Tag Archives: carnival

A Trip To The County Fair Pt. 2

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A Trip To The County Fair Pt. 2

Hello!!! Johnny and I attended the Portage County Randolph Fair this past Tuesday and it was a hoot. It was my very first county fair and I am so glad that I got to experience it with my main squeeze! What made this date night even cooler was that Johnny and his parents would attend this particular fair every year in his youth. He was very pleased to see that the Grampa Cratchet Puppet Show was still going strong all of these years later!! Check out some pics from our outing and let’s discuss:

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^^^ The sculptures in the last two pictures are made entirely out of tires!!

There was so much to do and see at the county fair and I was fine with letting Johnny lead the way – this was not his first rodeo! We began our evening by hitching a ride on a tractor from the parking lot to the fairgrounds. Once we were there, we were surrounded by animals everywhere! From cows and pigs to goats, horses, and adorable baby chicks there was livestock for days. I was really disappointed that all of the bunnies went home for the day, but Johnny told me I couldn’t bring Mel and P home a brother or sister so I guess it was for the best lol.

After we visited all of the animals, we were ready to get some food and I couldn’t wait. However, looking back now – I wish I did! As we made our way through tons of vendor booths, we finally saw lemonade and food stands. Having never been to a county fair before, I assumed that what we saw was it. So, we stocked up on fresh squeezed lemonade, a burger for Johnny, nachos, and fries and went to the seating area for the Grampa Cratchet Puppet Show to eat. After we were done, you could have knocked me over with a feather when we turned the corner from the stands we got food from and I saw an endless array of more food! This is why we are going to Oktoberfest in Cuyahoga Falls next month to get everything we missed out on at the fair.

The puppet show was, admittedly, very weird haha. It was like the children’s version of Crank Yankers if anyone remembers that show? It was basically just a bunch of puppets doing silly things and teaching valuable lessons like following instructions, which was what our show was about. It was pretty funny, but Johnny and I were ready to go after five minutes. I’m just really glad we got to see some of it because I was like “wtf?” when Johnny first told me about it and my sentiments remain the same!

The main event of the night was a demolition derby and we still had time to kill before we took our seats in the stands. We weren’t interested in any of the rides, but I had never played a carnival game before so we did that next. Johnny gave us a twenty dollar limit to play with and I already knew exactly what I wanted to win – a stuffed corndog that I saw a little boy carrying earlier. We found a game that had the plushie as a prize and I am proud to say that we DOMINATED!! We had to shoot a water gun at a target to fill up a balloon and make it pop. Thanks to our dates to the shooting range, we were a force to be reckoned with and I was so happy to claim my corndog. 😀

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^^^ It’s so cute!

Our final stop of the night was at the demolition derby and we were crunched for time. At this point, it was going on seven thirty and we still had to make a thirty-five minute drive home. We were expecting for the derby to start with the big cars right from the jump and that wasn’t the case. The derby opened with the pee-wee league of five or so year olds in their souped up Barbie jeeps and Hot Wheels trucks. It was so cute lol. We stuck around for a bit longer until it was safe to say that the kiddos were not going to get out of the gridlock they created. Our other future plan is to find another demolition derby to attend when we don’t have to get up for work the next morning!

Our Trip To The County Fair ended perfectly because we arrived at the entrance just in time to catch a tractor back to our parking spot. We had an absolute blast! Tune in tomorrow for my OOTD and *gasp* seeing me in blue jeans for the first time! 😮

What is your favorite attraction at the fair? What is your favorite carnival game to play? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

A Trip To The County Fair

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A Trip To The County Fair

Hello!!! One of my little quirks that Johnny has never wrapped his head around is that I have never been to a county fair. In my defense, it makes the utmost sense. My parents didn’t trust the carnival rides and we have lots of strict vegetarians in my family so we avoided the buying and selling of livestock. This was so normal to me that I didn’t really realize everyone else has been to a county fair! So, when Johnny found out that the fair he attended in his youth was going on this past week, we had to go. Even if it was on a work night!

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^^^ Yes, Johnny did wear that shirt during our wedding!

Once I returned from work on Tuesday, it was off to the Portage County Randolph Fair. Johnny ordered our tickets ahead of time as well as tickets to a demolition derby (Which is an event I have also never attended!). I had a hunch of what the fair would be like from Johnny’s musings and it was exactly what I expected. Lol, there were animals, more than enough food to feed a small country, games, and rides. Between all of the sights, smells, and people it was total sensory overload for the first ten or so minutes!

