Author Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) travels to Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes at the location that they honeymooned. However, the honeymoon suite where they stayed is now permanently locked because the owner believes it is haunted by a witch. 

Hokum is very much interested in stories. It opens on Ohm trying to complete the final book in his successful series about a conquistador, and when he arrives at the Bilberry Woods Hotel, he listens to two children being petrified by a story told to them by an old man. There are also two key characters, Fiona (Florence Ordesh) and Jerry (David Wilmott), who discuss the importance of keeping your mind open to what might be, and in the case of Jerry, he actively pursues that open mind with a liberal smattering of mushrooms. 

Ohm himself is a troubled man, and initially not particularly likeable in the manner he interacts with the employees of the hotel. Even his books are filled with unlikeable characters and dark endings. But an act of kindness from Fiona makes him care about her disappearance at a Halloween party and delve deeper into the circumstances of why she is missing. The events that follow will allow him to understand his own story better as a result. 

Hokum is itself a really enjoyable story. It may initially feel like it is pure hokum but ends up as anything but. A protagonist with his own personal demons that mean everything might be in his head? Check. A haunted hotel, deep in the woods and filled with creepy characters? Check. A folk tale of a local witch that just might be true? Check. The execution, though, is superb. The sets, lighting, and suspense building are perfectly done. There are moments in its second half where it truly has a stranglehold on your nerves as you wait for the jump scare you know is coming. 

This is one story really worth shredding your nerves for.