The Boogie Man Will Get You 1942

Facing mounting mortgage debts, Nathaniel Billings — a dedicated professor — sells his 18th-century tavern to Winnie Slade, who plans to convert it into a hotel. As part of the deal, Billings insists he can continue working in a basement laboratory, a condition that lets him pursue experiments unseen by the inn’s new owner. The inn’s other staff, including Amelia Jones and Ebenezer, stay on, while Layden’s ex-husband Bill Layden reluctantly remains for a few days.

Unbeknownst to the new owner, Billings’s basement experiments revolve around using electricity to create a race of superhumans to aid the war effort. The plan initially centers on Billings as a test subject, but the results disappoint, prompting the researchers to shift to a different subject, Maxie.

One night at dinner, the residents hear the sounds of a ghost, and Bill suspects it’s part of a plan to scare off the new owner. While investigating, Bill discovers in the basement the dead body of travelling salesman Mr. Johnson, an experiment subject who died shortly after the sale. He reports this discovery to the local sheriff Dr. Arthur Lorentz. After making inquiries, Lorentz realises the potential for profit and decides to work with Billings on a subsequent experiment.

Their initial plan is to use Billings as a test subject, but that proves unsuccessful, so they turn their attention to [Maxie] to harness his potential. They aim to use Maxie to stop the mysterious intruder known as “Jo-Jo” from blowing up a nearby munitions plant. Meanwhile, J. Gilbert Brampton informs Winnie and Bill that he is visiting as a representative of the Historical Society of America, who are interested in buying the inn.

When the police finally arrive, they arrest the housekeeper Amelia Jones and Ebenezer for the murders. The dead bodies in the inn suddenly come back to life, seemingly held in a suspended state. The police decide to send the rest of the house’s inhabitants to the Idlewild Sanatorium, a local psychiatric institution. But Lorentz reveals himself to be the Chair of the institution’s Board of Directors, a disclosure that nearly guarantees their freedom.