I will be discussing more of what we did at the fair along with lots of pictures tomorrow. You can also peep my OOTD and bloopers coming up soon too! What I will say in this post, is that I love all of the new experiences that Johnny and I have together. From going to the shooting range to attending a county fair, it is always something exciting when we go on a date. When we went to the fair, everything was new. I played my first carnival game, ate my first fair food, and was in a situation I never thought I would be in. And it was fun! 😀

Our outing to the Portage County Randolph Fair was a novelty in so many ways, but mainly it was SO different being out on a work night! I truly can’t remember the last time we did something during the week day – it was definitely before we started living together. Even though we were dead tired the following day, it was beyond worth it. The county fair might not be my favorite place in the world, but I was there with my favorite guy and that made it the best. ❤

Because I have never been to an Oktoberfest, that is next on our agenda and we have a grand plan. Do a drop in, get food, and go home lol. Here’s to brand new experiences and be sure to tune in for more on the county fair!

Have you ever attended a county fair before? What was your favorite/least favorite thing about it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

American Horror Story – Episode 6

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American Horror Story – Episode 6

Hello hello! So this review of “Bullseye” which was episode six of American Horror Story: Freak Show is going to be short and sweet. Partially because I’m exhausted and I have to be up early for school tomorrow AND also because this wasn’t a very exciting episode. Nothing too important happened tonight, but let me give you the main high lights and then we’ll call it a night. Ya dig?

Dandy’s new playmates: As you know, last weeks episode ended with Elsa dropping Bette and Dotte onto Dandy’s doorstep. We learn after Gloria passes a serving platter with condoms on it to Dandy that she would love for him to mate with the twins. She states that inbreeding has caused the Mott family enough turmoil already. However, Dandy states that he would never violate the girls because he loves them. “I’m going to marry those girls, mother. And we’re going to be together forever.” As usual, the twins have extremely opposing opinions as to how they view Dandy boy. Naturally, Bette absolutely adores him while Dotte despises him. We learn later when Dandy reads her journal that he bores her and she can’t bear living with him. But Dotte is crafty. After Dandy reads a newspaper article to the girls about the first set of conjoined twins being separated, Dotte decides it would be beneficial to keep on Dandy and his money’s good side so the surgery can be performed on her and Bette.

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Paul is GETTIN IT: Tonight we learn a little bit more about Paul AKA “The Illustrated Seal”, who turns out to be quite the ladies man. HUBBA HUBBA. First we see Paul shacking up with Elsa, which was kind of a shocker. THEN flash forward thirty seconds later and we find him in bed with none other than the hospital worker who participated in the freak show orgy in the season premiere. It turns out Mr. Paul fell in love with this gal while he was banging her with the freak show crew. Well played. Not only is Paul getting ass for days, but he also displays some street smarts through out the episode tonight as well. He becomes keen to the possibility that Elsa may have had something to do with Bette and Dotte’s disappearance from the carnival. He confides his suspicions to Jimmy which results in a slap in the face from him. Jimmy claims that Paul is ungrateful and that he should remember all of the good that Elsa has done for the troupe. A night goes by and Paul is back in Elsa’s tent – he tries to leave without giving Elsa a good night kiss but miss girl is NOT having that. She beckons him over but can instantly smell the perfume of his other woman. “You reek of Venisian Romance”. Once she learns of the betrayal of her lover she calls a troupe meeting because she’s well aware of the shit talking that’s happening in regards to the twins’ disappearance. Elsa throws a BF (#bitchfit) and questions where everyone’s loyalty and faith in her has went. She then says that the only way for her to trust in any of the crew is if they trust in her. She insists upon one of the freaks getting hooked onto the spinning bullseye wheel while she displays her knife throwing skills. Jimmy volunteers, but Paul steps forward saying that it should be him. So onto the wheel Paul goes while Amazon Eve spins it. The first two knives Miss Elsa throws land safely, but the third one goes straight into her target’s stomach. Ouch. Moral of the story? Don’t betray Elsa. *Snaps fingers*

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Stanley and Maggie’s evil plans: The twins are gone, so the con artists Stanley and Maggie need a new victim to get a big paycheck from. Stanley makes it apparent that he wants Jimmy’s lobster claws, but Maggie vetoes this idea since she now has the hots for Jimmy. She suggests a different alternative – Ma Petite. “It will be quick, easy, and she won’t fight back.” Stanley approves the plan, and leaves Maggie to do the dirty work. Miss Esmeralda sneaks into Ma Petite’s tent in the middle of the night and wakes her up. She tells the tiny princess that she has a surprise for her in a barn by the camp grounds. While Maggie walks with the little one in her arms she exclaims “the moon is beautiful! You are beautiful!” Ugh. So. Fucking. Cute. Once in the barn, Maggie tells Ma Petite that they’re going to play a game. She says she’s going to put Ma Petite in one of the glass jars already prepared in the barn. “Like a butterfly?!” The little one asks. “Like a butterfly,” Maggie confirms. While the sweet girl is in the jar flapping her hands like wings, Maggie holds a bottle of what appears to be some type of poison over the jar. Thankfully she couldn’t bring herself to commit the deed because the next morning she appears with Ma Petite in her arms to get breakfast. Afterwards, Maggie tells Jimmy to run away with her. To up and leave to where ever they want to go. They share a kiss and Jimmy tells her to pack her bags. Miss girl runs to her tent only to find Stanley there with the command to lure Jimmy to the barn so he can get a hold of his lobster claws. Bastard. -_____-

