Penny Lee loves to watch television so much that she has no time for anything else, but one day when the television stops working, her dog Mr. Barkley shows her some of the other fun things they can do.

Not much can scare Will and Marty--until they travel with their family to a seaside town famous for its resident ghost. Legend has it that when the sea glows at night, the pirate captain Augustine Crow haunts the shore, searching for a new cabin boy. Of course, Will knows this can't be true. But one night, the sea is lit with an eerie glow...and is that a ghostly voice calling his name?

Will Woodman has a hard time getting anyone in his family to listen to him, so he turns to his grandfather, who, it turns out, has more terrible sob stories than Will.

Every Saturday, while helping polish the lens of the lighthouse his grandfather tends, nine-year-old Will tells a tale he hopes will top Grandad's, but Grandad always wins until Dad reminds Will of a long-forgotten escapade with his brother.