Poor little Marshall Teller. First, his parents uproot him from his home in New Jersey. Then they move the whole family to Eerie, Indiana, population 16,661, where nothing is as it seems. Strange things happen in Eerie (which Marshall could have expected from the name); however, only Marshall and his new friend, Simon, seem to notice. As they explore the town, they try to keep evidence as proof of the weird goings-on (such as still-living Elvis showing up). Marshall's father, Edgar, is a scientist who works at a product-testing company; his mother runs a party-planning business at the Eerie Mall.