A Few American Horror Story Asylum News Flashes – Spoiler-Free Round-Up For You!

23 October 2012

I got tired of trying to cram the American Horror Story Asylum news into a series of blurted-out tweets, and the Horror Boom Facebook page interface is giving me grief, so how about I try something new? I’ll just give you the news and link back to where ever I got it from. I don’t think it’s cool, copyright-wise, to just present it like it’s right off the AP wire. I don’t know, can I do that? Well, I’ll worry about those issues and focus on getting you the latest news!

Episode Two, airing Wednesday, 10/24 at 10PM on FX is called Tricks and Treats. I recall seeing it titled “Tricks and Treats Part One” with the Halloween episode airing (when else) 10/31 titled “Tricks and Treats Part Two.” That bummed me out a little for some reason, maybe because I remember the Halloween two-parter episode last year. Ryan Murphy said he kind of wanted to make it an annual tradition, and said he originally pushed for the episodes to be aired on two consecutive nights, with Part Two airing on Halloween. Didn’t work out as planned, but boy, did those episodes hook me on the show. I was already impressed and fascinated, but at some point (maybe during the “Dead Breakfast Club” scenes, definitely when the characters started crashing into one another, and absolutely on the sad walk back the “murder house” by all the trapped souls who knew they’d only get to travel and maybe get some human contact or closure another few minutes, then it would be another long year. I fell madly in love with the show.

No guest stars listed on [S02 E03], but there’s no way that “daring escape” is going to end well for anyone. Except maybe some hungry “Raspers” in the woods who will be happy to get a hot meal this once. Plus, I predict whatever Sister Jude is hiding from is going to come back in a BIG way.

OK, so here’s the episode description released for Tricks and Treats (S02, E03) released by FX:

An exorcist is called to Briarcliff to help save a troubled farm boy; Sister Jude’s darkest secret is revealed.

OoooOOOOOO! That’s a fast reveal, but I’m sure not complaining. I know this season will have quite a few more. So far I don’t know who plays the “troubled farm boy” in need of an exorcism (or seemingly in need of one), but with all the name-dropping of actors from Season One stopping by, it could be great. I guess the “boy” part leaves out Dylan McDermott, Ian McShane and Mark “Tio” Margolis. But who will the exorcist? Whether it’s a familiar face or not, I’m fucking amped up to watch.

S02, E03 Episode 3 (airing on Halloween) is now titled Nor’easter. The episode description is…

A violent storm allows a group of patients to plan a daring escape; Sister Jude is haunted by her past.

No guest stars listed on that one, but there’s no way that “daring escape” is going to end well for anyone. Except maybe some hungry “Raspers” in the woods who will be happy to get a hot meal this once. Plus, whatever Sister Jude is hiding from is going to come back in a BIG way. My guess is she did something considered (maybe just by her, maybe just by the time period) “sinful” – hustle for drinks in bars? Have been a burlesque dancer (doubt it)? Being a high-end call girl… or a low-end one, financing her drug habit? I doubt it’ll be anything we expect, but I’m pretty sure it will involve sex and alcohol, given what we’ve seen of her so far.

In other AHSA news, the Zap2it Blog has these tidbits to offer. Click here to read goodies from a Twitter-hosted Fan Q&A with Ryan Murphy teasing Franka Potente’s role, aliens, and future appearances by the trashy (and unfortunate) couple played by Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Adam Levine in the modern-day framing story …and the possible return of Taissa Farmiga!

There’s no more episode descriptions, but some titles for future episodes:

S02, E04 is titled “I am Anne Frank, Part One” and S02, E05 “I am Anne Frank, Part Two.” I have NO goddamned guesses for what those involve. S02 E07 is titled, very ominously, “Dark Cousin”.

Lastly, I heard a rumor that makes me nervous– that this 13-episode season will be split in half, with a break of over a month around the holidays. Now THAT’S some scary shit!

Be sure to check out the Dread Central “Related Articles” listed below – they’re still my personal favorite site for up-to-the-minute news, especially exclusives. I can’t wait till I finally scrape up the money for an Android phone and can hook up with the Dread Central App.

How Cool is THIS? Copy of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion For Sale! (The Orange County Register)

23 October 2012

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Ooooh BABY! The featured photo above isn’t from the Orange County Register re-press, but from a Huffington Post article on the sale of the home (on eBay!) – by far the coolest pic I’ve seen of this rockin’ pad.

At the risk of sounding petty due to my envy, I have to say they’re doing the house a disservice by only having one slightly haunted room. Man, you have that kind of time and money to do this little side projects? Go ALL OUT.

You don’t need to have Doom Buggies installed to shuttle you from room to room (though I could live with that) and I know you can’t recreate the Disney holograms, but come on, if you’re going to go to all that trouble, construct a ‘stretching room’ and at least one hallway with transforming paintings on the walls. Have your door chime play an abbreviated version of the chorus of “Grim Grinning Ghosts.” The place doesn’t have to look like it’s decaying, or be so dark you can’t walk across a room without tripping over something …but would having your dinner table be in a Grand Ballroom with a few holograms you designed yourself be so bad? You got that kind of bread, go to fucking town!

It’s located in Atlanta, too, so have kudzu vines around the exterior and make it look like a sturdier, cleaner version of the mansion from the classic Thriller episode “Pigeons From Hell“* OK, you should have the place be more structurally sound than the PFH mansion, since you probably won’t have much company in the place if it has vermin and it’s rickety enough inside you’re worried the grand staircase won’t hold you.

