The Soul Collector

The Soul Collector is the story of two African-American sanitation workers in Cleveland, Ohio, 1972. Cedric and his nephew, Darnell, collect items along their sanitation route that they plan to sell to realize their dreams: Cedric wants to open a gourmet restaurant where he'll serve exotic dishes made with chicken wings; Darnell wants to be a Motown superstar and songwriter (his only problem is that all his songs are written to the tunes of Christmas carols). Darnell has a "special gift," and inside each discarded item he carefully chooses—clothing, photos, furniture—there is a human spirit looking for escape. At present, Cedric and Darnell have rallied to rescue the spirits of Saul Kaufman, a 70-year-old Jewish agent, who died in Las Vegas in 1954 waiting for an elusive Frank Sinatra, and Nozomi Kobayashi, a 10-year-old who died in the WWII bombing of Nagasaki, so they can move on to the next spiritual plane. But, unbeknownst to Cedric and Darnell, a shape-shifting demon lives in their building. He is Thaddeus K. Wisher, who has been eating the spirits of the dead and living off the power of their dreams. As a sideline he sells Girl Scout cookies. Only Darnell can do battle and defeat this Eater of Souls, and to do this he must claim his birthright as the Soul Collector.