Hex

Steve Grant, a medical professional and resident of the town of Black Spring, New York, witnesses an apparent traffic accident in which a woman named Katherine van Wyler ends up inside a barrel organ (the novel will later reveal that Katherine is a ghost and the people who engineer the accident are members of HEX, the organization that keeps Kaherine’s presence hidden from the outside world). He returns home to find Katherine in his living room. His wife, Jocelyn, has covered the ghost’s head with a dishcloth and refers to her as “Gramma.” However, the family dog, Fletcher, reacts with aggression. During dinner, their older son, Tyler, films the family for his YouTube channel, posing hypothetical questions about whether Steve would choose to save Tyler or an entire group of people. When their younger son, Matt, falls from his chair, he sees Katherine, whom he didn’t notice previously, and panics, believing that she is moving closer to him.

Tyler’s GoPro camera captures an image of Katherine’s face: Her eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Steve orders him to erase the footage, which Tyler does, though not without complaint. Steve has closed the French doors, confining Katherine to the living room, and Jocelyn has Tyler log the witch’s new location in the HEXApp.