Get one of those pipe organs for the Ballroom. Hey, fun fact: the one at Disneyland Anaheim Haunted Mansion was the actual pipe organ used in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Yeah, I’m a Disneyland –classic Disneyland you know, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jetsons-era Tomrrowland, The Enchanted Tiki Room, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride–geek; the hardcore, loyalist type who becomes enraged about older rides being “updated” or tweaked, and who actually goes through the stages of grieving when I hear about a beloved ride or attraction being shut down despite all the letters, petitions, and emails to save it. But that’s a story for another piece.

Honestly, until a day or two after I posted this, I hadn’t read the captions for the eight photos included with the article, and there’s only one exterior of this new place. The remainder of exterior photos consist of the actual Disneyland New Orléans Square attraction. I’d been thinking, “great detail, they have the Disneyland Haunted Hearse outside, and looks like people must line up to see it on Halloween!” Those are of the real thing (I was going on zero sleep due to jury duty at the time, and not exactly detail-oriented). To the owner’s credit, they did include a plaque outside their gate just like the real one:

This is the replica of the plaque, from the “replica house” now on the market.

Now that’s not too shabby. Look for a couple more pieces from Horror Boom on The Haunted Mansion (Halloween season seems like great timing), including some cool links. If I wrote full-time from now to Halloween, there’s no way I could completely do that Disneyland attraction justice, and there’s some sites out there with such loving attention to every cool detail that they simply cannot be missed. Here’s a Disney version of Grim Grinning Ghosts originally aired on a Halloween special that takes place at a “swinging wake”…that’s one catchy-ass song!

Copy of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion for sale – The Orange County Register.

Until then, mind if we… HITCH A RIDE?

We want a framed copy of this poster! Should have picked a copy up at the gift shop, but we couldn’t figure out a way to get it in our luggage without crumpling it up.

*if you’re not familiar with “Pigeons From Hell”, it’s way scarier than it sounds. It took me literally over 20 years to finally see from the time I first read about it in the early 80s in Stephen King’s first non-fiction title Dansé Macabre to the time I found it on iTunes to buy the single episode. Not because I was too scared to, but because it was hard to find, plus there was a HORROR BOOM! kicking off in the early 80s that distracted me with so much other kick-ass horror movies, books, TV shows and even comics that my schedule got crowded and I could barely keep up with the new stuff, let alone stuff from the 60s besides Night of The Living Dead. Do yourself a favor if you’re unfamiliar; PLEASE go in as clean as possible! All you need to know is it’s a very frightening Southern Gothic tale (filmed in black and white, introduced by Boris Karloff) that takes place in the early 60s. I can reveal that the titular pigeons are the SO least of the character’s problems, though.

The Creepy Merryville Brothers (on SNL) Wish You a Happy Halloween! (horrorboom.com)
Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion is Beautiful (tor.com)
The Haunted Mansion and Paint the Silence (kevinhunter.wordpress.com)
Awesome Haunted Mansion Pumpkin Carving (betweenthepagesblog.typepad.com)

The Creepy Merryville Brothers (on SNL) Wish You a Happy Halloween!

23 October 2012

2 Comments

Unfortunately I can’t embed this, but it’s worth watching. If you haven’t seen the “Merryville Brothers” skits on Saturday Night Live, Screencrush.com describes them pretty well in their story about Tom Hanks making a surprise cameo on SNL last Saturday (their Halloween episode):

The sketch begins with the welcome return of the creepy/hilarious animatronic figures known as the “Merryville Brothers” and initially follows the format of their previous appearance in almost every way. A couple finds themselves stranded in an amusement park haunted house, right next to the those creepy robots who grow increasingly threatening every time they’re activated. Even without its big celebrity cameo, the entire scene is still fantastic — we could watch the terrible/amazing pantomiming of the Merryville Brothers all day.

Yes! I agree. I cracked up the first time I saw them (could have sworn this was the third time they appeared, not the second) when Jim Carrey hosted, he was funny but Bill Hader‘s face was what made my husband and I started laughing so hard we almost had tears rolling down our faces. For the Bruno Mars-hosted Halloween episode, he (my husband, not Bruno Mars) fell asleep between the opening and the first sketch, and he sleeps like a log. However, I was howling with laughter so loud it actually woke him up. He squinted at the screen, said, “Oh yeah, those ride guys again,” and fell back to sleep (he says he doesn’t remember).

So, in the holiday spirit (and for a good laugh), click here to watch the Halloween Merryville Brothers sketch on Hulu!

You don’t need to be a member, just watch– though if you’re on your iPhone, it might not be compatible, but it’s you can still watch it online. Not a good idea to throw popcorn at them if you get bored. “Why did you do that? They’re gonna get mad!” I like the “Grim Grinning Ghosts“-type vocals (‘GGG’ is the theme song they play towards the end of the Haunted Mansion Ride at Disneyland, when you’re going through the graveyard and seeing the swinging wake with the singing busts, the terrified caretaker, etc.)* Wanna hear it for comparison? Watch THIS more up-tempo “classic” version below! It makes me want to grab my suitcase and freakin’ RUN to hop on the nearest plane to Disneyland.

Plus, when I was trying to find the name of the brothers, I found this really funny Facebook page someone put up for them. Nice! Let’s hope they show up again this season.

Ting!

*I’d purchase that song if I saw it on iTunes, DAMN I love The Haunted Mansion! The version I posted isn’t even the most elaborate and awesome, either. There’s a ton of ones that light you up even more. Saving those for a later post!