Agatha's last name is Prenderghast; that, her resemblance to Norman, and their shared ability to see the dead all but confirm that they're related. How did the ritual of reading her "a bedtime story" get started? Who else would read a girl's favorite story at her grave but her family? Her mother, at least, survived her and loved her very much. The ritual must have begun as a memorial service, an act of love.
Alternatively, as guilt was often assumed of a witch's family members and Aggie had essentially proven herself to be something like a witch (killing your accusers immediately after your own death and then raising them from the grave is not something a person without genuine supernatural abilities could do, after all), the ritual was not an act of love at all, but an act of desperation and survival. Why were the Prenderghasts still allowed to live in Blithe Hollow, after their young daughter proved herself such a dangerous "witch?" Because the townsfolk needed them; fearing Aggie's curse, they spared the Prenderghasts for their own protection, and the Prenderghasts threw Aggie's chance to rest under the bus for their own survival. This is why no one before Norman had successfully helped Aggie through her rage: they may have loved Agatha and genuinely wished her troubled soul could rest, but they needed the fear she created just to survive. This also explains why the seal on Agatha's grave only worked in the short term, and why the Prenderghasts of old never tried to work through a longer solution: if the protection constantly needed to be renewed, the townsfolk couldn't afford to stab the Prenderghasts in the back after they dealt with Aggie - because without them, Aggie would just come back.
It should be noted that the person who started the ritual, while almost certainly a member of Aggie's family, most likely wasn't her mother. Aggie says she hasn't seen her mother since "those horrible men" came and took her away; she also makes clear she was conscious during all the times people read Sleeping Beauty to her, so she'd probably have recognized her mother if the woman was involved with reading to her. Which opens up a question: if the ritual resembled a common thing Aggie's mother did with her, but Aggie's mother wasn't involved in the ritual, what did happen to Aggie's mother?
It's possible Aggie's mother couldn't speak to the dead like her daughter, so another member of the family had to do it. The film emphasizes quite emphatically that it has to be someone with Norman's and Mr. Prenderghast's talents who speaks the ritual story. Given that surnames at the time were usually patriarchal and their surname relates to their relationship with ghosts, spiritual awareness might have run in Aggie's father's side of the family, rather than her mother's.
Why did that one zombie stand there petrified, staring at Mitch's car as it ran him and Judge Hopkins over, and then look to his zombie brethren as he hung onto the top of the speeding van for dear afterlife? Well, the zombies are originally from the late 1600s/early 1700s, so it's not like they would have ever encountered modern technology like electricity or motorized vehicles — in fact, probably the fastest vehicle any of them had ever seen was nothing more than a horse-drawn carriage. Not to mention the six nameless zombies' baffled gazes at modern-day Blithe Hollow.
Another subtle moment happens in the town hall. After Norman sees Agatha's trial through a vision, he wakes up to find the zombies standing close by, looking timid and ashamed. Though the movie doesn't make it too obvious, it's strongly implied Agatha actually killed the Judge and the other Puritans when she lost it at the end of Norman's vision, which would also explain why they were buried in the same clothes they wore at the trial. The Judge attempts to approach Norman, but backs off when Norman yells at them to keep away. A minute later, Norman stands up quickly upon realizing what the book actually does, and all the zombies back up as if afraid of him. If they did all die in said vision, then this becomes more meaningful when you realize Norman is standing in the exact spot Agatha was before she killed them all.
Regardless of the exact moment that Aggie's curse kicked in, it still makes perfect sense that they were buried in the same clothes they wore to the trial. People in that time period and culture tended to have a very Limited Wardrobe. They most likely owned only one set of fancy/"Sunday" clothing each, which of course they would have worn to be witnesses in a formal witch trial... and also for their burials.
Norman tells Neil in his backyard that ghosts only stick around if they have things left to do or died in a sudden or bad way. Aggie was put on trial for witchcraft, murdered, AND could see the dead like Norman, which is why she stuck around and can demonstrate her rage in such an electric way near the end.
