[Gloom] about "discard & remove" and Story cards claim

Q1. ex. Monster Mash in unquiet dead says that:
"Either pay an Untimely Death as a free play, or else remove this card and an Undead Character from the game."

If I choose second effect to "remove", does this Event card go to discard pile
or be removed and can't be used in following game?

The other question is that if the Undead Character chosen to remove had Modifiers on it,
what happened to these cards? Remove and no longer used, or just send them to discard pile?

Briefly, what's the correct definition of "discard" and "remove" in Gloom?
And if a Character was removed from game, where did the Modifiers on it will go?

Q2. Should claiming a Story Card expend a normal action?

Thanks you all for helping ~