Glossary
Manipulated Dead
People who die inside the Tangent Universe. They gain the power to move through time and contact the Living Receiver through water. Frank and Gretchen are the Manipulated Dead of the film.
"The Manipulated Dead are more powerful than the Living Receiver." Frank, shot through the eye on October 30, uses that power to reach back to October 2 and wake Donnie - which is why he already knows the countdown and why he wears his Halloween costume in every visitation. His task is to set the Ensurance Trap.
Gretchen dies minutes before the collapse and has no time to act as a Manipulated Dead, though her wave to Rose in the final scene is often read as its echo.
Defined in The Philosophy of Time Travel