Mine to Kill

In the village of Amherst, Nova Scotia, in the summer of 1878, Esther Cox, 18, goes for a wagon ride with a handsome older man named Bob McNeal. When his wagon reaches a remote area, he pulls a gun on Esther and tries to force her into the woods. Fortunately, another wagon happens down the road at that moment, and McNeal must end his attempted assault. Nevertheless, the experience traumatizes Esther and triggers in her a malevolent force that nearly kills her and her family. Later the same night, something moving in Esther's bed wakes her. She thinks it's a mouse, but after a thorough search, she traces the movement to a box under the bed. Esther pulls out the box and is frightened when it jumps into the air several times. When she opens the box, she finds that it contains only scraps of sewing material. The next night, Esther's body begins to swell. When she thinks she is about to burst, a loud, thunder-like noise comes from under her bed and shakes the entire room. At that moment, Esther's swelling subsides, and she resumes her normal appearance, falling into a deep sleep. The following night, Esther's swelling returns, but this time, pounding noises continue in her bedroom, and Esther's pillow and blankets repeatedly fly off the bed. Members of Esther's family have to sit on the corners of the bed to keep the blankets in place. Esther's family calls the doctor. To his surprise, everything happens again in his presence. But this time, an invisible hand scratches words into the wall above Esther's bed -- "ESTHER COX YOU ARE MINE TO KILL." The doctor tries treating Esther with sedatives, but nothing works. The pounding sounds move to the roof of the house, and the noises are so loud that neighbors think someone is doing construction work on the roof in the middle of the night. The local newspaper begins covering the story, and crowds gather at the house to witness the strange phenomenon. Next, Esther hears the voice of a man who tells her he has been dead for several years, and he is going to set her house on fire that night. Esther tells her family what she has heard, but no one believes her until lit matches start appearing out of thin air and setting fires all over the house. Esther and her family must stay awake all night to put out the fires. The next day, a fire breaks out in the cellar while Esther and her sister are home alone. The two young women are unable to put out the fire by themselves and must quickly get help from neighbors. A short time later, the malevolent spirit appears to Esther and tells her he will burn down the house that night unless she leaves. The home sits so close to other houses in the village that if one catches fire, all the houses will likely burn. Esther's brother-in-law finds her temporary lodging in the home of the tavern owner, whose house sits apart from the rest in the village. Meanwhile, a young actor named Walter Hubbell reads a newspaper article about Esther's experiences. Between acting jobs, Hubbell travels around the country exposing fraudulent mediums and spiritualists. He decides to investigate Esther's case. When Hubbell sees objects moving by themselves and hears the mysterious noises in Esther's house, he soon becomes Esther's biggest ally. He tells her that she can turn her misfortune into a source of income and convinces her to accompany him on a lecture tour. The audiences, however, think Esther and Hubbell are either sacrilegious or fake. In one city, a mob runs the two out of town. Soon, Esther's landlord hears about the fires in the house, and he insists that Esther move out or he will evict her entire family. Esther goes to live and work on a farm a few miles from the village. For a while, everything goes well for Esther. Then one day, the barn burns down shortly after the family sees Esther leaving it. The police arrest her. The jury does not believe her "ghost" defense and convicts her of arson. The judge sentences her to four months in jail. While in jail, Esther receives a visit from a young man named Adam Porter, who claims to feel a strange kinship with her since reading about her in the newspaper. Esther and Adam grow close. A month later, the judge commutes Esther's jail sentence because so many of her friends and neighbors have come to her defense, declaring that they have witnessed the supernatural events firsthand. Esther and Adam marry and have a son. Then Adam dies mysteriously. Decades pass. Esther finally marries again, moves to Massachusetts, and has two more sons. But when a reporter hears her story and travels to her home to get an update, he finds Esther looking old, unhappy, and still afraid. She refuses to talk to the reporter about her life because she's worried the spirits will come back. Five years later, she dies after a short illness at age 52.