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We end the episode with sweet Dandy Boy delivering a weird monologue to his mother about how he was born to bring death and that he’ll never experience love and blah blah blah. When suddenly, Jimmy shows up at the door. (Jimmy is told by Paul that Dandy might have something to do with the disappearance of the twins because of an encounter he had with him at a drug store. While at the check out counter, Paul saw Dandy purchasing a bunch of female items – in sets of two.) So here Jimmy is being escorted into the Mott residence. Little does he know, before his arrival Dandy has placed a dagger in the back of his pants. Duhhh duhhh duhhhhnnnnn.

Alright so there you have it. If you’ve read this article you’ve basically gotten the gist of episode six of American Horror Story: Freak Show. Congratulations! With that, I am off to bed. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight. -Sarah

American Horror Story – Episode 5

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American Horror Story – Episode 5

Wow! Okay, a lot of really important stage setters happened in “Pink Cupcakes”, episode five of American Horror Story: Freak Show. Let’s discuss some of the important information that we learned in tonight’s episode.

1) Stanley is a slime ball: “Pink Cupcakes” opens up with Maggie and Stanley in a motel room discussing their game plan for the murder of the freaks in Elsa’s troupe. With the bodies of the freaks, they’ll both make a pretty penny at the Museum of Morbidity’s in town. Maggie is firm in her stance of not wanting to murder anyone, but Stanley urges her that “accidents can happen.” After a demand of increasing her percentage of the pay, Maggie agrees to Stanley’s delight. “Fraulein Elsa’s cabinet of curiosities is about to be a cabin of bad luck” he says. Maggie is Stanley’s way in to the freak show, as she is posing as a fortune teller there. While she does her thing, Stanley poses as Mr. Spencer – a talent agent from Hollywood “the land of dreams” as he calls it. Naturally, Elsa takes great interest in Mr. Spencer since she’s trying to make her dreams of being a star a reality. Spencer discusses the possibility of Elsa being on television and having her own TV hour, much to her disdain. Elsa claims that television takes away from the beauty of the silver screen. “I would rather be boiled in oil than to be on television.” However, her mind changes in a jiffy after she gets booed off stage during her performance at a full house night at the freak show. She invites Mr. Spencer back into her tent and asks him to “tell me more about this television”. So, now we have Miss Elsa feeling good – we see her in a montage of sassiness, getting all dolled up for a publicity shoot to the tune of David Bowie’s “Fame”. As miss thing is leaving the tent, she sees none other than Bette and Dotte, the conjoined twins leaving in Mr. Spencer’s car instead. Here is when things get fishy. We see the girls and Spencer sitting in a beautiful park having a picnic, supposedly discussing the opportunity for the twins to have their own TV show, the “Tatler Sister’s Hour”. To celebrate, Mr. Spencer offers the ladies two gorgeous pink cupcakes. “Pink cupcakes?! What a treat!” Bette exclaims in delight. Then we flash to a scene where we see Spencer injecting the cupcakes with some type of poison. Bette takes a big bite of her cupcake and then begins to cough. “It serves you right for being such a glutton” Dotte says. As Dotte snaps her sassy remark, Bette begins to foam at the mouth and we flash to see the sisters laying in bed. For Bette, it very well could be her death bed. Mr. Spencer then lashes out at Dotte, appearing to try and choke her while saying “you should have just ate a cupcake!” Thankfully for the girls, this is just what Mr. Spencer wishes would happen. We then flash back to the picnic where Dotte turns down the treats saying, “No cupcakes. We have to watch our figure if we’re going to be television personalities.”

