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"The Spirit of Aunt Lois" is an episode of The Real Ghostbusters. Ray's Aunt Lois invites the Ghostbusters to a seance run by a phony spiritualist, Dr. Bassingame, but Lois ends up trapped by the angry spirits living in her house.1
The episode was written by Richard Mueller and first aired on November 9, 1987. It carries production number 76005.23 The DVD release places it as the eighteenth episode on its discs, while it aired as the fifty-fourth.
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Regular voice cast: Lorenzo Music, Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Arsenio Hall, and Laura Summer. Aunt Lois is voiced by guest actor Marilyn Lightstone.
Featured characters include Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, Janine Melnitz, Slimer, Aunt Lois, Dr. Bassingame, and the Domoviye.
The Ghostbusters return to the firehouse covered in ectoplasm after a case Egon describes as a multidimensional cross rip of hyperbolic intensity. As Winston and Egon empty a smoking trap into the containment unit, Peter screams: Slimer has slimed his bed again. Peter wants to blast the spud, but Slimer hides behind Janine. While they calm Peter down, Ray's Aunt Lois arrives. She asks the boys to come to her house for a seance, hoping to cure a headache she believes has a supernatural cause. The Ghostbusters try to invent an excuse, but Janine tells them their next job at the Museum of Modern Art was cancelled once the museum heard what they did to the Guggenheim. With their calendar clear, they reluctantly go.
At the house they meet Dr. Bassingame, a supposed medium. Egon quickly works out that much of Bassingame's gear, including a holographic projector and a sound machine, is rigged to fool clients. The house has been in the family for a hundred years, and Egon's P.K.E. Meter registers a ghostly presence, though the spirits are dormant.
Bassingame's equipment stirs the dormant Domoviye that dwell in the house, and the creatures begin throwing things around the room. When it is clear Bassingame has no idea what to do, the Ghostbusters head back to Ecto-1 and consult Tobin's Spirit Guide. Ray recalls that Aunt Lois was born in Queens at Mercy Hospital, that the family is Russian, and that the Stantzes came to America in the 1860s. Egon cross-indexes the details and identifies the entities as Domoviye, protective household spirits that turn troublesome only when someone upsets them. In this case the culprit is Dr. Bassingame.
To draw the ghosts away from Lois, they hold another seance, each Ghostbuster chanting the first thing that comes to mind. With Lois safely outside, the Ghostbusters bring in their equipment and work the case, using eight traps in all. Once the ghosts are captured, the cowardly Bassingame still demands payment and presents a contract claiming he is not liable. The Ghostbusters point out that he is the one who angered the normally harmless spirits, so he must refund Lois and pay for the damage. He agrees only after they threaten to find out where he lives and release the Domoviye there. As Bassingame leaves, Lois and the Ghostbusters notice one Domoviye escaped the traps and has latched onto his back. They almost warn him, then decide to stay quiet and let him face the consequences.
The episode was recorded on June 25, 1986.3 Mueller's first draft was dated March 24, 1986, with the final draft dated March 26, 1986.4 In the final draft, an exchange on page four had Peter complaining that Slimer's mess in the bathroom could make them sick,5 and on page twenty-eight Peter was scripted to pull on a New York Yankees baseball cap while suiting up.6
During a voice recording session, producer Joe Medjuck criticized the script for not being funny. Mueller stopped the recording and reworked the material in the booth with Arsenio Hall to add humor.7
Mueller first created the Aunt Lois character in his paperback adaptation of the original Ghostbusters film.1
The title plays on "The Spirit of St. Louis," the plane flown by Charles Lindbergh.
During the second seance, Egon recites part of the Pythagorean theorem, Winston imitates James Brown, and Ray and Peter sing "99 Bottles of Beer."
Aunt Lois serves the Ghostbusters a plate of pirozhki, baked or fried stuffed buns.
Dr. Bassingame's outfit matches that of Jake Kong Jr., a character from Filmation's Ghostbusters. The character was intended as a jab at that rival cartoon.
Dr. Bassingame returns alongside Jim Venkman from "Venkman's Ghost Repellers" in "Cold Cash and Hot Water", where the two partner up. Ray also references the events of this episode in that later story when Janine shows the team a newspaper article.
By air date, this episode follows "Knock, Knock" and precedes "Sea Fright". In DVD order it follows "Sea Fright" and precedes "Cry Uncle".
Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 7. CPT Holdings, Inc. ↩ ↩2
Mueller, Richard (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume One Disc Five, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois" Script Title Page. CPT Holdings, Inc. Line reads: "076005." ↩
Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois" (1986). ↩ ↩2
Mueller, Richard (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume One Disc Five, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois" Script Title Page. CPT Holdings, Inc. Line reads: "First Draft March 24, 1986 Final March 26, 1986." ↩
Mueller, Richard (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume One Disc Five, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois" Script p. 4. CPT Holdings, Inc. Peter says: "We could get a disease! Have you seen what he did to the bathroom?" ↩
Mueller, Richard (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume One Disc Five, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois" Script p. 28. CPT Holdings, Inc. Line reads: "VENKMAN, in coveralls, gloves and proton pack, pulls on a NY Yankees baseball cap." ↩
Benjamin, Troy & Goldberg, Craig (2025). The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History, p. 77. Dark Horse Books, Milwaukie, OR USA, ISBN 9781506749273. Richard Mueller says: "We were in the session for 'The Spirit of Aunt Lois,' and Joe Medjuck turned to me and said, 'This script isn't funny. Why did you write this unfunny script, and why am I paying you to write this unfunny script?' I said, 'Wait a minute, stop the recording.' I went into the booth, and I worked with Arsenio Hall to jazz up the script right there in the session. There were great and creative people in that booth." ↩
