The malevolent spirit of a serial killer has returned from the grave to wreak unholy vengeance on the people who saw him convicted — or at least that is Castle's belief when he unintentionally watches a "haunted" film connected to the case of a woman who was frightened to death.
- 13 Is Unlucky: The Brunswick Inn mentions the rooms of 13 are used for witnesses at trial.
- Thirty Second Black Out: Caused by the killer so that she can enter her victim's house.
- Agent Scully: Castle lampshades this, hoping Beckett could explain the bizarre things that had happened.
- Ax-Crazy: Nigel Malloy.Beckett: Wow, that guy puts a new meaning in the word psycho.
- Breather Episode: This is a silly episode following the Alexis kidnapping two-parter that introduced us to Castle's father and before the season finale.
- Call-Back: Remember that trick Beckett said she does with ice cubes? She offers to do this at the end of the episode.
- Chekhov's Gun: Castle's holy water bottle came in handy in knocking out Amanda.
- The Dreaded: Nigel Malloy has killed half a dozen people, earning him a fearsome reputation.
- Driven to Suicide: Amanda's father, David, electrocuted himself in his cell, realizing that no one would believe him that he wasn't the killer.
- Furniture Blockade: The opening scene has the victim sliding her sofa against her door (after already locking the deadbolts) to try and ward off whoever's threatened to kill her that night.
- Gilligan Cut: Castle (who believes he's been cursed to die) comments that a good night's sleep might help him solve the case. The camera then cuts to him still awake at 3:12 a.m.
- Hell Hotel: After viewing the tape, Castle manages to identify the inn leading them to learn about Malloy.
- It's for a Book: Castle pretends he's calling Wes Craven because he wants to write a horror movie, not because he's terrified of a cursed DVD.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Small one. Esposito gets greedy, wondering if he'll get anything if Castle did die from a supernatural threat. He gets a Jump Scare for this.
- Amanda subjects the witnesses that wrongly identified her father the same way he died.
- Long List: Castle prepares a list of things he wanted to do before he die.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Having mistaken an innocent man for the murderer, Val, Jason and Heller have been bearing guilt ever since.
- Never Found the Body: Nigel's body was never found, leaving the detectives and audience to wonder if he's alive or not.
- Not So Above It All: Ryan and Esposito both refuse to watch the cursed movie. Only Becket has the ovaries to watch it. Castle begs her not to, then blocks out all the windows.
- Oh, Crap!: Upon learning that Val and Jason's murderer might be Nigel Malloy, Beckett is in complete shock.
- Police Are Useless: The cops that were put on the Malloy case were responsible for pressuring the witnesses to identify the wrong guy, who was driven to kill himself.
- Red Baron: Nigel Malloy is called the Grim Reaper.
- Sex Signals Death: Referenced when Castle mentions how having sex in horror movies is usually fatal and refuses to have sex with Beckett during the period where Castle's supposedly been cursed to die.
- Shout-Out: The creepy video is a dada-esque nightmare full of references to Un Chien Andalou, especially the close-up on the woman's eye.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Even under investigation, Esposito asks Castle what kind of reward he gets if he did die.
- Played for Laughs. Beckett gets angry upon learning Castle broke her vase.
- Special Guest: Wes Craven.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Leopold had his doctor find Heller to protect him from whatever was killing the Malloy witnesses.
- Wham Line: When Heller explained that David had a daughter named Amanda, Castle realized that Val's roommate has the same name.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ryan is disgusted at his partner for his lack of concern for Castle when he's under threat by presumably a supernatural force.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To The Ring. Lampshaded during Castle's call to Wes Craven, who points out the story Castle is pitching is rather derivative.
- You Killed My Father: The real killer, Amanda, hunted down the witnesses who accidentally put her father in jail.