Desiree’s one hundred percent womanhood: It’s a full house night at the freak show, and Del Toledo is no where to be found. So, off Jimmy runs to Del and his wife Desiree’s tent. Miss Dupree is unaware of her husbands whereabouts and is clearly intoxicated. Jimmy sits down beside Desiree and she begins to tell him her woes about Del and his behaviors. She talks about how happy that he used to make her feel. She confesses “I never felt more alive in my life and now I feel nothing but empty.” Jimmy then leans in for a smooch and Miss Dupree asks the Lobster Boy to make her feel again 😉 All is going well until Jimmy’s heavy duty fingering causes her to bleed. Once Desiree is at the doctor’s office, accompanied by Ethel, she learns some shocking news. The bleeding caused by Jimmy’s pleasure claws was actually a miscarriage. The doctor goes on to tell Desiree that she is in fact one hundred percent woman. He tells her that her body had too much testosterone in it and it began to rapidly produce estrogen to compromise for it. Explaining her third breast and her enlarged clitoris which she thought was a “dang a lang”. The doctor let’s her know that all of these body mishaps could be fixed via cosmetic surgery and he’d be happy to do it.

Del Toledo’s sexuality: In tonight’s episode we are taken to what appears to be a gay bar of some sort, where we see none other than the strong man himself, Del Toledo. We see him sitting with a young man named Andy, whom we later learn is a prostitute. The boys are discussing Andy’s artwork, as he likes to sketch and Andy confides in Del that he’d like to go out west and do caricature drawings for a band that’s on tour. Del vetoes this idea though, saying that “if you’re getting out of this place, it’s going to be with me”. Del then professes his love for Andy. The feeling doesn’t seem to be entirely mutual though. In tears he talks about the hurt his body experiences while performing as the strong man, he then utters a line that I loved so much “There is nothing worse than the hurt of loving someone you can’t have.” #TRUE. Del then exits the bar and goes back to his and his wife’s tent, only to find Desiree with her bags packed. She tells him that she’s moving into Ethel’s tent and that she’s a woman through and through. Miss Dupree also let’s Del know that once she gets her cosmetic surgery she’ll be a normal woman and “too much woman for you to handle”. MEOW. At the very end of the episode, we see Del in the doctor’s office. He threatens the doctor and his family if he performs any type of surgery on Desiree. To ensure that the doctor keeps his surgical hands to himself, Del breaks both of them. RUDE.

Dandy’s serial killer quest: Alright! We all know that Dandy is totally bat shit crazy by now but this episode delves even deeper into that. Tonight we learned that Dandy wants to be the greatest serial killer of all time. We see him working out in a montage of weirdness. He proclaims that his problems stem from not having a creative outlet since his mother, Gloria wouldn’t let him be an actor. “I hate her!” He screams in his montage while breaking a mirror. While toning and perfecting his body he claims “This body is America. Strong, violent, and full of limitless potential.” Well shit – someone’s cocky! Then, in true serial killer fashion he goes on to say “my body holds a heart that cannot love.” #classic. Sweet Dandy Boy mentions Twisty the Clown and how it was he that introduced him to the art of murder. With that Dandy is off to none other than the same gay bar that Del Toledo has just stormed out of and a distressed Andy is now accompanied by a handsome stranger. Dandy takes the prostitute to his old stomping grounds of Twisty’s van. He tells Andy that he wants them both to turn around with their backs facing each other and take off their clothes. On the count of three, they’ll both turn around. On Andy’s third count, Dandy turns around with Twisty’s smiling mask and stabs Andy repeatedly. “Rule number one of a good killer” Dandy says, “make sure all of the evidence is gone. Start with the limbs.” We then see him throw an amputated arm into a bath tub of sulfuric acid. He then goes back into the van, but the prostitute has not yet died. “How can you still be alive?!” Dandy cries, “you’re making me feel bad!” At this point, Andy is pleading for death and Dandy Boy, being the merciful killer that he is delivers the final stabs into his victims back.

dandy

One final surprise: Once Elsa learns of Bette and Dotte’s television show plans, she tells the girls that Mr. Spencer has asked her to mentor them. She tells the twins that she has booked them an appointment with a stylist in town for the following morning. So off the ladies go, but the twins discover that they’re not being driven into town but to the front door step of Miss Gloria and Dandy’s home. “I believe I have something that you want,” Elsa declares as she gestures grandly to the girls. Uh oh!!!!

That was some pretty heavy stuff! I thought that “Pink Cupcakes” was a fantastic filler episode. We learned a lot of new secrets about our beloved freak show troupe and it will definitely create some intense drama next week! What did you guys love about tonight’s episode? What did you hate? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight. -Sarah

American Horror Story – Episode 4

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American Horror Story – Episode 4

Alright, A LOT happened in tonight’s episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show. It was the part two episode to last weeks “Edward Mordrake”. Quite frankly, I don’t really wish to discuss anything other than the man behind the mask of Twisty the Clown.

