American Horror Story, Season 6, Episode 3, My Roanoke Nightmare

Last week found our core cast facing increasing peril.  The feelings of desperation and despair reached a pinnacle when young Flora goes missing in the woods.  It’s unclear what or who inhabits the cursed woods, but it’s definitely no place for a child.  Who can the living residents of the farmhouse turn to for help against the paranormal and demonic forces at work?  Watch out for pig heads, here we go!

Lee begins the episode by relating her desperate fear regarding her missing daughter.  The sheriff’s department uses a ladder to retrieve Flora’s yellow jacket from the tree but there is no sign of the girl.  Matt, Shelby and Lee split up to search joined by many volunteers.  Lee intuits there is something amiss with the sheriff’s department.  She wonders if they might be in cahoots with the people whom she fears kidnapped Flora.  Matt describes how the forest played on his subconscious fears but states, “What we found was not my imagination.”  Lee calls to her family. She has discovered Flora’s doll, its head decapitated and replaced with a small pig head, its doll torso fashioned with porcine limbs.  Horrified, Lee and the others see an abandoned farmhouse nearby.  More pig and doll parts litter the yard.

The trio reluctantly enters the white clapboard house.  Flies buzz in the putrid air. Matt opens the refrigerator to find a small skull of goat and rotting flesh.  Shelby shakes her head in fear and disgust.  In the distance, pigs can be heard squealing. They leave to explore the barn and the pig noises grow louder.  Two mud-covered boys suckle at a bloated sow’s teat.  They echo back the group’s cries for “Flora.”

Their find shocks the local law enforcement.  The boys are taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation and treatment.  It is theorized that the boys were left to fend for themselves when the rest of the Polk clan fled the land they were occupying illegally.  Lee wonders if this is how the Polk’s treat their own kin, what horrors are they possibly inflicting upon her daughter.  Mason arrives at the hospital and is eager to bash the boys’ heads in if it would lead him to his daughter.  The social worker reports they only seem to know one word, “Croatoan.” (This word is linked to the “Lost Colony of Roanoke.” When the English returned, there was no trace of the settlers, just the word “Croatoan” carved upon a tree.  It might have been the name of a local native tribe.)  Matt takes the word as a warning.

Lee’s experience in law enforcement makes her grimly aware of the statistics regarding lost children.  Flora has been missing for about seventy-two hours and Lee knows it’s likely she may already be dead.  The estranged couple joins Matt and Shelby back at the farmhouse.  No one has slept in days and Mason snaps.  He accuses his ex-wife of hiding their daughter in an elaborate ruse to gain sole custody.  Lee denies the accusation.  Shelby wonders why he didn’t go to the police with his suspicions.  Mason pushes his wife and storms out of the house.  Exhausted, Matt, Shelby and Lee plan to try and sleep.

Not much time passes before Lee is awoken with a phone call.  She wakes the others bleakly, “They found a body.”  The trio rides in the car in silence.  Lee explains she felt, “Falling, helpless. It was worse than the uncertainty.”  In a wooded area, a body is smoldering on another circular altarpiece made of thin wood.  A deputy hands Lee an object found near the middle of the corpse.  It appears to be a small metal button, which Lee recognizes as Mason’s.  She appears genuinely shocked.

Matt narrates that given this turn of events he missed two messages coming from the home’s security cameras.  When he reviews the footage, he notes his sister left the house and returned four hours later.  He suspects that may have given her able time and opportunity to kill Mason in this bizarre manner. (It is doubtful she could have overpowered him, affixed him to the alter and burn him alive. But, maybe she had supernatural help.)  Shelby voices her suspicions about Lee’s involvement with her ex’s death and Lee overhears her and is understandably upset.  Matt acknowledges that “Something is telling us to leave, maybe we should.”  He’s ready to abandon the house for a hotel. (And we all learned how that may not be a good idea last season!)

The entrance of short white-haired man dressed in a suit, carrying silver handled cane, interrupts their discussion.

