PREVIOUSLY: Peter Parker's life over the last few issues has been a roller coaster ride. His long-time friend and mentor, Joe Robbie Robertson, had his back broken by the hitman known as Tombstone, with whom he shared a somewhat shady history. As Spider-Man, Peter defeated Tombstone and sent him to jail, and Robbie confessed to the Justice Department to having lied about murders Tombstone committed twenty years earlier because he was scared of his retribution.

Before being caught by Spider-Man, Tombstone was working for the Arranger and kidnapped Roland Rayburn, a mutant with the ability to persuade others to do his will. The Arranger experimented on Rayburn and helped him increase his powers of persuasion; he also gave him a new name: The Persuader. In turn, the Persuader kidnapped The Punisher, who was in New York tracking down Tombstone and after ten hours of persuasion, convinced him to join the Kingpin’s army. Spider-Man had joined forces with The Punisher earlier in the issue to track down Tombstone and became aware that The Punisher was nowhere to be found.

The Gwen Stacy clone also resurfaced in Lansing, Michigan over the last few issues and she came under attack by some members of the High Evolutionary. She managed to get away without a scratch and made her way towards New York City to find Peter Parker!

In the last two issues of Spectacular Spider-Man (144-145), Peter Parker ventured out to Mission Bay, San Diego to appear on a television program called "Hello There San Diego" to promote his picture-book. While there, as Spider-Man, he ended up investigating a murder that revolved around the North American yachting cup and a fierce competition between the current champion, Louis Baxter III and Artie Crippen, the top contender and victim of said murder. As Spider-Man, Peter confronted the killer, revealed to be the super-villain known as Boomerang, and after a long and arduous battle, our hero defeated him. The mastermind behind all of this was revealed to be none other than Louis Baxter who killed Crippen because the latter had found out that he was cheating using special equipment hidden in his boat and was threatening to expose him.

A few minutes later, he arrives at his and Mary Jane's apartment that they now share with Kristy Watson, MJ's niece. MJ and Kristy are out grocery shopping so Peter enters the apartment wearing his Spider-Man costume. He puts his stuff down on the table and ponders why his spider-sense did not alert him of danger earlier when the wind turbine attacked him. His gut tells him that something is going on but he doesn't know what it is. He doesn't feel like taking a shower so much anymore.

Meanwhile on 72nd Street, Mary Jane and Kristy are making their way back to the apartment holding a bunch of grocery bags, Kristy eating an apple. MJ is impressed at her niece's appetite and wonders where she puts it all. Kristy replies that she is lucky and asks MJ to tell her more about modeling and how to break in. MJ is stunned that her niece is so interested in becoming a model and tells her to slow down. Kristy apologizes for getting carried away and tells MJ that she is just really happy to be staying with her and Peter. MJ replies that they do not mind but that Kristy's mom could have given them some warning before taking off to Europe. Kristy replies that her mom is kind of a flake sometimes but it is revealed through her thoughts that her mom doesn't even know that she is gone. As MJ and Kristy enter their apartment building, a nearby lamppost suddenly becomes alive and hisses.

A short time later in Jackson Heights, Queens, Joe "Robbie" Robertson returns home from a walk around the block and finds his wife Martha waiting for him on the front porch. She hands him a cup of coffee and tells him that J. Jonah Jameson called and told her about him wanting to plead guilty at his arraignment the following week. She goes on saying that she is very upset and that seeing him quit is breaking her heart. Robbie replies that he is not quitting and that he is pleading guilty because he is guilty. He goes on explaining what we already know, which is that twenty years ago, he saw Tombstone kill a man and kept silent about it. He adds that if this makes him accessory to murder then he is guilty as charged. He tells his wife that she doesn't understand and she replies that he's right. Having said that she goes back inside and slams the door behind her, leaving Robbie to wrestle with his thoughts.

