Meet Morty Mayer, a young Jewish boy in a contemporary America, who wakes up to find that he has mysteriously died and been buried in his synagogue's cemetery-and while the enigmatic gravedigger resurrects him every night, his parents remain in their coffins. Morty is adopted by the other residents of the cemetery, deceased Jews from several past decades, who now work together to protect their home from supernatural threats. As Morty begins investigating his own demise, he discovers a plot from a powerful corporation with mystical connections and must work together with the fellow residents of the cemetery, his living teenage cousin, and a host of demons and monsters to banish an ancient evil in a very modern form.

Mitzvah Macabre tells a story inspired by a key piece of Jewish folklore: the belief that the spirits of dead emerge from the cemetery, enter the synagogue, and conduct their own services.