October 31st: All souls eve. It's the one night of the year when the distinction between the living and the dead becomes much narrower. The souls of the dead return and spend the night on the Earth, among the living. Then, at dawn, they leave again and don't return for another year.
Louis is in the Iowa state prison. He's in the death cell. Waiting for his fate, he plays solitaire. His lawyer tells him he can't get a stay of execution, and he'll be killed on schedule that night, all souls eve. Louis protests to his lawyer that he didn't murder the people they've convicted him of murdering, but he can't think of any proof. The evidence is stacked against him. It seems as though the only people who could know that Louis isn't a murderer are the murdered people themselves.
Things aren't always as they seem. At least for one day of the year, the living and the dead can mingle. What happens when a living soul escapes its body and mingles with the dead? What rules govern its interactions? How far can a soul go before reaching a point of no return?
If my soul had to leave my body when I walked up the 13 steps and... after... if my soul had to leave my body then, why, could it not leave my living body for a while and go seeking after the others a step from the tomb this night... the souls of the weary dead, the souls of the unhappy dead, the murdered, the kindly souls that knew.
Louis