The eccentric man introduces himself as Cricket Marlow (Leslie Jordon), explaining he was called to assist them finding Flora.  Cricket explains he wasn’t literally called, but called by “Spirit” to use his psychic abilities to crack the case.  Lee and Matt are skeptics about psychics but Shelby is a believer.  The man has a proven history of working with the FBI and finding children alive.  They decide to hear what he has to say.

Cricket wanders about the house listening.  When he reaches the third floor near the top of the spiral staircase he hears faint children’s laughter.  He accurately locates the closet where Flora was hiding and finds Priscilla’s bonnet.  He proclaims, “Flora is not dead and she was not taken by the living.  She is with Priscilla.”  Lee is amazed that he knew the name of Flora’s “imaginary” friend.  Cricket corrects her, stating Priscilla was a real little girl from the late sixteenth century whom died when she was four years old.  Despite their mixed views on Cricket, the group decides to let him try to contact Priscilla by hosting a séance in their home.

Cricket lights a candle and waves a stick of sage to begin communicating.  He pricks his finger with an elegant needle, dripping the blood into the fire.  He calls out for the little girl but is greeted by a “horrible woman.”  He tells the frighten group that she calls herself “The Butcher.”  Cricket produces a prayer card of the patron saint of mercy and the forest.  The psychic adds confidently, “You can do us no harm!” Suddenly, the candle on the table splits vertically in half.  Matt and Lee are confused and frightened. Cricket describes her apparition to them, “She has a cleaver.  She died centuries ago.”  The Butcher snarls that she protects this colony and won’t abide by trespassers.  Cricket tells the group Priscilla has hidden Flora away to protect her from “The Butcher.”  The Butcher departs the house and breaks a window.  Cricket yells at her, “Croatoan!”

After the session, Shelby asks Cricket what Croatoan means.  Cricket addresses Lee, “The spirits have your daughter, and I can take you to her for $25,000.” (He generously accepts all credit cards.)  Lee and Matt are infuriated by his request for payment.  Matt believes Cricket’s entire “séance” was just an act.  Cricket defends the price for his services and notes it’s his “delicate soul” which will be placed in peril.  He notes even the FBI pays.  They say a person in crisis falls back on what they know best, and for Lee that’s being a tough cop.  She pulls out a handgun and points it at Cricket, demanding answers.  Matt slips into his role as “peacemaker” of the family and persuades his sister to put down the gun.  He asks the psychic to leave.  Cricket complies but predicts, “I’ll be back, and you’ll invite me.”  As he passes Lee he whispers something to her.  Matt and Shelby notice whatever he said to Lee has frightened her.

Lee tells the camera the psychic mentioned something about her first daughter. “Emily says to say ‘hello.’ She wonders why you quit looking for her all those years ago.”  Lee wants the cameras to stop.  (Our first break of the “fourth wall.”)  The producers of the “show” note, they knew about her first daughter due to the extensive background checks they performed for all the participants.  Lee explains she had her first daughter at age seventeen and was a single mother.  One day when the girl was four, she left her in the car while she “left for five minutes” to shop. Upon her return, her daughter was gone and was never seen again. (Is it more than coincidence Priscilla and Emily died at the same age?)

Lee pays Cricket’s fee the next day.  The psychic explains when he left their home; he walked into the woods around the property.  The spirits he found there overwhelmed him.  The Butcher rules them.  Cricket tells Lee her real name is Thomasine White and she was the wife of the Roanoke colony’s founder. (Historically accurate.)  The group was struggling so her husband returned to England for supplies.  Despite pressures from the others, she refused to leave the group to seek supplies inland.  Lee scoffs, noting everyone in North Carolina knows this “ghost story.”  She notes that the island where this happened is hundred miles away and has nothing to do with the disappearance of her daughter.  Cricket corrects her ominously, “You only think you’ve heard the story…”

Thomasine is sleeping.  A group of disheveled men surround her, pull her out of bed and bind her head in an iron mask.  A man named Cage declares her a “pestilence” on the group and explains they are leaving inland for supplies.  She is to be banished, left in the cruel mask to suffer alone in the wilderness.  She spits at the man, calling him a traitor.  She implores her son Ambrose (Wes Bentley) to spare her.  Cage asks Thomasine and Ambrose to swear allegiance to him.  Thomasine refuses but Ambrose agrees, locking his mother in the mask. 

