dragon, on the Oregon Coast yards away from the Pacific Ocean. Allison's life became perfect, with loving siblings, a doting father, and plenty of room to stretch her wings. But even at seven, Allison was attracted to the enigmatic Roland, Dr. Capello's oldest son. Five years older, Roland had lived his own tragedy when his sister Rachel had fallen in a hole on the beach while they were playing and died buried in the sand. On stormy nights, Allison would often crawl in Roland's bed, looking for security and comfort.

When Allison was twelve, she fell down the 3rd floor stairs and was whisked away from the house by a concerned aunt who had received a phone call that someone was trying to kill her. For the last thirteen years, Allison has done everything she could to forget the house and its inhabitants. She moved across the country, became the mistress of a billionaire, and lived a generally happy life. All of this is thrown into chaos on the same morning her boyfriend breaks up with her and she receives a letter from Roland informing her that their father is dying.

Finally offered an opportunity to figure out what really happened to her that fateful night, and also the possibility of reconnecting with family members, Allison heads west and returns to Oregon, where she is reunited with Roland, which reignite her love for him. Catching up on what has happened in the last thirteen years, Allison can't help but worry that the person who wished her harm is still here. As she asks questions, however, she realizes that everyone has secrets, and that some secrets are deadly and worth killing for ...

Fans of mystery will enjoy this gothic tale, with dark corners always close by. Similar to We Were Liars, the ending is unpredictable and will surprise the reader.

Head Lopper, Vol 1: The Island or A Plague of Beasts

 MacLean, Andrew with Mike Spicer. Head Lopper, Vol 1: The Island or A Plague of Beasts. 2016. 280p. ISBN 978-1-63-215-886-4.

Norgal, also known as the Head Lopper, is delivering slave cargo to the island of Barra. Ruled in theory by a King, the island of Barra is in fact controlled by a powerful sorcerer who has been confined to the Black Bog and who cannot leave its borders. Nothing prevents him from sending forth monsters, however, and the whole island has been plagued by them for a long time.

Upon arriving in Barra, the Head Lopper remove the head of a sea monster, and when payment for the slaves doesn't arrive, he takes the head cleric's amulet for himself. The Head Lopper carries around a bag containing the head of Agatha, an old witch. Despite having been removed from its body, the head remains alive and well, and Agatha never misses an opportunity to berate and mock the Head Lopper.

Hearing of his prowess, Queen Abigail hires the Head Lopper to go to the Black Bog and kill the sorcerer. With the king absent, with the king's stewart plotting his own ascent to the throne, and with witches not pleased to see the head of one of their own in his hands, the Head Lopper will need to use all of his fighting skills to survive the trek and defeat an enemy who has long been planning Norgal's arrival ...

Fans of fantasy will appreciate the creepiness that permeates the island of Barra, and will enjoy the action drawings as well as the strong plot that propels the story forward.

Locke & Key, Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows

Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, vol 3: Crown of Shadows. 2014. 152p. 978-1600106958.

There is no rest for the Locke children as Zack Wells continues his relentless search for the missing keys. In control of the Shadow key, Zach attacks the Locke siblings, but Kinsey rescues Bode, while Tyler becomes a giant using a giant key and lock Bode had discovered earlier, and he defeats the shadow monsters Zach sent against them by throwing it against the lighthouse.

When told there is writing on the wall of an old cave, near the low tide mark, Kinsey agrees to go with friends to explore what used to be an old Second World War shore battery. After she enters the water and is joined by her friend, the platform they were standing on collapses, throwing the other two people in her group in the water, and it becomes a race to survive.

Meanwhile, their mother is struggling with the violent death of her husband and her rape, and she has turned to the bottle to quell the pain. In doing so, however, she is drifting further away from her children. When she discovers a cabinet that can make something broken whole, she does not hesitate and places her dead husband's funeral urn in there, hoping to return him to life. Unfortunately it does not work, and in the process the urn is broken, revealing yet another key...

Locke & Key, vol 2: Headgames

Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, vol 2: Headgames. 2010. 978-1600107610.

Zack Wells has infiltrated the life of the Locke children in Locke & Key, vol. 1, and despite Bode's insistence that he easily would identify the girl in the well, Zack continues his search for the missing keys. Recognized by a teacher he once had twenty years ago, Zack engineers his death, but instead of being a suicide like he planned, Zack is forced to kill the man, creating emotional upheavals in the Locke household even though they barely knew that teacher. 

Bode finds a key that allows him to open his head and add or remove memories at will. Tyler and Kinsey are both repulsed and intrigued by this newfound ability to take away unwanted memories and add whole books worth of information. Using the head key, Kinsey removes her lack of self-confidence and her fear from her head, and imprisons them in a bottle.  Ty uses it to cram for an exam he didn't study.

Their uncle Duncan, meanwhile, also remembers Zack from a previous encounter. Hanging out with his lover at a bar, both men are assaulted by two enraged women who bemoan the loss of the town to gays. They return home, where they are followed by the women who are bent on inflicting harm, but Zack beats them to it by forcing Duncan's boyfriend out, where he is accidentally hit by the women's car. Zack then removes Duncan's memory of him, and returns home to Ellie and her son, who remains impervious to Zack's charm and powers.