"I wanted everyone to see how rotten they were!" Of course you did, Agatha! After all, you brought them back as shuffling corpses with most of their skin rotted off! It'd be funny if it weren't so terrifying.
The story in the book is Sleeping Beauty. Reading it kept Aggie asleep for three hundred years because of the (fear of the) witch's curse, until Norman battled his way through a forest of thorns to reach her, and then... she fell asleep on his shoulder. Of course, it's a PG movie, and they are related. The witch in Sleeping Beauty is also uninvited to the princess' christening out of fear, too, which adds to the parallels.
There's also brilliance when Norman realizes reading from the book only works in the short run. It doesn't work because (A) it's only a fairy tale, not reflecting the harsh reality of Blithe Hollow, and thus (B) it only aggravates Aggie to be read a story with a happy ending while her life had such a Downer Ending.
This might seem a bit obvious, but in the beginning of the movie, when Norman is watching a movie with the ghost of his grandma, she mentions it'd be a very different situation if the zombie and the girl just talked. This is ultimately what Norman does to save the town from the zombies and Aggie's ghost.
When Mr. Prenderghast's unfinished business is fulfilled, notice how his ghost slowly transforms into a glowing electric spirit, and explosively leaves this world. Noticeably, he leaves Blithe Hollow with nothing but contempt for it. This foreshadows that Agatha's ghost has electric abilities, and how she too has a distinct (and more extreme) resentment towards the citizens.
Neil wonders why the witch's ghost is having a Villainous Breakdown when Norman and the group shame the mob into sparing the zombies. It's because the witch's ghost note or rather, Aggie's projection is infuriated that Norman succeeded where she failed all those centuries ago: convincing the scared townsfolk to leave a child that can talk to ghosts (who they've ostracized for this ability) alone. Aside from that, he also breaks one aspect of the curse by saving the zombies.
Notably, the Witch's ghost glitches out, its face splitting in two for a moment. Later, Aggie's ghost does the same thing throughout her interaction with Norman in the climax. This is meant to show not only her mental instability, but also hint that she's conflicted about going through with her revenge plot. Her earlier visage as the Witch's Ghost could indicate that Norman convincing the townsfolk not to kill him or the zombies left her feeling torn, between revenge and moving on.
The zombies' Heel Realization about their terrible actions towards Agatha seems uncharacteristic for a group of holier-than-thou Puritans who have seemingly just been handed proof they were right about her being a witch. Until you realize that Puritans were very devoutly religious, and what Agatha put them through can be interpreted as resembling the Curse of Cain. For those who don't know what that is: in return for murdering his innocent brother Abel, God cursed Cain to forever walk the earth, unable to die, while bearing some sort of physical "mark" or difference in appearance that instantly identifies him as wicked. Sounds quite similar to preventing one's murderers from passing on and allowing the world to see how "rotten" they are, literally and figuratively, doesn't it?
Along with being a deconstruction if not flat-out subversion of the Salem Is Witch Country trope, the movie does cross into Fridge Horror when you realize that part of the reason the town's myth of the witch's curse is blatantly historically inaccurate is because the town doesn't want to deal with their extremely dark past of executing a little girl, so it makes sense they would make up a Politically Correct History where Agatha was a Witch Classic.
Further, the events of the movie may even perpetuate the Salem Is Witch Country trope. Salem today runs with the witch aesthetic but generally accepts that the victims of the trials were innocent (although Danvers, formerly known as Salem Village and the nexus of most of the trials, has spent a lot of time pretending it wasn't either of those things). This may have been true in Blithe Hollow pre-movie, considering Salma corrects the teacher on the historicity of the play and the teacher openly admits the play is for selling postcards, not historical accuracy. But after the film, most of the townsfolk probably will never be fully convinced that Agatha Prenderghast wasn't an evil witch, even if they now have more respect for Norman. It's not like she made her case well in front of the modern people of Blithe Hollow. If anything, she probably further convinced the town of her evil, considering she literally raised the dead and struck Blithe Hollow with lightning until most of the town was burning, and that's not even counting the tornado she made. It's hard to imagine Blithe Hollow's gonna be that open to the idea that the cackling and shrieking cloud-face shooting lighting at them from the sky wasn't an evil witch after going through that. Aggie may have been a small hurt child lashing out because she was unable to process the horrific things that have happened to her, but she chose to act and look exactly like the monster they thought she was, so there's little hope that they'll truly recognize the humanity beneath the monstrous visage she presented.