Alone in the elements, Thomasine begins to pray fervently for death.  Due to the mask, she is unable to eat or drink and is clothed in only her nightdress.  She hears the squealing of wild pigs.  Fearing for her life, she prays, stating she repents for her sins.  A slashing noise is heard as the pigs are slain.  A woman wearing an animal bone crown offers Thomasine the still beating heart of the freshly slaughtered pig. (Lady Gaga) She commands Thomasine, “Eat, surrender thy soul to me!”  Magically, the iron mask is removed and Thomasine is free to seek revenge on the men responsible.

She finds them at night inside a tent.  She slashes through the tent and into Mr. Cage’s head.  As another man protests, she slits his throat proclaiming, “I am purified by the wilderness!”  She faces her son Ambrose.  He begs her for his life.  She warns him to “Not defy me again!”

Cricket concludes the story by stating the Butcher moved the colony here.  She is entrenched in the land.  He warns, “For this land, she’ll kill you all!”

That night, Matt and Shelby join with Cricket and Lee in the woods.  Cricket can see and speak to the Butcher and her group. Lee notes she can feel the heat. (The band is carrying torches.) The Butcher agrees to listen to the psychic.  Cricket commands her to bring the “mortal girl” and in return the family will leave, burning the farmhouse to the ground.  Shelby is angered; Matt didn’t discuss the destruction of their home with him beforehand.  Matt wanders off into the woods alone.

Matt narrates that he doesn’t remember what happened that night in the woods. Shelby leaves Cricket and Lee to find Matt.  She hears sexual noises and finds her husband “rutting” with the wilderness woman.  The hillbillies watch excitedly nearby.  Lee states they had to look for her brother and sister-in-law for an hour. When they found Matt he was confused and alone.  Shelby had gone back to the house alone.  When he returns, Shelby is incredulous when he says he can’t remember having sex in the woods.

The police arrive and Lee is arrested.  Matt asks Shelby, “What did you do?” Shelby gives him a dose of his own amnesia, replying, “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”  It appears Shelby discussed Lee’s whereabouts the night before, implicating her in the murder of Mason.  It’s unclear whether she might have also implicated Lee in the disappearance of her daughter.  With their family divided, they will be even easier targets for the strange forces at work on the land.  It’s clear now the house and woods will never belong to them.

I thought it was another solid hour of twists and turns.  A drinking game suggestion; drink every time you see or hear a pig.  This show is definitely not kosher (pun intended), but that’s always been the appeal of the series.  I loved the Cricket character; he’s a charming blend various television psychics. There is a lot of information and theories about the true “Lost Colony.”  It will be interesting to see which particular theory the series will bring to light.  Maybe American Horror Story will teach us something while entertaining us this season.

AHS, Season 6, My Roanoke Nightmare

After months of mystery and a compelling premiere, tonight we launch further into the “true story” of Matt and Shelby.  The first episode offered familiar themes of the “true horror” genre.  For example, a couple that have suffered loss or tension make a new start by moving into an old spooky home.  One partner begins experiencing paranormal phenomena while the other partner, (almost always the man) doubts their stories.  A third party is introduced then corroborates the paranormal events. Angela Basset is an excellent counter to the flighty Shelby and Matt can’t so easily dismiss her version of events.  I loved that for the first time in many years American Horror Story actually managed to scare me.  The tension between the characters and unfolding strangeness hang in a perfect balance.

The episode opens where we left off with Shelby screaming in the woods at a strange scene. Kathy Bates chants and is clearly the leader of the group.  A man is tied to a large pole and brutalized.  Shelby runs away, narrating that she “never thought about what could be lurking in the woods.”  The old woman explains that they are there to “punish a traitor.”  A pig’s head is placed over the man’s and the old woman continues that he must be “purified.”  The group proceeds to burn the man alive.  Shelby is noticed spying on the scene and the old woman commands she be captured.  Shelby runs out into the road and is nearly hit by an approaching car. Fortunately for her, it’s her sister-in-law.  She takes Shelby to the hospital.

