Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 2022

Bubba and Marylee's unlikely friendship forms

In a small town in the Deep South, Bubba, a large but gentle man with a mental disability, befriends Marylee Williams. Their friendship brings warmth to Marylee and unsettles some townspeople. This relationship sets the stage for the later town-wide tensions.

Marylee mauled; a lynch mob forms

Marylee is mauled by a vicious dog. Otis Hazelrigg quickly blames Bubba and forms a lynch mob with Skeeter Norris and the Hocker cousins. The mob's anger and fear escalate the town's fear of Bubba.

Bubba hidden as a scarecrow and killed

Bubba's mother disguises him as a scarecrow to hide him, and they hide him in a nearby field. The lynch mob tracks them with bloodhounds and shoots Bubba dead. The town is led to believe Bubba attacked them.

Marylee survives; Hazelrigg fabricates Bubba's attack

Bubba had rescued Marylee from danger, and Marylee survives the attack. After Bubba dies, Hazelrigg places a pitchfork in Bubba's hands to imply he attacked the mob. The mob and town believe Bubba is responsible, despite evidence to the contrary.

Trial and release due to lack of evidence

The vigilantes are brought to trial but are released because of lack of evidence; Hazelrigg's perjury undermines the case. The justice system fails to hold them accountable.

Marylee searches for Bubba at night; Mrs Ritter withholds truth

Marylee sneaks out at night to search for Bubba. Mrs. Ritter cannot bring herself to tell Marylee the truth and says Bubba has gone away. Marylee insists Bubba is not gone but is hiding, and Mrs. Ritter struggles with the truth.

The scarecrow reappears in Harliss' field

Sometime later, a scarecrow similar to Bubba's disguise appears in Harliss Hocker's field. Hazelrigg suspects Sam Willock, the district attorney, of planting it to rattle them. The mystery around the scarecrow grows.

Harliss dies in the wood chipper setup

That evening, Harliss investigates noises in his barn and finds the scarecrow gone. The wood chipper starts up on its own, and he is killed by the machine. The town begins to fear a pattern of deliberate killings.

Hazelrigg insinuates Mrs Ritter; 'a life for a life'

Hazelrigg and friends realize the scarecrow events are connected to Bubba. He obliquely accuses Mrs. Ritter of engineering the latest accidents and implies Bubba's revenge. Mrs. Ritter denies involvement but hints that others will avenge her son.

Halloween night: party, confrontations, and vanishing scarecrow

At the local church's Halloween party, Marylee is confronted by Hazelrigg but she informs him that she knows what he did and runs away. He is stopped by a security guard, and Philby notes the scarecrow's appearance, only to find it gone when they investigate. The tension mounts as fear spreads through the town.

Mrs Ritter's death and house explosion

That night, Hazelrigg breaks into Mrs Ritter's house and frightens her, causing a fatal heart attack. He triggers a gas leak and an explosion that destroys the house. The district attorney grows suspicious of the sequence of events.

Philby dies in the silo

The next night, Philby is chased and takes shelter in a grain silo. The conveyor system is switched on, trapping him as grain floods the silo and he suffocates. Hazelrigg and Skeeter react to the death and try to manage the fallout.

Grave-digging turns fatal

Hazelrigg and Skeeter dig Bubba's grave to assert Bubba's absence; Skeeter opens the coffin and panics to find Bubba's corpse inside. Hazelrigg attacks Skeeter with a shovel and seals the grave with Skeeter inside.