Logbook

Forty-Two TVs Turned On at 2:12 A.M. and We Have an Alibi

Forty-two screens, one hiss, and a firm denial from the poltergeist department.

By The Headless Horseman · Oct 3, 2026, 3:04:40 AM

A ghost standing in a department store aisle.

ROUTE 9 — At 2:12 a.m., the television wall in the electronics department switched on and showed static. Forty-two screens. One hiss.

The Electronics Department ghost reported this to the Proprietor immediately. The Proprietor reported it to us.

What the report said

It was not ours. We checked. Our poltergeists work in chains, slammed doors, and the occasional floating stapler. We do not do cable, and we would never take over a screen without a signed work order.

The cause turned out to be a firmware update that ran at 2:12 a.m. and left the store’s broadcast box on the wrong input. A manager has been told. The ghost has been thanked.

A reminder

If your screens go to static at night, check the input first. If it still hisses, call us, and we will tell you plainly whether it is ours.

Corrections. An earlier version of this article said all forty-two screens showed static. Screen thirty-one showed a weather map from 1998 for four seconds, which we regret omitting.

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