Overview
The volume is structured as six loosely connected stories. Chapters 2-5 share an overarching antagonist: Jack Hardemeyer, who was disgraced after attempting to have the Ghostbusters institutionalized during the events of Ghostbusters II. Seeking revenge, he allies himself with a group of ghosts he calls the Ghost Busted Army, providing them with diagrams of the Ghostbusters' equipment. His associates build inverted versions of the team's gear, including inverted proton packs, inverted ghost traps, and an inverted containment unit capable of imprisoning the souls of living humans rather than ghosts.
Chapters
Chapter 1: The Broadway haunting
The Ghostbusters are hired when a Broadway production is plagued by a ghost, identified as an angry theater critic who resents the show's emphasis on spectacle over craft. The team is brought in to supervise the production and restores its artistic credibility by dialing back the special effects and hiring the ghost of veteran actor Monty Biggins. The crowd receives the revised show warmly, even when Biggins' head explodes and covers the theater in slime. Peter references the Broadway hit "Cats" during the investigation, and Ray Parker Jr.'s photo appears in Hex's Deli.
Chapter 2: Hardemeyer's revenge
Jack Hardemeyer, still bitter over his public disgrace, breaks into a condemned property formerly owned by a Shandor (a reference to Ivo Shandor) and makes contact with a group of ghosts. He shares detailed diagrams of the Ghostbusters' equipment with them, laying the groundwork for the army he intends to build.
Chapter 3: Monster under the bed
Ray investigates a string of false alarms around the city before finding a genuine monster-under-the-bed case for a family named Gambini. He busts the ghost but is immediately confronted by Hardemeyer and the Ghost Busted Army. References in this chapter include the ghost of John Lennon reputedly haunting a Central Park West apartment, a Sony PlayStation controller visible in one scene, Yoko Ono's book, the original "Ghost Smashers" name for the Ghostbusters team, and Ruth's use of the Clapper.
Chapter 4: Professor Teplitz
Egon is contacted by Professor Harold Teplitz, a former colleague who had once mocked his paranormal research. Teplitz's wife and parents have appeared as ghosts and will not leave him in peace. After investigating the Teplitz townhouse and meeting Teplitz's son, Egon realizes that Teplitz himself has died and is a ghost refusing to accept his own death, while his loved ones have arrived to guide him to the other side. As the case resolves, Egon is captured in one of Hardemeyer's inverted traps. The Ghostbusters' 555-2368 telephone number appears in this chapter.
Chapter 5: Winston's rescue
Peter and Winston discover the others are missing when a call comes in from a young woman whose clothes have been stolen by a ghost. Recognizing it as a likely trap, they investigate anyway (Peter's reasoning: "What if it's not a trap?"). The woman is indeed a ghost working for Hardemeyer, and Peter is captured, but Winston escapes. Using gear from his old Marine Corps kit, Winston blasts his way into Hardemeyer's hideout, finds the captured Ghostbusters, and reverses the containment field holding their souls. The team defeats the Ghost Busted Army. Teplitz reappears to explain his motivation: he believed the Ghostbusters were violating ghosts' freedom. Egon counters that Teplitz's unique situation gives him the opportunity to study what happens after death. Ray is delighted they now have an archenemy; Peter notes nobody is going to pay them for all the ghosts they just caught. Peter mentions Gozer in jest, and Winston invokes the "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost!" line.
Chapter 6: Rambeau's House of Fashion
The Ghostbusters investigate what appears to be a haunted clothing boutique. The clothes sold by Madame Rambeau are revealed to be controlled by Heel, one of Gozer's preferred concubines, who uses the garments to enslave their wearers. The team discovers they can free victims by distributing plain jumpsuits, which the enslaved customers inexplicably trade for their possessed outfits. Peter ultimately weakens Heel enough to banish him from Earth's dimension by throwing red wine on him, which never washes out. Ray wears a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man shirt and Peter wears a No Ghost shirt during the investigation.
Development
The preliminary cover released online prior to publication differed from the final product in several ways: Winston was shown smoking and lacked a moustache, Egon's hair was white rather than brown, and Ray's hair was lighter. All three details were revised for the final cover.
