Dede

Dede

Background

Judy "Dede" Larsen is a ghost haunting a cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut. She was killed by a possible drunk driver on prom night, Friday, May 7, 1956 while waiting to be picked up by Ricky. Judy was born in 1939.

During the events of Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Season 1 Episode 12 The Tale of the Prom Queen played by Katie Griffin

Dede stands over a grave holding a bouquet of wildflowers as if taking a moment for silent prayer. She hears something and then walks away from the grave. As she is wandering around the cemetery, Jam jumps from behind a mausoleum and scares her. Dede starts to run away and Greg stops her and tells her that they aren't ghosts. Jam taunts Dede and insinuates they might be ghosts and asks her if she has seen Night of the Living Dead (1968). She asks them if they always hang out in cemeteries and scare people. Greg introduces Jam and himself to Dede and apologizes for scaring her. Jam asks Dede what her name is and when Greg asks her what she was doing in the cemetery by herself she says she was bringing flowers to a grave. Jam thinks Dede might be looking for ghosts like they are. Jam tells her that Saturday night is prom night, the night of the Prom Queen. Dede asks who the Prom Queen is and says she used to live there but is just visiting. Jam says that a long time ago on prom night, a girl was waiting by the gates of the cemetery for her date to pick her up. That night it was foggy and a driver who might have been drunk and was speeding ran into the girl and then drove away. The next morning the girl was found and a couple days later, she was buried in her prom dress. He continues that every year on prom night the ghost of the girl comes back, waiting for the ride that never comes. Jam asks her if she wants to help look for the girl's grave and tells her, that Greg thinks Dede's a babe. Dede agrees to help, but none of them can find the grave. They go to eat food and Greg says he wants to find out if there really was a car accident. Jam offers Dede the rest of Greg's sundae, but she says she isn't hungry. Dede suggests they ask the police if they have any records, but Jam thinks that is a bad idea. Greg suggests they look through newspapers as there should be a story written about the accident.

Dede, Jam and Greg go to the library to scan the newspapers on microfiche and start looking from 1950 to the present. While looking through the newspapers from 1956, they find an article on the accident. When Greg finds the article, Dede is excited and says she has never used a microfiche before. Greg reads the article which says the victim's name was Judy Larsen. He continues that when her boyfriend Ricky found out what happened, he drove his car off the Mianus River Bridge and Dede is excited to find out that Ricky died too. Greg continues that they never found Ricky's body or the car. They hear a noise behind them and the Librarian asks them if they would like some tea. They leave the library and Dede suggests they help Judy by contacting Ricky's spirit and telling it to pick Judy up. Jam suggests they have a seance at his house, but Dede has another idea and tells Jam and Greg to meet her later during the evening. Before leaving, Greg tells Dede that he thinks she is a strange person, and she says that's keen. In the evening, they meet at the Mianus River Bridge and rent a motorboat. They stop the boat near the bridge and then hold hands while Dede tells them that they have to concentrate and think about Ricky and his Chevy. She continues they should imagine Ricky as he is driving and his state of mind as he turns too fast on the bridge and then drives off the bridge into the water. Water bubbles start to come to the surface and Dede tells the others to continue concentrating. Dede calls out to Ricky and tells him that Judy is still waiting for her at the cemetery. Something large starts to surface and they row back to shore, and the bubbles subside. Jam then tells everyone to meet him at the cemetery during the night.

Dede, Jam and Greg find Judy's grave and then decide to wait by the cemetery gate. Greg asks Dede if she believes in ghosts, but she tells him she doesn't know. Greg asks when Judy is going to show up and Jam tells him in the tales, it is always midnight. Dede hears the sound of windchimes and Jam points to what appears to be a ghost walking near them. Jam says it is Judy, but Greg doesn't believe it is a ghost and walks up to it and turns it around. The ghost turns out to be Jam's cousin Chuck and Jam starts laughing at Greg. Greg threatens to beat up Jam and lunges at him and Jam ducks and introduces Greg and Dede to Chuck. Greg again threatens to beat up Jam and Dede brings up the weird happening in the river. Jam makes fun of Dede for believing it was a ghost and Greg grabs Jam. Dede sees a car heading in their direction and calls to Greg. They all see the car coming their way and Greg at first thinks it is another Jam prank. The car drives up to them and Dede walks up to the car and suddenly she is wearing a prom dress. She tells them that she knew they were the ones to help her the moment she saw them and needed someone to bring her outside of the cemetery. She gets into Ricky's car and thanks them for helping her. Ricky gives them a thumbs up and then he and Judy drive away.