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Twisty the Clown’s Back Story:

If you would be so kind as to remember Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley), you’ll recall that he’s in search of a freak to add to his undead troupe. To find who he is looking for, he interrogates the performers – digging into their dark past. Their traumas, regrets, sins – Edward wants to know. Mordrake stumbled upon our friend Twisty, in the middle of his questioning of Elsa (who’s back story I will discuss later.) Mordrake becomes interrupted from his interrogation once he hears the music of Twisty’s tiny toy piano, which he is playing to accompany Dandy’s Halloween performance of tricks and treats. He follows the music to find Twisty, whom he urges to remove his mask. The clown refuses, and Edward basically tells him don’t make me make you. With that, our misunderstood friend removes his mask. As you can see in the picture posted above, he looks so sad to reveal himself. The poor thing looked like he was in pain. For the first time in season four, we get to hear Twisty’s voice. And with that, we begin to learn about what turned this man into a killer. “I was a good clown,” he began, “the children loved me. I made them laugh.” We are then taken back in time, to when Twisty was a performer at a freak show. He was a clown for the children. Entertaining them with fun tricks and balloon animals. He was a hit. Unfortunately, his popularity was not met with kindness from the rest of the freak show troupe who made claims of their seniority. Then they made a cruel, sick lie saying that Twisty was getting a little too friendly with the children whom he so loved to perform for. One night after a performance, the troupe invites our clown to sit around the fire. Twisty is clearly mentally disabled and his cast mates call him “simpleton”. They ask the clown “why he talks so stupid? Did your mom drop you on the head?” “How did you know?!!” Twisty replies, “too many cocktails.” The troupe then begins to tell Twisty how everyone knows what he did to the children, and that soon the police are going to come for him. “You better run,” they said. And so he did. Twisty ran back to his home in Jupiter, only to find that his mother was dead. To try and make some good out of his sickly sad situation, Twisty tries to make toys. He creates simple contraptions that he thinks are sure to entertain, and then off he goes to the toy store to try and pitch his ideas. When his toys are turned down, it deeply upset him and the owner threatens to call the police if he doesn’t leave. And so he left. This disappointment was the straw that broke this young mans back, and he attempted suicide. He put what appeared to be a hunting rifle into his mouth, and pulled the trigger. “I was too dumb to kill myself,” he said. While his face was bandaged and healing, he made an outline of a smiling face on the bandages with his blood. And so his mask was formed. Off Twisty ran to Elsa’s freak show. Only to see that all of the children that Twisty loved to do tricks for were there. The freak show stole the children, and Twisty had to get them back. He began killing parents and kidnapping the children. “I didn’t make them do chores, I gave them candy, I got them a pretty babysitter (our heroine amongst the kidnapped), I was a good clown.” After Twisty told his tale, Edward Mordrake stated “you have made the demon weep.” He told the clown to rise, and killed him, to make him part of his undead troupe. Twisty was then reincarnated in the same ghostly form as Mordrake. “Come, my brother,” Edward says as he helps him up. Once Twisty rises, we see the man who he used to be. It was the most strangely beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I’ll be the first one to say that I absolutely bawled my eyes out during Twisty’s back story. It broke my heart to see such an innocent being become completely sabotaged by the mean hearted carnival troupe members. The entire time Twisty was telling his story, I couldn’t help but think about just how innocent he is. His reasoning behind his murders and kidnappings was so childlike that it almost made sense when he described it. This villain was so misunderstood his entire life, and I could feel my heart going out to him and sympathizing with him the entire time. Saying that I bawled my eyes out was an understatement….I was ugly crying.

Tonight we learned another very important back story. Miss Elsa’s. Her past was equally as tragic as Twisty’s in her own right.

Elsa’s Back Story:

During Edward Mordrake’s interrogation of Elsa, we learn about her deepy troubled and tragic past. We are taken back in time to the Wiemar Republic in Germany circa 1932. We are taken into a brothel, where we bear witness to unspeakable sexual acts, until we get to the very back room. There, we meet the ghost of Elsa’s past – a leather clad dominatrix. We see her emasculating a young soldier by putting a dog collar on his neck and making him walk on his hands and knees. “Walk, schnauzer.” “Does the puppy have to go pee pee?” She asks him. She then walks the man to a toilet with nails sticking out of it and forces him to sit. Ouch. Miss Elsa begins building a reputation as the gal to go to for some creative sexual torture. She gained an audience of people whom she called “watchers” who would sit through her sessions with her victims. “I was the star.” Flash forward to a new scene, where we learn that Elsa got asked to be filmed by one of the watchers. While she is on the bed, the camera man urges her to have another drink – clearly Elsa has been drugged. “Are you getting my close up? Where is my costar?” She asks. About three men then come into the room, and the camera begins rolling. A drugged Elsa is then cuffed to the bed, and her legs are sawed off. The young soldier whom she would emasculate would find her and save her life, as she was left to bleed to death. “He followed me everywhere, he fell in love with his whore.” The sick film made it’s way through out Europe, and Elsa became a star in the worst way.

