The story, set in the town of Jacob's Neck, New England, follows the comic adventures of Police Chief Tom Rankin and his family when they move into a decrepit beach house haunted by the spirit of Jeremiah Starbuck, an eighteenth-century ghost who refuses to depart form his once earthly dwelling.

The story, set in the town of Jacob's Neck, New England, follows the comic adventures of Police Chief Tom Rankin and his family when they move into a decrepit beach house haunted by the spirit of Jeremiah Starbuck, an eighteenth-century ghost who refuses to depart form his once earthly dwelling.