In Extremis: Casper (1995) and Liability for Halloween Parties

Disclaimer: Hey living impaired folks of all genders. Please don’t let seeking independent legal advice be your unfinished business. You’ve got your whole miserable life ahead of you and so a little spoiling of your childhood crush film shouldn’t be ruined by treating this article as advice.

Some people have alleged that a certain boy ghost is the friendliest one you know – LIARS! Casper, when he first appeared in the comics tried to give a train conductor PTSD from his undead suicide¹ and some even dispute whether he IS A GHOST?!²

Anyway, Casper (1995) directed by Brad Silberling, features the deplorable boy ghost, living in a home inherited by Carrigan (Cathy Morriarty), with his three malevolent uncles Fatso (Brad Garrett), Stinkie (Joe Alaskey), and Stretch (Joe Nipote). As Carrigan investigates a mystery treasure with her lawyer Dibs (Eric Idle), a typical solicitor’s name, she invites a ghost hunter/underlife therapist, Dr. Harvey (Bill Pullman) and his daughter Kat (Christina Ricci), to live in her house and remove the ghosts.

Now when you were a child you were most likely focused on your childhood crush Devon Sawa as Casper having dreamy hair or giving smooches to Christina, or the silly uncles and how much food they ate without digesting it, or even the Lazarus machine and the idea of bringing a ghost back to life. You were likely ignoring how creepy it is for a person to say “can I keep you” or the question I have been pondering – what happens if you throw a party at your dead bosses’ house?

You heard me correctly – one of the central plot points is that Kat and her father throw a halloween party at Carrigan’s house after she dies and goes into the afterlife. You could be saying to yourself, “good those are her just desserts for trying to kill them all and remove Casper from the home”. Well not legally. It is unclear whether Dr. Harvey is an independent contractor, an employee, or an agent of Carrigan. We might assume he is an independent contractor and that we could be stuck here as we do not have a contract to determine what Carrigan or her assignees (her family’s) rights are under the contract.

What we can assume is that Dr. Harvey’s right to be in the home is tied to the work he is doing for Carrigan. When she dies, at common law the contract is frustrated and will be void as the contract to remove the ghosts from the home so that she can search for the treasure is no longer possible. Dr. Harvey and Kat have no other reason to be living in the home. 

Casper takes place in Friendship, Maine, because Friendly Ghost, Maine would be too on the nose.³ Maine has criminal trespass laws against a person entering a dwelling place without privilege to do so.⁴ Since Dr. Harvey no longer has the authority to be in the home, about 20 minutes after the film finishes and a whole town full of children report that they attended a haunted house party in an abandoned mansion, the police could quickly investigate and arrest Dr. Harvey for tresspass whether he has evidence of ghosts or not.

Furthermore, Dr. Harvey could be found liable for any of the damage done to the house if the family of Carrigan choose to sue, as he negligently threw a party in his employers home. Oh and I guess the woman who granted them authority to be in the home is dead so potentially add a murder case without a body to the creepy court case count.

So there we have it, Casper is a menace and I hope you remember this the next time that you want to party in your bosses’ haunted home. If someone is messing around with your home beyond the grave, you can’t call the ghostbusters,⁵ but you can call your attorney!

1. CASPER - the friendly ghost, 1945 - YouTube - around 5:50.
2. "Given that Casper is depicted as a ghostly slightly obese little boy, there is a controversy among fans of the series about whether or not he is a dead child." - whoever wrote this sentence is having an episode.
3. Friendship, Maine is a real place – and the cast and crew filmed in nearby Camden, Maine, because Friendship was not “authentic” enough; not even sure how that could be possible. 
4. §402. Criminal trespass 1. A person is guilty of criminal trespass if, knowing that that person is not licensed or privileged to do so, that person: A. Enters any dwelling place. Violation of this paragraph is a Class D crime; [PL 2001, c. 383, §56 (AMD); PL 2001, c. 383, §156 (AFF).] title17-Ach17.pdf (maine.gov)
5. Ray Stantz | Casper the Friendly Ghost Wiki | Fandom.