A short while later in Hicksville, Long Island, Harry Osborn and his wife Liz Allen-Osborn are sound asleep when Harry suddenly awakens screaming. Liz grabs him and tells him that it was only a nightmare. Harry replies that he's had the same dream every night for a week and that in said dream, he sees his father's face in a mirror, then his, then he sees the grinning face of a monster. Liz replies that they should have stayed at their place in New Jersey and that coming back to his old house was a mistake. She barely finishes her sentence when they hear little Normie crying from the adjacent bedroom. They rush over and find him standing up in his crib. Harry holds him up in his arms and tells him that he won't let any boogeyman hurt his little baby boy. He then tells Liz that moving back there was a stupid idea of his part and that they will move back to New Jersey the coming weekend. Liz is glad because she, unlike Harry, remembers the nightmares of his past and she knows what happened to his father and what could have happened to him. Her thoughts reveal that she almost called Peter Parker when Harry started having those dreams again but she is glad that she didn't since they will now move back to New Jersey, where she hopes things will change. What Liz doesn't know is that the Hobgoblin is watching them from the outside of the mansion.

Bedford Towers, Manhattan, the next morning. Peter is taking a shower when he gets soap in his eyes. He asks MJ to hand him a towel but Kristy is the one that gives him a towel. Peter doesn't catch on to that fact but when he does, he goes red in the face just like a strawberry. Kristy tells him that she has three brothers back home and to not fret. She then exits the bathroom leaving him to dry off. She makes her way to the kitchen where she finds MJ and asks her if she can make herself breakfast. MJ replies that she can and as a joke, tells her that she should stay away from her man. While Peter is getting dressed, he receives a phone call from Harry Osborn who asks him to come out to his Manhattan chemical plant because he needs to talk. Peter tells Harry that he'll be there as soon as he can.

Starlight Room, Midtown Manhattan. As ace reporter Ben Urich enters the room and meets with Detective Frank Farrow, introduced in last issue, he gasps at the sight of twenty bodies slashed up and covered in blood. Urich asks Farrow if they're all dead and Farrow replies that they are. Urich asks him who all those people are and what happened to them. Farrow replies that they are local mob lieutenants and that the murders are somewhat connected to the Central Park Zoo slasher killing of a few nights before. Having said that, he points Urich to a message written in blood left on a tablecloth by the killers. The message reads: "Kingpin: Wolves Kill". At that exact moment, the Arranger shows up, accompanied by one of his goons and asks to be told what is going on. Detective Farrow tells the Arranger that somebody is gunning for the Kingpin and asks him to make an old cop's job easier by telling him who is after the Kingpin. The Arranger replies that Mr. Fisk is a respectable businessman and that he, on behalf of the Kingpin, is only there to protect his employer's fiscal interests, since this establishment is one of his many investments. Farrow tells the Arranger to shut up and reminds him that the whole town is ready to blow wide open with a full-scale gang war and that him and the Kingpin are not helping at all. Farrow goes on telling the Arranger to tell his boss that he isn't about to sit by and watch people die and that he better get some answers and soon or else.

