A ghost is chasing the Ghostbusters (who are on foot) in a van. The van eventually falls down into the street below and the ghost flies up. Egon tracks it into the cafeteria and they try to trap it, but it escapes. They chase it through an auction and into a bathroom, but it escapes again. They track its signal into a bus, where after a struggle, Peter catches it.
A crowd starts clapping and cheering, then a man starts interviewing Peter while a second man interviews the other three but gets their surnames wrong. A woman named Barbara Mentile, the assistant of someone named Charles Foster Hearse, approaches Peter, who finds her attractive and begins flirting with her. Ray and Egon reveal that Mr. Hearse is in charge of ghost-related magazines, and Barbara reveals that she was put in charge of finding someone to be nominated Ghost Hunter of the Year.
She takes the Ghostbusters for a ride in her limo to her penthouse, where they meet Mr. Hearse. He shows them the Spooks Illustrated magazine and explains that whoever wins Ghost Hunter of the Year will be on the front cover. He and Barbara then explain that the award will go to whoever can capture the ghost of Mr. Hearse's grandfather (who he was named after and who established the magazine). Winston is not on board with the idea of working separately, but the rest of them are more open to it.
The Ghostbusters, Mr. Hearse, and Barbara head to Hearse Castle, passing a mansion and some artificial snow on the way there. Barbara drops them off in the basement, where Ray and Egon start geeking out, but Winston is still against doing separate work. While the rest start hunting, he decides to just wait until morning, when he sees some spooky eyes in the darkness. A ghost then chases him into another room.
Meanwhile, Egon is in a garden admiring a nasturtium, when another plant grabs him by the neck and arms. He breaks through, sees a ghost, and tries to catch it but fails. Ray is looking at some books, when the same ghost approaches him. He tries to catch it, but also fails. Peter is in a room full of taxidermied animals and medieval decor, when some billiard balls start levitating and the same ghost appears. He also tries unsuccessfully to catch it, then Ray, Peter, and Egon try to catch it again several more times but fail again. All the while, the ghost is chanting, "Rosebud".
Peter, Egon, and Ray eventually meet up with each other in a room and discuss the situation, with Egon wondering what "Rosebud" means. Then, they realise that Winston is unaccounted for. They hear him screaming and chase after him, eventually finding him in a basement, where a sled is. The ghost appears again, still chanting, "Rosebud", and they try to trap him, but he flies into a statue, bringing it to life. They run away and end up outside, where Winston has brought the sled with him and they end up sledding. Then, Winston finds that the sled has "Rosebud" written on it. The ghost takes the sled, sleds off, and disappears.
Barbara walks up and asks if they caught the ghost. Peter replies that she won't be seeing him again, and when she asks who did it, they all point at one another and say, "He did!". Thus, everyone ends up on the front cover (but Winston still thinks publicity is overrated).
This episode provides examples of
- Accidental Misnaming: A man calls Ray "Zantz", Egon "Stengler", and Winston "Speddemore", when their actual last names are Stantz, Spengler, and Zeddemore.
- Animate Inanimate Object: The Hearse ghost brings a statue to life.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- When Ray says, "That's disgusting!", it seems like he's talking about the ghost being a messy eater, but really he's talking about the sandwich.
- It initially appears as though Winston is barefoot and buried in trash, but it turns out to be a mannequin.
- Bannister Slide: When Peter is chasing the ghost in Hearse Castle, he at one point exclaims, "Geronimo!" and slides down a bannister.
- Big Eater: The ghost in the cafeteria stuffs a great deal of food into its mouth.
- Catchphrase: The Hearse ghost keeps repeating, "Rosebud".
- Chekhov's Gun: The sled that Winston finds in the basement turns out to be the reason the ghost was chanting, "Rosebud", since that's what was written on it.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Ray says that he read Spooks Illustrated as a kid and Peter agrees, adding, "Especially the swimsuit issue", then Egon adds, "I've always wanted to be on the cover", Winston says, "Of the swimsuit issue?!".
- Conforming OOC Moment: Egon, who is normally The Stoic, gasps along with the rest of the Ghostbusters upon seeing the mansion.
- Darkness Von Gothick Name: Charles's last name (unless it's a pen name) is Hearse.
- Dirty Kid: Apparently, when Peter was a kid, he'd read the swimsuit issue of Spooks Illustrated.
- Does Not Like Spam: Ray calls a chicken salad sandwich disgusting.
- Early Personality Signs: Apparently, Peter has been a Casanova Wannabe since childhood, since he claims he read the swimsuit issue of Spooks Illustrated as a child.
- Fat and Proud: One of the ads in the Spooks Illustrated magazine advertises getting fat quickly.
- Fingore: Downplayed when Ray gets a papercut on his finger.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Downplayed. While Peter finds Barbara attractive regardless, he thinks she'd look even prettier without her glasses on.
- Green Is Gross: The ghost that Peter catches in the beginning is dark green and a slovenly, messy eater.
- Last-Name Basis: Attempted when a man tries to address Ray, Egon, and Winston by last name but gets their surnames wrong.
- Not So Stoic: When the Ghostbusters see the mansion near Hearse Castle, they gasp at its size, including Egon.
- The Pratfall: When confronted with the ghost, Peter slips on a billiard ball and lands on his butt.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The ghost that chases Winston has red eyes.
- Shout-Out:
- Peter once jokes that Mr. Hearse's penthouse is where they shot The Wizard of Oz.
- Peter says, "United we stand, divided we fall. All for one and..." before being interrupted, which is from The Three Musketeers.
- The idea of a sled and the word "Rosebud" comes from Citizen Kane.
- Slapstick:
- When Ray fails to catch the ghost, he ends up buried in books and with a papercut.
- When running away from the statue, the Ghostbusters end up falling on top of one another.
- The Ghostbusters end up sticking out of the snow upside down when they fall off the sled.
- Snarking Thanks: When Peter defines the word "rosebud" after Egon wonders why the ghost was saying it, Ray insincerely "thanks" him.
- Speak in Unison:
- Egon and Ray say, "Uh-oh" in unison when they realise that they haven't seen Winston since the ghost appeared.
- When Barbara asks who caught the ghost, the Ghostbusters say in unison, "He did!", pointing at one another.
- Spoonerism: Towards the beginning, a man tries to call Ray, Egon, and Winston by their last names (Stantz, Spengler, and Zeddemore), but instead calls them "Zantz", "Stengler", and "Spedmore".