Although it comes across as Fridge Horror, it also becomes brilliant when one realizes it acts as a cautionary tale against revenge. Although Agatha has every right to be angry, her revenge on the zombies serves to affirm that she has a dark side to her. Norman, on the other hand, never quite forgets his kindness or his friends. By speaking out to the crowd as the kindly boy he is, it helps Blithe Hollow see him in a new light and laud him as a hero.
Why did Judge Hopkins think he was doing the right thing and protecting the townsfolk by killing Aggie? It's because of the belief that all witches have made a Deal with the Devil in exchange for magic powers. So Witchcraft Is a Special Kind of Evil for Christianity.
While Judge Hopkins died and the other Puritans died because of their Lack of Empathy and understanding for Aggie, Norman survives because of his empathy and understanding for Aggie.
The entire plot of the movie happens because Agatha is wrongly accused of being a witch. However, the Puritans weren't entirely wrong. Communing with the dead to divine the future is the original definition of Necromancery, and it's shown when Norman has a vision of the witch's curse that he (and Agatha by extension) can get glimpses of the future. Agatha wasn't a witch, she was a necromancer.
Norman pushes Neil (and later, the whole gang) away because, like Aggie, he's so burned by the social ostracism and hostility of the community that he's begun to withdraw and expect and return that distrust — long-term hostilities have understandably made Norman fear people and made it difficult for him to trust and rely on anyone's good faith intentions, so the second the group shows signs of wavering support, Norman withdraws and lashes out. What helps Norman make the choice to give those around him a chance is his conversation with the zombies, who mirror the town that has ostracized him — making this the first time "witch" and "accuser" mutually cease allowing fear to dominate their interactions and devolve them into hostilities, instead giving themselves the chance to talk things out.
It's specifically mentioned that the witch was sentenced to hanging. The sort of hanging that breaks the neck quickly wasn't developed until the mid-1800s. Poor Agatha would have suffered for upwards of twenty minutes, or even longer, considering her low body mass relative to an adult.
Uncle Prenderghast was only one in a long line of people who performed the "bedtime story" ritual, and all of them could see ghosts. Norman's family has a ghost-seeing gene of some sort, and Uncle Prenderghast wanted Norman to follow the tradition and stay in town. Agatha could see ghosts. Agatha's pain and rage got stronger with time despite the ritual. Between the shared last name and similar appearance, Agatha is related to Norman and his family. Conclusion: Agatha's family has been unwittingly prolonging her suffering for centuries!
Worse still is the possibility that it wasn't unwitting. They might have known exactly what they were doing, and just felt that they had no choice in the matter. Norman is able to reach out to her because literally the only differences between them are the fact that she's dead and he's male. They're incredibly similar characters, and so he's able to discuss her situation with her from a position of genuine empathy rather than just sympathy. If anyone else had tried to approach her, the most likely result would have been their death, with no guarantee that would be the end.
Or perhaps the family dragged out the situation for so many generations as a well-meant mistake, not unlike so many other past and present mistakes people make in this film. It's possible that Norman was the first fellow child tasked to soothe Aggie's spirit, because his predecessors assumed facing such a task was better left to an adult. If previous Penderghast readers only passed on their duty to relatives who were grown-ups, not wishing to burden a child with such a grim responsibility, then they probably never had a chance to get through to her in the way someone her own age could.
Due to his own ability to see and communicate with the dead, Uncle Prenderghast ended up as a pariah among both the community and his own family. If the events of the movie didn't go as they did, Norman would've likely ended up the same.