Meanwhile, in the background, Ben Urich is making a phone call to Joy Mercado at the Daily Bugle office to tell her about the whole situation down at the Starlight Room, where he currently is. She writes it all down and asks Urich if he's willing to split a by-line if she does some research on her end. Just then, Gloria Grant approaches her and asks her if she is talking to Ben Urich as Jonah wants to talk to him. Joy replies that she is and asks Gloria if she knows why he wants to talk to him. Gloria replies that she doesn't know what he wants but Joy retorts that nobody knows JJJ better than she does. Gloria comes clean and tells Joy that ever since Robbie Robertson went on sick leave, Jonah has been taking a more active interest in running the Bugle. At that exact moment, Jonah comes out of his office yelling, wanting to know where Kate Cushing is. Cushing approaches Jonah and tells him to calm down as he is upsetting the staff. Jonah apologizes in his own way and blasts her about the front-page headline, which reads "Poltergeists!". Cushing replies that there have been all kinds of weird sightings all around the City, inexplicable, supernatural events. Jonah replies that any wino can see a ghost and any newspaper can run a scare headline. Having said that, Jonah, using a red felt tip, crosses the exclamation point after the word "Poltergeists" and replaces it with a question mark. Shoving the newspaper in Cushing's face (figuratively), Jonah tells her that this is what he calls responsible headline and walks away. Cushing's thoughts reveal that Jonah sometimes irritates her especially when he's right. Just then, Gloria Grant walks by and tells Cushing not to worry about Jonah because he's just like an old dog: he has more bark than teeth. Gloria then heads out of the newsroom to go have lunch and hops in the elevator. As she exits the elevator, Gloria is pondering about what kind of teddy bear she should pick up at F.A.O. Schwartz for her niece Yvonne who is celebrating her seventh birthday. Lost in her thoughts, she runs into a man just outside the elevator and drops her purse. The man apologizes, picks up her purse and gives it back to her, telling her that a man must always treat a woman with courtesy particularly a beautiful woman. Glory is utterly captivated by the man's good looks and can barely speak. The man tells her that, to make amend, he will take her out to lunch. As they make their way to a restaurant, Glory asks him who he is and the man replies that his name is Eduardo Lobo.

Meanwhile at the Osborn Chemical Corporation, Peter meets with Harry and Harry tells him that he's been having nightmares, without going into too much details of course. He tells Peter that they started when he moved back to the old mansion in Hicksville so Peter asks him why he moved in the first place. Harry replies that something seemed to draw him back to that place, as if he had unfinished business to take care of. Hearing Harry say that, Peter wonders if he means unfinished business as the Green Goblin because Peter knows that, although Harry doesn't remember his brief career as the second Green Goblin – following in the footsteps of his father, the original Green Goblin – Peter does. Deep down inside Peter knows how Harry became the Goblin under the influence of a drug flashback and how he, afterward, blocked the entire episode from his conscious memory with a case of hysterical amnesia. But now Peter wonders if the amnesia is finally wearing off. He asks Harry if he wants his advice but Harry interjects and tells him that he knows he's going to tell him to move back to New Jersey. Peter concurs and tells Harry to sell his father's house, take a trip and ease up on himself. Suddenly, Peter's spider-sense kicks in, alerting him of impending danger. All around them, metal pipes start to become alive – similar to the wind turbine that attacked Spidey earlier – and one of them gets a hold of Harry, lifting him above ground. Harry implores Peter to help him so Peter pretends to run off to go find a fire axe. In fact, he hides behind a large containment unit and switches to his Spider-Man costume, all the while wondering what is wrong with his spider-sense, which doesn't seem to be working right. He heads back into the fracas of metal pipes clashing against each other and makes his way towards Harry, who has lost consciousness. Peter rips the pipes apart and sets Harry free but while he does so, he wonders if Harry's nightmares have anything to do with what is going on (Harry’s nightmares did start a week ago, which is right around the time that strange things started happening around New York). Harry's limp body on his shoulder, Spidey makes his way out of the plant, which is now engulfed in flames. His spider-sense goes off again so Spidey turns around and notices someone flying, up in the smoke, above the chemical plant. Spidey can't make out who it is and then it disappears. Spidey puts Harry down on the ground and takes off to go change back into Peter Parker. He then comes back and joins Harry, who is devastated about what happened to the plant, telling Peter that the plant was all he had of his father's and that he's lost it. Harry then takes off, leaving Peter with the feeling that something bad is gonna come out of this.

Later that night in Hicksville, Long Island, shortly after midnight, Harry suddenly awakens from another nightmare. He heads over to the bathroom to get a glass of water and realizes that Peter was right; he needs to get out of there. As he pours himself a glass of water, he decides that he's going to tell Liz the next day. Suddenly, a voice tells him that tomorrow is too late and so was today. In the mirror, the head of the Green Goblin appears and tells Harry that he is his, always was and always will be, and finishes by calling him "daddy's little boy".

To be continued in Web of Spider-Man #47.