Matt continues the story. He states his wife described the human sacrifice she had witnessed. The doctor’s checked her blood for hallucinogens but she was clean.  Matt visits Shelby, bringing her a small stuffed bear as a present.  Matt promises they will find another place to stay but Shelby now insists it was probably their strange neighbors who staged the scene.  Shelby vows, “If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they were going to get.”

Lee continues to detail her past addiction and how it led to losing custody of her daughter.  Her ex-husband drops Flora off at the home.  Lee explains she was eager to spend time with her daughter despite the strange events. She hopes if she can just keep her daughter inside the home under a watchful eye, she’ll be safe.  Flora soon wanders off and Lee finds her talking to an invisible presence the girl calls “Priscilla.” Lee blames the stress of her divorce for the girl’s creation of an “imaginary” friend.  This is another familiar theme in horror; a child is able to make contact with the paranormal more easily.  Flora tells her mom Priscilla promised to make her a bonnet if she can help “stop all the blood.”  Lee searches around for clues and finds a broken vase lying next to an open window with a dirty white bonnet on the floor.

Shelby is concerned about her niece’s presence given recent events.  Matt assures they will stand up against their neighbor’s aggression, at least until they can afford to move.  Shelby feels guilty because she knows Matt initially loved the home. She theorizes it was easier to believe someone was pranking them then to believe these things were truly happening.

Shelby hears the pig-like groaning outside and goes to investigate followed by Matt. She tells her husband she wishes to “stop the bullying.”  The couple soon loses each other in the dense woods.  After a few moments, the couple finds each other near a bizarre burning cross, topped with a pig head and draped with meat.  Matt says, “It was beyond a cross being burned on your lawn, it was something demonic.”

The couple alerts the authorities.  The sheriff promises a car will posted on their property as they try to locate the neighbors for questioning.  Shelby is still angered by the lack of immediate action.  Matt feels the long overdue police protection made him feel safer.

Later that night, Matt descends the stairs to answer the phone. On the other end is only static and he sees the phone line has been cut.  An old woman cries from a nearby room, “You’re hurting me!”  Two women dressed in white nurse’s uniforms taunt the distraught old woman.  One nurse grabs a small pistol, advising the woman she’d been warned and shoots her in the head.  Blood and brain matter cover the wall behind her.  One nurse spray paints an “M” on the wall, they laugh hysterically stating M is for Margaret. (Nurses were a small part of Season 1 Murder house; a crazed intruder strangles a young nurse.)

Matt goes out side to summon the sheriff deputy.  The man comes inside to investigate but finds no trace of the scene Matt was describing.  Lee and Shelby observe from a distance.  Lee narrates that she is concerned that her brother and sister-in-law are gaining a reputation as “kooks.”  She fears if there is a point they truly need law enforcement their irrational behavior will inhibit them gaining assistance in a real crisis.

Lee’s ex-husband Mason arrives to pick up their daughter Flora.  The girl is hiding and her mother explains when Flora was three she liked to play a special game of hide and seek; she wouldn’t tell her parents she was hiding and see how long it was before they would seek her out.  On the third floor, Lee hears the girl chattering behind a closed closet door.  Lee opens the door, triumphant that she found her but Flora is distressed that her mom made Priscilla disappear.  The girl explains she was about to give her “funny dressed” friend her doll Mandy.  Lee asks her why.  Flora explains, “So they won’t kill us. They are going to kill us all and save me for last.”  Her calm declaration terrifies both parents.  Mason carries his daughter out to the car, vowing he’s going to sue for full custody.  He squarely places the blame for Flora’s behavior on Lee and promises to never come back to the house.

Losing her visitation rights prompts Lee into a relapse.  In the morning Matt hears his sister banging around in the kitchen, an empty vodka bottle by her side.  As he helps his sister up to bed he looks up at sees knives stuck in the ceiling.  He assumes his sister did this while intoxicated but she denies it.  Matt is worried about her relapse.  He considers Lee to be “the rock of the family.” Matt leaves her in bed as Shelby summons him downstairs.  As he exits, the nurses enter Lee’s room.

