Halloween, Present Day: Seven teenage friends; Seth, his girlfriend Tiffany, Lizzie, her boyfriend Doc, Nash, Ava, and Liam are driving through eastern Kansas[2] to a party when they stop for gas and directions.

A young, female tow truck driver named Candy “happens upon” them and takes them to Wormwood Ridge, a town so small it does not appear on the map.

Seth searches the junkyard for Pa Rusk when a headless figure emerges, decapitates him, and leaves with his severed head.

Candy reveals the history of “Headless”, or Calvin Montgomery, a 19th-century serial killer who preyed on the children of Wormwood until the residents finally caught and hanged him in the town square, leaving him to rot until his body tore away from his head.

Pa Rusk shows up and forces Liam, Ava, and Lizzie back into town at gunpoint, where he ties them up for Headless.

When Pa Rusk leaves, Candy unties the remaining three, revealing she is not originally from the town and wishes to escape with the others.

Liam is able to call 911 and a patrol car is sent out to search the area but the inhabitants of Wormwood kill the officer as Headless appears and decapitates Lizzie.