There was one thing I truly adored about this episode aside from all the fabulous information that we learned. And that was Edward Mordrake’s manor of speaking. I loved hearing him talk to these freak show members, and people who were severely down on their luck. He spoke to them with such care and his facial expressions were mesmerizing. Whenever he would refer to whom he was speaking to as “my dear one, my lovely, my children, my wonder” my heart would melt. Something about this was so sweet to me. He was calling these people things that they probably have never heard themselves referred to as before. He called Twisty “my wonder”. That clown has probably never been called anything but “simpleton” all of his life. It touched my heart, and I appreciate the writing for Mordrakes’s character so so much.

Now, let’s do a quick recap of all of the other good stuff that happened tonight:

We find Jimmy Darling and Maggie Esmeralda where we left them last episode, on their way home so as not to break curfew. Unfortunately, Jimmy’s bike runs out of gas, and they’re forced to walk. We then get to see our sweet crew of kidnapped kids in Twisty’s van. The “pretty babysitter” gets her legs untied with the help of one of the boys. Upon Twisty’s return, she kicks him in the legs when his back is turned and takes off running. As usual, our girl gets caught – but she’s in luck, because Jimmy and Maggie are there to witness the whole thing. They follow the clown into the forest and are crouching close to the van making a game plan when Dandy comes waltzing along to smack them both in the head. “Now the real Halloween fun begins,” he says. We are then shown a stage in the woods where we see Dandy with a human sized box, and Twisty playing on his tiny child’s piano off to the side. The newly kidnapped Jimmy and the rest of the victims are tied up and seated in the audience. Then, Dandy introduces us to his assistant “Tiny Tits” AKA Maggie, who’s in the box. Dandy states that he’s always been curious about how the sawing a human in half trick works, and begins to try it on Maggie. Thankfully sweet Jimmy gets himself untied, whacks Dandy, and saves the day. They take off running, and Maggie gets the three kidnapped kids to the road and the police. Jimmy gets caught by Twisty and is taken off to the van, while Dandy is left screaming “you ruined my Halloween fun! I hate you I hate you I hate you!” Jimmy witnesses Twisty’s interaction with Mordrake and is then found by the police. Of course the episode isn’t going to end with everyone happy happy joy joy. We are joined again by Mr. Dandy, who discovers Twisty’s dead body in the woods. He takes the smiling mask the clown wore, and puts it on. He then makes his way home, only to be hassled by his arch enemy, Dora the maid. Their interaction together is brief, because after refusing to take a lunch tray up to his mother, he slits Dora’s throat with a pair of scissors. The episode ends with Dandy removing the smiling mask showing his own serious face which then breaks into a smile and an eventual maniacal laugh. End scene.

I absolutely LOVED this episode. What did you guys think of it? How did you feel about Twisty’s back story? How did you feel about Elsa’s? What do you think is going to happen next week? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight. -Sarah

American Horror Story – Episode 3

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American Horror Story – Episode 3

So, I just got done watching episode three of American Horror Story Freak Show, and it was alright. This episode entitled “Edward Mordrake” held a lot of valuable information for next Wednesday, as it’s a to be continued episode. We were introduced to quite a few new characters tonight, so allow me to give you guys the scoop on our newcomers.

Maggie Esmerelda (Emma Roberts) & Stanley (Denis O’Hare): At the beginning of episode three, we meet Maggie and Stanley, a duo of con artists. We find them at a freak show museum, posing as a doctor with a “double degree from Harvard” and his lab assistant, looking to sell a fetus of a “baby Sasquatch”. Their lie is immediately seen through, considering that their “baby Sasquatch” is a baby goat with a cat jaw sewn onto it. Despite being caught in a lie, the director of the museum sees promise in the con artists. She offers them a hefty sum of cash if they can find her some new specimens for her museum, to help her declining business. The director mentions that she would find new displays for her museums from freak shows after the passing of a troupe member. The light bulb flickers on in Maggie and Stanley’s head, and they head off to Elsa’s freak show in Jupiter, Florida. To land an interview with Elsa, Miss Maggie poses as a fortune teller, complete with a crystal ball. Maggie is crafty – to give Elsa an authentic reading, she scans the room to give her hints of the freak show leaders past, present, and future. She spots sheet music and a newspaper clipping of a rival performer. With that information, Maggie tells Elsa that she had a past filled with jealousy and being over shadowed by other singers. But fear not, because our little fortune teller is full of good news, letting Elsa know that there’s still hope to accomplish her dreams of being a musician – and that a man with dark hair and piercing eyes will help her achieve that goal. We don’t know much about Stanley yet, minus the fact that he’s the brains of the con artist operation. Mr. Stanley also appears to have a fetish for naked twenty something year olds in viking hats. Denis O’Hare always manages to play the weirdos in AHS, that’s for sure!

