norma bates was introduced as the owner of a motel in 2001 that tabitha lenox and her companion, timmy, fled to in order to escape the backlash from the release of "hidden passions", a collection of tabitha's memories that timmy had compiled into a novel. norma told tabitha and timmy that no one ever stopped at their hotel anymore, the reason for which the witch and doll later discovered — norma was insane. she attempted to kill tabitha with an axe while she showered, and the two later discovered that her father, with whom she had been conversing earlier, was dead — norma had left his skeleton, dressed in his clothes, in a rocking chair. timmy accidentally destroyed the skeleton, with only the skull surviving, and norma swore to kill timmy for hurting "daddy". tabitha and timmy fled the motel.