Spider Daddy

Synopsis

On a pleasant late summer weekend, Ed, a divorced father, has visitation rights with his young son Eric. As they prepare to leave for an outing at a local forest preserve, Eric is frightened by a spider in the bathroom. Ed gently chides him, and disposes of the spider. Eric is fond of climbing a large rock outcropping in the middle of a field in the forest preserve. While Eric is near top, Ed waits on a rock below where he is bitten by a strangely beautiful spider. Later that night, in the dark bathroom, Ed notices the bite mark is glowing. The next morning it has disappeared completely and he thinks no more of it. With Halloween approaching, Ed has his house decorated inside and out in a spider theme, ready for Eric’s next visit. When Eric arrives, he is uncomfortable, especially when Ed shows him his new pets—three large tarantulas. To calm Eric’s fears, Ed promises to sleep in the lower bunk beneath Eric. Later that night, Eric awakes and finds Ed gone. He climbs out of his bed and cautiously moves down the hall towards Ed’s room, where he sees shadows moving in the faint glow of a nightlight. Eric screams when he enters and sees Ed in his Halloween costume—a huge spider. Halloween weekend arrives and Ed’s ex-wife drops Eric off for the weekend and a night of trick-or-treating. Ed doesn’t wear his costume because it frightens Eric too much. One of the neighbors who chats with Ed thinks he sees a green glow in Ed’s eyes, but he decides it’s probably only a reflection. Back at home, Ed is not feeling well and goes to lie down while Eric sorts through his load of candy. When he tires of sorting, Eric decides to see what Ed is doing. He goes to Ed’s room, but Ed isn’t in his bed. Eric sees something move behind the bed and goes over to investigate. A spider the size of a man, with green glowing eyes, jumps up and sinks its mandibles into Eric. When Eric’s mother picks him up the next day, she notices that he speaks fondly of spiders and that his eyes flash with a green glow.