Cabinet of Curiosities is packed full of horror, scares and cautionary tales, making it an excellent series to tune into this Halloween season. Among these episodes is an adaptation of Dreams in the Witch House, which we'll be exploring in depth throughout this article.
Dreams in the Witch House is based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, which was published in an issue of the magazine Weird Tales in 1933, making it the second Lovecraftian story to grace Cabinet of Curiosities after Pickman's Model.
In this tale, directed by Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke, we follow Walter Gilman (Rupert Grint) who is consumed by the death of his sister, Epperley (Daphne Hoskins). He's unable to let her go and spends his time dedicated to getting her back, doing everything he can to try and reach the spirit world to communicate with her and hopefully, give her a second chance at life.
But messing with the spirit world does have dire consequences, resulting in a series of spooky events. If you're wondering what happened and need a refresher, you've come to the right place.
Here's everything you need to know about season 1 episode 6...
Cabinet of Curiosities episode 6 ending explained: does Walter manage to find Epperley?
Yes, Walter was able to reach his sister after trying for months, but it wasn't an easy journey to get there, and one that almost cost him his friendship with best friend Frank (Ismael Cruz Cordova)... which turns out to be the least of his concerns. More on that later!
When we first meet Walter, he and Frank are watching a medium perform in a theatre, who goes by the name of Madame Levine (Nia Vardalos). Believing she could help him, Walter heads backstage and eavesdrops, but is saddened when he realizes she's a fraud and just doing it for the money, as she inadvertently reveals how she tricked the audience.
Following this blow, Frank tries to convince Walter to stop working for the Spiritualist Society as it does not pay well and it's causing him a great deal of stress, but he's having none of it and accuses his best friend of not believing in the cause.
Walter is re-motivated when he overhears a couple of men talking about another dimension, and is given a vial of "Liquid Gold" which he consumes and is transported there, discovering that it's the spirit world he'd been trying to cross into in order to find his sister. Thanks to the Liquid Gold, he tracks her down, but is soon grabbed by vines and forced back into the living world, saddened he didn't get more time with her.
He tells Frank about the magic liquid but his friend rebuffs him, essentially accusing him of being on drugs and trusting random strangers, which angers Walter and he refuses to give up, hoping he can use the liquid to return for a second time.
Following his brief encounter with the ghost of his sister, Walter doubles down on his research and finds a woman named Keziah Mason who was killed for being a witch but believed that there was a portal allowing you to cross between the living and the spirit world. So he believes she's the key to helping him.
Walter becomes obsessed with Keziah and this house, but at this point he's unaware she's been stalking him too, having made contact the first time he entered the spirit world.
He crosses over for a second time after consuming more Liquid Gold, where he's now able to speak to his sister properly, and he begs her to come with him. She tells Walter about Keziah and that she wants to use them to free herself and her rat companion Jenkins Brown (voiced by DJ Qualls) so they can return to the living world.
Keziah chases Walter and Epperley through the realm, but they manage to escape her grasp, both returning to the living world. But since Epperley is not supposed to be there, it's already starting to cause complications.
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How does Keziah find Walter and Epperley?
Since Walter's been messing with realms he doesn't fully understand, he enabled Keziah to cross over properly where she was able to find them in the living world, determined to swap places with them.
Keziah is now on a mission to kill them both, and follows the pair to a church, where they find brief sanctuary. Despite being a holy place, the nun residing there warns them that it might not keep them safe, and she's correct as Keziah bursts through the doors and kills the nun, forcing Walter out of the church too.
However, before Keziah can kill Walter, Epperley steps in and moves her hand, forcing her to stab herself in the head. As a result, the witch turns to ash and disappears.
Sadly for Walter, Epperley also disappears, but she smiles and tells Walter that she’s finally free and has accepted the fact that it was "her time" and she cannot live on any longer, even though Walter wants her to.
We then flash-forward to some time later, where Frank is looking after Walter while he's bedbound, following the ordeal with Keziah. He speaks about how no one will ever truly know what he's been through, and how it will be a challenge to fully move on.
However, something appears to be stirring in the attic. Frank heads up to investigate and he finds the witch’s remains rotting away, which should have been a somewhat happy ending but there was one last surprise in store.
What happened to Walter?
This is probably the grimmest answer as nobody was expecting this, but Walter didn't manage to walk away from this ordeal safely, and in fact Keziah half got what she wanted after all. Let's look at what happened.
Remember Keziah's rat companion, Jenkins? Well, Frank is disturbed by Walter screaming, claiming that there's something moving inside him, and before anyone has time to react, his chest bursts open and Jenkins was inside.
Now he's killed Walter like something out of the Alien movies, he's free to use his body as a vessel, and possesses him so he's able to control his body and live in this realm.
So both twins are now deceased and Jenkins can do as he pleases with Walter, telling viewers that he intends to use the body for as long as he can, which is where the episode ends.
