 The house is old and their new owners , the Deetz family , arrive from New <unk> City . Charles Deetz is a former real estate developer ; his second wife Delia is a self @-@ proclaimed sculptor ; and his goth daughter Lydia , from his first marriage , is an aspiring photographer . Under the guidance of interior designer Otho , the Deetzes transform the house into tasteless pastel @-@ toned modern art . Consulting the Handbook , the Maitlands travel to an otherworldly waiting room populated by other distressed souls , where they discover that the afterlife is structured according to a complex bureaucracy involving vouchers and <unk> . The Maitlands ' own caseworker , Juno , informs them that they must remain in the house for 125 years . If they want the Deetzes out of the house , it is up to them to scare them away . Barbara 's and Adam 's attempts at scaring the family prove ineffective . 
