When Mr Gaylord Johnson fails to turn up for his curtain call for the third act young stage manager Billy goes to seek him out and finds him in his dressing room with his wrists and face slashed with his own razor blade. He tells Billy he intends to return from the dead to haunt the theatre to eternity before falling down dead. Mr Aimes the owner of the theater is unable to hire actors as they claim to have seen the ghost. Mr Aimes contacts Lamont Cranston for his help in seeking out the ghost which seems determined to keep the theater closed.