Shelby stares out the window at a figure of a girl in a long cape. (Priscilla?)  She asks her husband if he sees her too.  The go outside to look for her and discover a wooden door in the ground.  They open it to find a ladder descending into the ground.  Is it a secret passageway to the home or storage cellar or perhaps a portal to hell?

In the house, Lee feels the presence of the nurses despite her inebriated state.  This discomfort prompts her to leave her bedroom.  Near the spiral staircase she sees bloodied severed children’s arms affixed to the walls with knives.  The disembodied arms seem to wave before the image disappears.  Lee screams, and looks into the hallway mirror only to be further traumatized by the image of a man with the pig’s head.

Matt and Shelby explore the underground dwelling.  It appears as if someone had lived down there many years before.  Jars of dusty food line the shelves and most items look very old except for a video camera.  The couple watches the tape of a bearded man with wild eyes. (Denis O’Hare) He begins, “I am not what I am!”  He describes the tormenting forces he experienced in the house including being physically attacked by “malevolent forces.”  Fearing for his life, he fled the house to live in the cellar.  Shelby thinks she recognizes the man from the previous video in which his head was covered by a raw pig head.

The man tries to explain he’s not crazy but a professor and writer, Dr. Elias Cunningham.  The recording is from October 1997.  He was writing a book entitled “Helter Skelter” based on the murderous crimes of two nurses. (Helter Skelter is a book written by the prosecutor of Charles Manson case.  Manson believed the Beatles song was instructing him to start a race war, which would bring on the end of times.  Is this reference a link back to Los Angeles and the Murder House or Hotel?)

In the late 1980’s, the nurses, named Bridget and Miranda used to work together until they fell under suspicion after the mysterious deaths of multiple elderly patients.  The pair quit their jobs before they could be investigated and opened up their own “assisted living” facility in the house.  The nurses selected their clients based on strange criteria.  First, the family had to be tired of caring for the person and simply looking for a place where they could be “parked” until death.  Second, the pair was looking for first names that would spell out their favorite word.  Matt remembers the vision he had and how the pair laughed as they said, “M is for Margaret!”

Matt runs back to the room where he saw the nurses.  He claws at the wallpaper to reveal the word, M-U-R-D-E, crudely spray painted in red.  Shelby narrates, “Everything that guy said was true.”  Matt and Shelby continue to watch the video.  The man states the “official story” is the two nurses killed five patients and fled.  But he is convinced a force even more sinister, which lives in the house, stopped the pair.  Elias leaves the cellar and films as he goes inside the dark house.  He says he isn’t sure if he’ll survive.  The camera shakes as he addresses the presence in the house to “Show yourself!”  He follows loud noises to the top of the stairs, close to the little closet where Flora was hiding.  He opens the closet door and the face of old women flashes in the darkness before the video stops.  Matt hears a noise nearby. The front door of the house swings open and a bloody knife is stuck below the door handle.

Shelby and Matt are convinced they have to leave the house immediately.  They blame the bank for lying about the history of the home.  The bank representative explains it was their obligation to research the property; all auctioned properties are sold as “as is.” (In most states, unless the history of the house affects the structure in some way, there is no need to disclose its history.)  Shelby is frustrated; they’ve put their life savings into a place they can’t sell, not even to the hillbilly neighbors.

Lee arrives home with her daughter.  Matt is livid, knowing his sister has essentially “kidnapped” Flora.  Shelby whisks the girl to another room so Matt and his sister can talk. Lee states she didn’t plan it, she just wanted to see her daughter.  Shelby calls Mason, she tells him Flora is safe and begs him not to involve the police.  He agrees and leaves to pick up Flora.  Lee thanks Shelby for her help.  Lee knows she made a mistake but it was out of love for her daughter.

Flora sees Priscilla out the window and follows her “friend” outside.  The adults panic when they notice Flora is gone.  The three adults run outside calling for the girl.  One tree holds bloodied severed arms attached to the bark with knives.  Lee looks up an eighty-foot tree and screams.  Flora’s jacket flaps empty from the branches nearly sixty feet off the ground.

