Dougie
Background
Douglas “Dougie” Freeman is a resident of Cooper City. His mother is Mrs. Freeman and his father is Mr. Freeman.
During the events of Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Season 1 Episode 4 The Tale of the Twisted Claw played by Noah Plener
During the night before Halloween, Dougie and Kevin go to the home of Miss Clove, who is rumored to be a witch. Dougie is leery of going up to the house, but Kevin insists they go. As they walk up to the front door, Miss Clove spies on them through the window. As Kevin is about to spray the door window, Miss Clove opens the door and Kevin accidentally sprays her in the face with shaving cream causing her to stumble around and break one of her vases. They run away and Miss Clove angrily stares at them before laughing. The next night, Dougie tries to scare Mr. Freeman with his monster mask. Kevin goes to Dougie’s house and Dougie gives Kevin a hard time for dressing as a bum, the same as previous years. Before they leave, Mrs. Freeman tells them to be careful and Kevin tells some trick or treaters that he heard some of the candy has been poisoned. They go to Miss Clove’s house, and she invites them into her house. She tells them that she loves Halloween, but no children ever go to her house. She tells them that she is going to give them a special treat. She walks away and comes back holding a wooden box with a clawed hand inside. She tells them that it is the claw of a vulture made from wood and that whoever receives it will get three wishes. David asks if they get three wishes a piece and she assures them that they will each get three. Kevin doesn’t want to accept it, but Miss Clove insists. Before they leave, she warns them to be careful what they wish for, you just might get it. As they are walking, Dougie wishes that they could go home. The claw suddenly moves and as they are walking by a park, they come across a group of Punks. The Punks circle them and demand their candy. One of the Punks grabs Kevin’s candy and Kevin pushes him. Kevin and Dougie then run away as the Punks chase after them on bikes. Dougie and Kevin hide in trash cans, until the Punks ride past them and Kevin tells Dougie that he got his wish, no more trick or treats.
At school, Kevin brings the claw and tells Dougie that he is going to use it to beat Bostick during the 600m track event. Kevin holds the claw and wishes he can beat Bostick in the 600 and the claw glows and moves. The Gym Teacher tells the runners to get on their marks and before the race, Bostick tells Kevin good luck. During the race, Bostick is way ahead of all the other runners. Suddenly a Dog runs towards the racetrack and runs in front of Bostick causing him to fall down, which allows Kevin to win the race. The Gym Teacher runs over to Bostick and tells the gathered students that Bostick has a broken leg.
That night, Dougie’s parents go out for dinner and Kevin comes over with his gold medal from the race. Kevin refuses to believe that the claw caused him to win the race. Dougie wants to return the claw to Miss Clove and apologize and then tell his parents what they did. Kevin gets upset and wishes that Dougie would lose his parents and the claw glows again and moves. The phone rings and when Dougie answers it, Lieutenant Caruthers from the Cooper City Police Department tells him that his parents were in a car accident and have been taken to the hospital. Dougie gets upset and wishes his grandfather was there to help them. The claw glows again and moves and Dougie throws it. Kevin brings up that Dougie’s grandfather is dead, and Dougie’s grandfather’s car slowly drives up to the house. Kevin says they need to wish away Dougie’s grandfather and runs to the claw. Dougie grabs him and stops him, and they fight over the claw. The doorbell rings and Dougie grabs the claw and wishes them breaking Miss Clove’s vase never happened. The doorbell rings again and Dougie answers the door. Mrs. Freeman and Mr. Freeman walk in and tell Dougie that they forgot their house key. Dougie hugs them and he and Kevin look for Dougie’s grandpa’s car, but it is gone. Dougie tells Kevin to check his pocket and Kevin’s medal is gone as if he never won the race. The doorbell rings again and when Dougie and Kevin answer the door, they find the previously broken vase outside the door with a note that says trick or treat.