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Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley): First of all, I am absolutely OBSESSED with this character. Having said that, let’s learn more about him. Edward Mordrake was an European aristocrat, and what a talented young man he was. Edward was a poet, an author, a musician, and born into wealth – he had it all. But in one regard, he had too much. Mordrake had the head of a demon attached to the back of his scalp. This demon would whisper things that only Edward could hear. “It whispered of things only spoke of in hell.” The evil being fed into his ear drums would cause him to commit horrific crimes, and nothing could stop the demon, because it would not die. There’s this amazing scene in black and white where we see Edward laying in a bath tub, submerging the back of his head with water to drown the demon. When he lifts his head, the smiling devil is still there alive and well. Eventually, Edward’s family sends him off to Bedlam. He would try to engross himself in his writings to silence the devil, but of course, it didn’t work. Mordrake slit the throat of the orderly dropping a meal off into his cell and off he runs to the freak show. He is no longer Edward Mordrake now, but The Two Faced Prince. (Love it!) I’m sure you guys can deduce that this isn’t a happy ending story of Edward running away to the freak show and finding peace. Quite the opposite. On Halloween night, Mordrake snaps. He murders every member of the troupe and then hung himself. When he was found, the demon face on the back of his head was still smiling. Legend has it that if any freak show member performs on Halloween, the spirit of Edward Mordrake will come to the carnival to claim a member for his undead freak show troupe.

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There were two particular things in this episode that I LOVED, which include:

Ethel Darling’s back story: We learn a lot about the bearded lady, Miss Ethel Darling in this episode. Right from the get go we learn that Ethel has a year or less to live because of an extreme case of sclerosis in her liver, thanks to years of alcoholism. When the doctor reveals the bad news to Ethel she replies with, “well shit. Shit, shit, shit.” I mean, what more can you say? Her motherly love for Jimmy really shines through in episode three as well, because she thinks he’s going to need a male figure in his life after she passes on. While sharing some hooch with her baby daddy, Dell Toledo, she drunkenly pleas to him “can’t you be decent? Keep an eye on him, for christsake.” So we all know who sweet Jimmy’s new mentor is going to be! The most effective part of Ethel’s story however dates way back to her early days. We learn this new found information from our good friend Edward Mordrake. He has been summoned by Elsa’s rehearsal process, which she deems necessary due to Maggie’s fortune telling. Mordrake appears in Ethel’s tent, and basically interviews Miss Darling to see if she’s worthy to join him and the undead carnies. His devil scalp and himself prompt her to open up about her past grievances. She speaks of her early career in vaudeville, where she was a star. The bearded lady was a hit amongst the freak show, and she found love in Dell Toledo. He became her manager and suggested that she performed an act of culture, rather than a comedic song and dance. Ethel took his advice and began performing Shakespeare on stage, much to the audiences distaste. At this point, Ethel is broke and pregnant, so she can’t even go back to performing her original act in her current expecting position. However, Dell thinks of a…creative way to make a buck, to say the least. Advertised as the “Live Freak Birth” bystanders can pay to watch Ethel deliver her son. Once Jimmy is born, you can hear Dell peddling “two pence to hold the monster baby! He’s a freak!” At this point of the story, Ethel is in tears and states in regards to her son, “he’s never known anything but exploitation from the start.” So, so sad.

Dandy Boy: So it’s no secret that I absolutely ADORE Mr. Dandy. I really think his character is so cool. It’s just such a unique take on a villain, because that’s really what Dandy is shaping up to be. Dandy Boy is also the KING of sassafras! “SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE, DORA!!!” Episode three takes place on Halloween, which is Dandy’s favorite. His mother, Gloria decorates the house and is dressed in a most elaborate costume, while Dora, the maid is dressed as Woody Woodpecker, Dandy’s favorite cartoon. Under the guidance of Gloria, Dora made Dandy a costume. Unfortunately, our man child is very displeased with it. “HOWDY DOODY?!?!” He throws a temper tantrum and storms off to make himself a better Halloween look. We see Dandy cutting up his Howdy Doody costume to make his very own clown suit. He then goes off to his pal Twisty’s van that holds his hostages. “Trick or treat, trick or treat”, Dandy sings to them. He offers them candy corn as a treat but then immediately pulls his hand away, bearing a knife as his trick. While Dandy tries to stab our young boy and girl in the van, Twisty comes lumbering back to join the party. The more the merrier, because Twisty has a guest. A new hostage stolen straight from Suberbia. He’s a handsome teenage boy, who Twisty kidnapped right in his own home and in front of his sweet younger sister, with a phobia of clowns. “Where’s your brother?” the mother asks as she comes running to the little girls room when she hears screaming. “The clown took him,” says the little girl as she points at the open window. Dandy is very pleased with his new playmate that Twisty brought, and says with a wicked grin “more fun!”