This week the inclusion of Flora intensified the level of peril.  Her calm acceptance of the paranormal is reminiscent of many horror movies including Poltergeist or The Shining.  The introduction of Denis O’Hare’s character added another layer of authenticity to the couple’s struggles.  Is Priscilla trying to protect Flora or is she using the girl to lure the whole family to their doom? The episode’s pacing was good and there were a few moments where I gasped in surprise.  I'm looking forward to more interaction with the past colony in the coming episodes.

American Horror Story, Season 6, Premiere, My Roanoke Nightmare

American Horror Story returns for a sixth season a month early.  After carefully reviewing the teasers it’s still nearly impossible to deduce the theme this season.  I suppose Ryan Murphy decided the less people know the more interested people will become.  It seems we’ll be stuck with Lady Gaga’s B-movie acting in addition to the primary (and far more Emmy deserving cast) from previous seasons.  Cuba Gooding Jr. also will appear to add a speck more diversity to the Horror Story world.  Fans of the series will also be looking for “Easter eggs” which connect all the seasons of the anthology series together.

Ryan Murphy begins the episode with a special message sponsored by Mercedes.  He teases us, “Have you figured the theme out yet?”  The teasers are replayed and the title is revealed, “My Roanoke Nightmare.” (Using similar lettering as the upcoming Blair Witch Project movie.) The opening moment explains, “The story is based on true events.”  It appears we’ll be treated to the “based on true events” horror genre.

First we meet “Shelby” (Lily Rabe) as she gushes about meeting her lover “Matt”(Andre Holland), a pharmaceutical sales representative, when he took one of her yoga classes.  The inter-racial pair clicked, moved to L.A. and were expecting their first child.  One night, Matt is attacked in an act of random gang violence.  Their story is “re-enacted” by Sarah Paulsen and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Shelby and Matt respectively.  Shelby explains how even though Matt awoke to her touch; it was the worse night of their lives because she suffered a miscarriage.  After the incident the couple no longer felt safe in Los Angles and decide to move to North Carolina where Matt had relatives.

They describe a day in the woods when they discovered a beautiful farmhouse, which dated back to 1792.  The couple ascends the spiral staircase and explores the house.  They buy it on auction with ten acres for a ridiculously low price outbidding some toothless locals.  They kiss, thinking they have made a fresh start.  However, Shelby notes she felt “a danger there” from the very beginning.  Matt states he felt at home in the old mansion from the start.  However, he senses his wife feels differently but attributes it to grief over her miscarriage.

The couple is making love upstairs when Shelby hears a pig-like groaning noise followed by a loud banging.  Matt goes outside, armed with only a flashlight to investigate and finds a bloody ripped aluminum garbage can.  Suddenly, another metal garbage can flies into the air towards him.  He thinks it is probably the work of the angry hillbillies enraged that an inter-racial couple is occupying the home.

After an intense yoga session, Shelby sits down for a healthy breakfast interrupted by a storm.  She goes outside and looks at what at first appears to be hail but on closer inspection looks like human teeth raining down from the sky.  Matt comes home to find his wife “visibly shaking” after what she witnessed.  He tries to comfort her stating it was just a freak hailstorm.  Shelby feels embarrassed by her mistake. Matt states the Southern weather takes some getting used to.

Matt has to travel for his work.  At first Shelby embraces the time alone.  She continues to settle in the home and practices yoga daily.  Dinner for one is interrupted by a loud bang, but it’s just a loose shutter.  Shelby laughs are her nervousness.  But after dinner she walks down the hallway, she sees an apparition of two young women dressed in white. (Reminiscent of the twins from the Shining.)  She calls into the darkness but there is no answer.  The library nearby appears empty.  She walks outside to the hot tub for a soak with a large glass of wine.  Shelby floats blissfully but soon a hand appears, covering her face and attempting to drown her.

Matt continues the story, stating Shelby had “called him in a panic.”  A sheriff is at the home and explains that Shelby “alleges someone held her underwater.”  She described the attackers as wearing old costumes and carrying pitchforks.  The sheriff is dismissive, thinking Shelby was probably just drunk.  Matt tells the man he fears the redneck neighbors are behind the attack and the sheriff states the “Polk’s are reclusive.”  It seems unlikely he’ll investigate any further.  Matt rushes inside to find Shelby crying.  Matt offers his theory about the neighbors being behind the attack.  Shelby remains adamant about what she witnessed, even though the sheriff found no evidence of anyone on the property.  Shelby senses Matt doesn’t believe her but he promises he does.  Shelby admits she couldn’t tell Matt she didn’t want to live there.

