I love a good horror. True, it makes me walk a little faster down the street, but I love what it does to my mind.
I once watched The Silence of The Lambs with a buddy who couldn’t bear anything even slightly scary or psychological. Looking back, it was an error.
Every couple of minutes, she grabbed my arm and asked me what was going to happen next. I hadn’t watched the film in a year or two and, in all honesty, I couldn’t remember precisely, but good lord, she was insistent. Suffice it to say, she didn’t make it to the end credits. Don’t get me wrong. She’s still living.
She did leave the country, though.
I love American Horror Story. It’s amazing. Brilliantly written, impeccably cast, properly dark stuff. I think it’s fabulous not only for the recurring cast, who give it the old school repertory feel, but for the edge-of-your-seat twists and turns, and for the way the stories link into each other.
There are some spoilers coming, so hold onto your hats.
I love the character of Ma Petite, played by Jyoti Amge in the fourth season. Amid all the horror and cruelty in the Freak Show, her character was filled to the brim with smiles and joy. I maintain the reason that Elsa Mars didn’t go off with Edward Mordrake to some terrible hell dimension was because the light in Ma Petite called her home.
Of course, this does pull us back to Jessica Lange. You may remember the ode to her cheekbones on day one. And a lot of people slightly fell apart when she stepped away from the series and wondered if blame could be assigned to some of the newer members of the cast.
In all fairness, in the first season, they left Jessica Lange’s character alone with a murderous toddler, and in the second, third and fourth seasons, they killed her off. I think it’s worth taking a lesson here: if you want to keep someone, try not to push them away.
There are big scary themes, like racism, conversion therapy, hauntings, the dangers of difference in a conformist society, and the series does seem to be getting increasingly violent (don’t watch Cult just after dinner), but in the second season, Frances Conroy played the Angel of Death, and she was amazing.
Frankly, when my time comes, if Frances Conroy doesn’t try to kiss me, I’ll refuse to go.
Okey-cokey, there you have it. Day #33, and I know it might not appeal to everyone but still – American Horror Story.
Petrina Binney - Author 