Worse, it's likely that most if not every person who had the abilities of Norman and his uncle were probably local outcasts as well, which means that despite the treatment they were given, they were the ones responsible for keeping everyone safe from the witch's curse. Meanwhile, the townsfolk themselves continued to make things worse by passing on the legacy of Agatha with an insulting and utterly false caricature of her.
Why didn't the zombies, in all their moaning and limping glory, try to act less scary when attempting to get Norman to listen to them? Their spirits are actually trapped inside their decayed corpses, meaning their minds, motor functions, and vocal cords are damaged beyond anything healthy. So even if they still have human-level intelligence, they're stuck acting like the undead... "Make you suffer" indeed...
Actually, outside of just being zombies, they don't intentionally do anything scary. After Norman's vision of Agatha, they could talk just fine. It was just the heat of the moment. The suffering comes from the townspeople tearing them apart. Also, not passing on and all that.
Minor Fridge Brilliance: the Judge talks only in that scene, where Norman is the only living person present. When they're driving to Agatha's grave, he speaks only in grunts... which Norman understands. Because he can talk with the dead.
If anything, it's likely Norman is able to understand them specifically because his abilities let him circumvent their rotting flesh puppets. He can get the words straight from their spirits without the message getting muddled by their decaying motor functions and vocal cords. If one takes into full account the idea they're nothing but spirits forced back into their rotting bodies from life, this makes total sense.
It's minor as far as a zombie movie goes, but with the way Norman's parents are fighting at the beginning, if Norman hadn't been proven right and his dad hadn't gotten off his high horse (and if his mom had any self-respect), a divorce would have been right around the corner.
Given that Agatha and Norman are related and can both see ghosts, does this mean that if events had turned out badly, or Norman had become bitter as a result of his treatment, the supernatural powers she used to kill seven people and curse them to eternal undeath would have awakened in Norman?
And the exact same thing that happened to the Judge and his ilk probably would have happened again if the townsfolk had succeeded in lynching Norman. Then they'd have two angry spirits on their hands.
It doubles as a Sequel Hook, but you notice how the movie says that ghosts stay behind because they have something left to do? Well, Aggie's unfinished business was to get revenge for her death, and the movie ends with a hint that she moved on, although it doesn't say that giving up your unfinished business will free you from this world. So for all we know, Aggie might still be out there and fate might be pushing her to complete her revenge if she wants to see her mother again. The only real bright side is that Norman would have a new friend, but still.
Agatha didn't stay for revenge, she stayed after she died because people didn't understand her, so she need someone to do so. Since Norman did it, she could move on.
It doesn't ever seem like staying behind is anything other than a conscious decision for the ghosts involved (except possibly when they've died a sudden and violent death, in which case they might be confused). Norman's grandmother is able to explain the motivation for her staying in a way that doesn't sound like she feels forced, and Norman's uncle leaves when he believes that his unfinished business is complete, despite the fact that it distinctly isn't. More likely than not, Agatha just wants to be with her mother after the end of the film, and couldn't possibly care less about making anyone suffer. Regardless, though, she's gotten her revenge.
The fact that the adults in this town are willing to lynch a child is Fridge Horror in of itself. Imagine what would have happened if Norman's friends hadn't succeeded in protecting him... and his family would have had to watch.
Not to mention that if Norman died, there would be no one to calm the witch, and she would probably destroy the whole town and kill every resident. Possibly joined by the angry spirit of Norman.
This may make it better or worse: there is no way they could cover up murdering Norman in the late 2000s, thanks to cellphones and the rise of social media. All Courtney, Mitch, or Alvin would have to do is put the whole story on a website like Twitter, complete with photographic evidence and trigger warnings, and it's over; the perpetrators are busted. At best, they might be able to bribe the DA into dropping the investigation by claiming temporary insanity, and the Babcocks could file a criminal lawsuit with the amount of evidence available. They'd be killing tourist season as well, because no family wants to take their kid to a place where the locals burn children alive. The Internet ensures people are Once Done, Never Forgotten, so the reputation would follow people who leave Blithe Hollow. It would be horrible, but it'd be Laser-Guided Karma.