There’s one final thing that I really REALLY need to get off my chest before I conclude this article, and that’s KATHY BATE’S ACCENT!!!!! Why, God?! WHY????!!! Miss Bates is SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!!! I don’t understand what she’s trying to accomplish with this voice, but it sounds AWFUL. The accent being used has absolutely no distinctive origin, so I haven’t the faintest idea of where Ethel even comes from. Not only that, but she falls in and out of her accent so frequently through out her lines, so some words are heavily accented while others sound normal. Kathy is an Academy Award winning actress, and I REFUSE to believe that this accent is the best that she has to offer. The voice being used is making her character come off as a joke, which I am so sad to say. Vocal coaches were very much needed this season, and this goes for Jessica Lange’s accent as well. Honestly, it would have been more effective for both of them to use their natural voice rather than put on a half assed accent. Just sayin.

Needless to say, I’m very excited for the second part of this episode next week. What did you guys love about episode three? What did you hate? How did you feel about the new characters that were introduced? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight! -Sarah

American Horror Story – Season Premiere

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American Horror Story – Season Premiere

So as all of you know, I’m absolutely obsessed with American Horror Story, and last night was the season premiere of season four. I must say, I was quite impressed. Let’s start with the good of the premiere. I deeply enjoyed the fabulous Miss Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot the conjoined twins. The girls are pretty much yin and yang, with polar opposite personalities. Bette is a wide eyed sweet heart with a passion for movies on the big screen, while Dot contributes as her cynical pessimistic counter part. I thought it was really interesting in the first ten minutes of the premiere how Elsa (Jessica Lange) appeared in double vision on screen while talking to the twins. It was a very cool visual move.

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Another member of the crew of Freak Show who I instantly fell in a terrified love with was Twisty the Clown, as pictured below. Don’t get too scared!

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Twisty gives a hell of a debut in this premiere. One episode in and he’s murdered at least four people in an absolutely gruesome manner of maniacal stabbing. There was one particular scene that really stuck out to me, which involved a young boy and a twenty something female who he kidnapped that he’s currently holding hostage in a van. He walked into the vehicle and began performing tricks for his victims, but with every sudden movement he made, it put the boy and girl into visible terror whether it be by shaking or screaming. There was something SO powerful to me about this, because it really classified Twisty as a monster to me, which is what I’ve been waiting for AHS to dabble in for a long time. The show has never really had a true scary to look at, sends shivers down your spine villain. The fact that these victims found pure fear in the clown simply making a balloon animal was interesting and intriguing to watch. It just shows how much of an effect his mere presence has and will have on this show. I’m thrilled to find out the back story on Twisty and what made him the way he is. I’m also really interested in what lies beneath his smiling mask, because according to articles I’ve read about him, something even more terrifying lies underneath.

Now, onto some things I didn’t appreciate all that much:

1) Elsa’s accent. Jessica Lange is phenomenal. We know this. However, it was beyond difficult to understand her thick German accent at some points during the show. I really wish I had subtitles while watching – that’s how hard of a time I had understanding her. Some of her dialogue was so quiet too that her voice ended up sounding very muffled. I’m really hoping that this is something that gets better as the season progresses, because Elsa is half of the show! I need her to be audible, damnit!

2) The EXTREMELY awkward scene where Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters) fingers a girl with his lobster like hands at a party. I felt it was so tasteless and inappropriate. Nothing about that scene had anything to do with Jimmy as a character at all. Of course, AHS is known for pushing the envelope on all of their seasons – but to me, this was just vulgar.

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3) The Freak Show orgy. This was DISGUSTING. The gist of this was shown on a projector in black and white for at least two minutes, and it made me extremely uncomfortable. That’s really all I’m going to say about it. I think there’s a way to do certain things tastefully and dare I say artistically, but this was pure vulgarity. (which is really the only word I can think of to describe seeing stuff like this on television.)

It’s not like the things I didn’t care for about this episode “Monsters Among Us” over shadowed all of the good though. It really was a bang up premiere, which has left people talking (clearly!) and that’s exactly what the producers want. They wanted something that pushed the envelope, sparked conversation, and left people eager for the new episodes – and they did just that. I’m really looking forward to seeing what this season holds in store for us, because the premiere set the stage for a lot of crazy stuff to happen. There are still many characters to introduce as well, so I’m excited to meet all of them and start getting a feel for their back story.

Where are my AHS fans at? How did you feel about the season premiere? What did you like? What did you hate? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

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