Bug thinks about how it feels to live in his house without his uncle, Roderick, who has just died. He knows that the house has been haunted even before his uncle’s death. There are cold spots and doors that slam on their own. Bug and Roderick used to read together before bed, but Roderick was careful not to read Bug anything too scary, in case he gave him bad dreams. After Roderick’s death, Bug thinks that the house seems haunted in a more mundane way: It is haunted by the things that Roderick has left behind. Bug thinks he “prefer[s] the ghosts” to the sad memories of his uncle’s death (8).

Bug knows the moment his uncle dies. He is sleeping in his room, which is between his uncle’s room and his mother’s. He hears creaking on the stairs, going all the way up to just outside Roderick’s bedroom door. Bug’s mother does not believe in ghosts like Bug and Roderick do. For a moment, Bug tries to believe his mom and convince himself that there is no one on the stairs. Eventually, he manages to go back to sleep. Bug wakes in the morning when the phone rings.