The zombies' first acts upon rising from the grave are to scream, howl, and flail around — terrifying Norman and Alvin in the process, and coming off as much more dangerous than they actually are. Well, considering it turns out they've retained their full human consciousness, personalities, and emotions while trapped in the rotting shells of their bodies... It's surprising they manage to stop screaming and calm down in time to follow Norman at all.
A town kills a little girl and then spends the next 300 years profiting from it. Like Salem, only creepier.
Agatha was asleep for 300 years, but there's absolutely no indication that it was an unconscious, dreamless sleep. She desperately wanted to wake up, and if the flashes of her thoughts that Norman experiences are any indication, no one could possibly blame her. She's been in a Self-Inflicted Hell of fear and anger since a time more than half a century before the founding of the United States. This doubles as Fridge Brilliance, since the fact that she has caused herself so much suffering makes her like her accusers in more ways than Norman thinks to point out.
All in all, this movie probably has one of the most terrifyingly overpowered antagonists imaginable. Sure, in the end it turns out that "the witch" is just a frightened and angry little girl who can be convinced not to cause further harm by reminding her that there were people who loved her, but what if it hadn't? If the main antagonist had really been exactly what people suspected her of being, then she would have been able to completely destroy the entire town and kill everyone in it, and there would have been nothing that anyone could do to stop her. Given that the supernatural traits in her family seem to be genetic, someone cruel or even sociopathic will probably get them eventually.
The circumstances would have to play out the same way, as Aggie clearly did not possess this level of power while she was alive, which is why the townspeople were able to hang her to death in the first place. Norman and his great-uncle exhibit no Mind over Matter powers as living people either. The danger is not that somebody from this bloodline will be dangerous while they are alive, it is that you do not want to do anything to turn them into angry ghosts.
How many people died in witch hunts in this timeline? There is a possibility that Judge Hopkins and his fellow judges may have sentenced alleged witches before Agatha Prenderghast to deaths.
The movie takes a much darker vibe when you factor in queer readings of the material; the entire town displays apprehension and hatred towards a non-traditional, non-masculine/heteronormative-coded child, his family shares this hatred and in the case of the father, acts in a homophobic manner; and Norman's uncle is treated like someone who would be considered a "sexual deviant" and is abandoned to basically die alone. The queer-coding gets muddled, however, when the movie doesn't really punish the town for their irrational fears, and, like in the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the minority-coded hero has to "prove their worth" for acceptance in an unjust world that will likely not change all that much once the film is over and likely will make excuses for their intolerance, like Norman's mother's "they fear for you" quote.
An alternative reading of the third act could be made regarding the lack of priority regarding the town's wellbeing. The conflict with the town is settled after the confrontation on the courthouse; the true climax of the film, the heart of the story, is not earning the discriminatory town's respect, but aiding a similarly-coded individual whose pain over her mistreatment means she needs as much understanding and acceptance as Norman. Norman initially is told to save the town and stop the witch because that's his duty and place, but ultimately saving the town is incidental in what he eventually decides to do regarding the situation, and he comes to realize that obediently conforming to his "place" as instructed only perpetuates the problem, upon which he throws out the age-old "solution" that prioritized the town's comfort and security at Aggie's and the Prenderghasts' expense. The zombies and Aggie took higher priority, and if the townsfolk hadn't formed an angry mob that targeted the zombies and Norman specifically, their status and activities really wouldn't be a concern in the film at that point. The townsfolk are an obstacle from beginning to end, and dealing with them is just a step to undoing the mess Aggie and the zombies are in; Norman never owed the townsfolk anything, and the film never acts as if he ever did. Tradition said he did, but a theme of the film is how the tradition of forestalling the consequences of the bad thing the town did didn't solve the problems, and finding a real solution that works requires actually addressing the underlying issues head-on.