At night, Matt wakes up to hear strange noises.  He goes downstairs and finds a dead pig on their doorstep.  Not wishing to further upset Shelby, he buries the animal quietly the next day.  He decides to install security cameras around the property so he can monitor it while he’s away.  Not wanting to leave his wife alone, he arranges for his sister to come and stay with her.

Lee (Adina Porter, True Blood) was a cop forced into retirement when her prescription drug abuse was revealed.  Angela Basset plays Lee in the re-enactment. Lee feels Shelby isn’t good enough for her brother and scoffs at her education and profession as a yoga instructor.  Lee’s drug abuse has resulted in divorce and loss of custody of her daughter.  She’s a bitter woman.

The two share the house uneasily with one another.  One night cooking, Shelby hears something and leaves the kitchen.  Upon her return, the knife sticks out menacingly from the cooking meat.  Lee enters and the two bicker about Shelby’s drinking affecting Lee’s fragile sobriety.  Lee reveals she had brought a gun with her. Later that night, Lee wakes up after an empty bottle is rolled into her bedroom.  She goes to find Shelby to confront her.  The two continue arguing.  Matt, out of town, sees a horrifying scene on his security camera; men with torches are approaching the house.  Being a black man in the South he knows they are not there to “Welcome them to the neighborhood.”  He watches the footage helplessly because the arguing women won’t answer his phone call.

Finally, Lee hears something and tracks the noise towards the basement followed by her terrified sister-in-law.  Descending the stairs into the basement, Shelby asks Lee if she has her weapon.  Lee states it’s locked upstairs but grabs a wrench as they move together towards the sound.  An old television plays a strange shaky home movie, culminating with a man emerging from the woods wearing a pig’s head.  Shelby is confused why someone would break-in to show them a “home movie.”  Lee hears more noises upstairs and guesses “a lot of some ones” are in the house.  The pair huddles in place for at least thirty minutes.  Matt has called the police to assist the women but doubtful of their assistance decides to drive home.  The women emerge from the basement to find a web of twine from which and hang stick-like figures.  This web covers the three stories of spiral staircase ending at the large round skylight. (A bizarre and elaborate threat.)

Matt comes home and tries to comfort his wife.  He watches the video repeatedly but is still convinced it’s the neighbors playing an elaborate hoax on them to force them out.  Shelby wants to leave but Matt states he will not be forced out of his home.  Lee urges her sister-in-law to “Let the cops do their jobs.” Frustrated, Shelby takes the car and leaves.

On a dark wooded road, Shelby looks down at her phone to answer a call from Matt and hits a woman.  She exits her car, and notices an older woman in old-fashioned dressed holding a meat cleaver. (Kathy Bates) The woman disappears into the thick woods and Shelby, concerned for her injuries follows.  For a yoga instructor, Shelby isn’t very calm.  She soon becomes disoriented and lost.  She trips on the ground, the earth appears to be “breathing.” (This is an actual phenomenon due to gases in the ground, search for videos on YouTube; it’s really strange but not paranormal.) Looking up to the trees, she sees the sting men labyrinth similar to what was created in her home.

Torches form a circle around her as about a dozen people emerge from the thick woods.  The people all appear to be wearing dress that could be from the seventeenth century.  One man is bleeding from his head appearing to have been scalped. (Evans Peters.) Shelby screams and the episode ends.

It’s a promising first episode.  Even though the genre has been saturated in recent years with Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, it’s still an interesting way to tell a story.  Sarah Paulsen’s psychic character in Season 1 discussed the “Roanoke” colony mystery. (That’s the first tie-in to another season 1 noticed.) It will be interesting to see how the story unfolds and if any of the “teaser themes” will present themselves. It will be an abbreviated season with only ten episodes without a holiday break. I’m hopeful we are in for excellent season of horror.