The Spirit Photographer
Paranormal photographer Algernon Colesbury (Frank Hamilton) invents a device he calls "the Spirit Attractor", which creates an energy field that empowers ghosts and lures them into the open. Algernon does this in the hopes that he can capture a perfect image of a ghost, and use that picture to convince his skeptical best friend Harry Bainbridge (Richard Clarke) that the forces of the supernatural are real. To assist in his mission, Algernon purchases the Jackson Townhouse, a haunted house in Newhaven to use as a testing site for the Spirit Attractor. As his investigation gets underway, Algernon discovers that his new acquisition has at least one ghost inhabiting it: a malevolent phantom known as Lenore (Terres Unsoeld), said to be responsible for the previous owner's lifetime of sin and his own suicide.
Tropes:
- As You Know: Harry and Algernon's opening banter reveals the truth behind the Jackson Townhouse's haunting by Lenore. Algernon's monologues to his tape recorder also mention that the house's owner, Emerick Jackson, killed himself in 1933, after Lenore possessed and coerced him into performing the myriad of wicked acts that defiled the house.
- Bottle Episode: The episode is set entirely in the living room of the haunted Jackson Townhouse.
- Chekhov's Lecture: Algernon's lesson to Harry about how camera flashes are capable of dispelling a ghost's energy comes into play at the climax of the episode, where he uses an ordinary Polaroid to drive Lenore away before she can possess him.
- Chromosome Casting: Lenore, the ghost haunting the Jackson Townhouse, is the only female entity present.
- Dead All Along: Three days after his fateful encounter with Lenore, Algernon learns through the visiting Harry that he died of a stroke.
- Decoy Damsel: When she materializes, Lenore cries and wails to lure Jackson into thinking of her as a tormented soul, before she drops the act and moves closer to him, voicing her desire to possess him like she did to Emerick.
- Demonic Possession: In his will, it's mentioned that Emerick Jackson, original owner of Algernon's new haunted house, was possessed by Lenore into organizing orgies and acts of torture, ultimately killing himself to escape her grasp. When she manifests before Algernon, Lenore tries to do the same to him.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title applies to both the Spirit Attractor, the ghost-catching camera Algernon invents, and Algernon himself, who becomes a ghost after trying to snap a picture of one.
- Evil Is Hammy: Lenore wails incessantly and makes outlandish gestures as she appears before Algernon, almost as if she's showing off to the man who lured her into the open while potentially preparing to kill him. She then starts talking directly to Algernon as she reveals that she was putting on an act, goading him into entering her wicked embrace like a cartoon villain.
- Evil Tainted the Place: The Jackson Townhouse, as it's haunted by the ghostly Lenore. Under her influence, the house's former owner Emerick Jackson committed a variety of horrific events, including orgies and torture, as well as his own suicide in a desperate means to escape her, to the point where Harry notes that even the smell of the place is evil.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Algernon's phone is heard ringing as he waits for Lenore to make her presence known. A few minutes later, Harry barges in and disrupts the specter's attempt to materialize, noting to Algernon that he tried calling him half a dozen times.
- Ghostly Wail: When Lenore finally appears, she wails loudly at Algernon while contorting her face and body in a highly-theatrical manner.
- Haunted House: The Jackson Townhouse, said (and confirmed) to be haunted by the malevolent ghost Lenore. Algernon purchases the house so he can use it as a testing site for the Spirit Attractor.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: After he drives Lenore away with his Polaroid, Algernon's heart is heard furiously pumping as he slumps into a nearby chair, where he ultimately dies of a stroke.
- Insistent Terminology: At one point, Algernon confirms to Harry that Lenore is a spirit, not a ghost.
- Irony: While debunking his idea and purpose behind the Spirit Attractor, Harry notes that he should've persuaded Algernon to get married, saying that a woman would be able to get him in touch with reality. By the end of the episode, Algernon is confronted by Lenore, a ghost who resembles a bride who gives him the scare of his life.
- Life Drain: Algernon notes to Harry that ghosts don't like being photographed, as it painfully disperses their spiritual energy. The Spirit Attractor is meant to generate a field of conducive energy to empower spirits so a photograph taken of them won't drain their energies and allow for said photo to be technically perfect. Algernon notes that a side effect of this process comes from the Attractor draining the energy of living things to empower the ghosts, which affects him and induces a stroke.
- Magitek: Algernon’s Spirit Attractor, meant to lure ghosts, spirits, wraiths, and phantoms out in the open by generating a conducive energy field, so he can capture perfect images of them. The unfortunate side effect comes from the fact that it drains the life of living things to do this.
- Moment Killer: As Lenore causes one of Harry's crystal balls to glow and levitate, Harry barges inside after ringing the bell, making her flee and drop the ball in the process.
- Nothing Is Scarier: We learn nothing about where Lenore came from, or how long she's actually haunted the Jackson Townhouse. She is simply just there, and makes it a habit to manipulate and kill everyone who moves into the place for her own sadism.
- Odd Friendship: Despite being a firm believer in the supernatural and a skeptic who refuses to believe such things, Algernon and Harry are close friends.
- One-Woman Wail: Lenore does this constantly, before enticing Algernon to fall into her clutches.
- Ouija Board: In the first act, Algernon uses one of them to contact the soul of Emerick Jackson, the original owner of his new haunted house. When contact is made, Emerick uses a nearby chalkboard to warn Algernon of the potential danger he's putting himself in.
- P.O.V. Cam: We get a couple shots from Algernon's point of view as he's rebuked by Harry for trying to throw him out.
- Skepticism Failure: Harry spends the episode being a grumpy skeptic who thinks of the supernatural as a load of bull. After Algernon dies, Harry sees the photos he took of Lenore and learns that his friend was right all along, wearing a hazmat suit and taking his own pictures of the now-ghostly Algernon.
- Spooky Photographs: Algernon makes his living trying to capture ghosts on film, which Harry has often tried to debunk. The episode occurs because he invents the Spirit Attractor, the ultimate ghost-catching camera, and purchases the haunted Jackson Townhouse to get a ghost's picture once and for all.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: Despite the fact that Algernon realizes he's died of a stroke, he not only accepts his fate, but he's elated that the Spirit Attractor worked and he's completed his life's mission of getting a perfect image of a ghost, and giddy with anticipation of the adventures waiting for him on the other side. He ends the episode saying goodbye to Harry (after finally proving to him that ghosts are real and leading him to become a ghost photographer himself) and turning off the Spirit Attractor, ascending to Heaven peacefully.
- Talking to Themself: Algernon spends over half the episode speaking into a tape recorder as he tries to get a picture of Lenore, the wicked phantom haunting his new house.
- Time Skip: At the end of the episode, time moves forward three days after Algernon captured Lenore's picture and died of a stroke, where Harry found the photograph and became a ghost photographer himself.
- Vengeful Ghost: Lenore, who has haunted the Jackson Townhouse since the 1930s at the earliest. She is said in Emerick Jackson's will to have possessed him into performing the atrocious acts that turned the house into a pit of evil, and nearly kills Algernon when she goads him into thinking she's a tortured soul.
- Wham Shot: The newspaper revealing an obituary: "Algernon Colesbury; 'Spirit Photographer Dies'."
