American Horror Story Asylum Season 2 Recap - Episode 3: I Am Anne Frank (Part 1)

Episode 4: I am Anne Frank (Part 1)

So, who thinks maybe Anne Frank (played by Franka Potente) being alive and 'well' in Episode 4 of FX American Horror Story Asylum just a little more than they can bite off and chew? Me too. Although, the paranoia it brings to the whole cast when she accuses Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) of being a Nazi war criminal almost makes it worth it. Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) is, naturally, eager to usurp the lofty position Dr. Arden holds by bringing these suspicions to the Monsignor's (Joseph Fiennes) attention (and who missed the opportunity last week for Sister Jude to don 'Ravish Me Red' for the Monsignor's benefit, hey FX?) Of course, he's onto her motive and is quick to point this out. Once Sister Jude leaves, however, we discover that maybe the Monsignor is not a godly man as he rings Dr. Arden and warns him to tie up any loose ends. All I can say is; Poor Shelly (Chloe Sevigny). Speaking of the nymphomaniac, the three escapee/returnees from last week are under the assumption (thanks to Sister Jude's announcement) that Shelly really did escape from Briarcliff. The poor little dears are so excited to hear this.

We also learn Grace's (Lizzie Brochere) story this week. Or so we think. She tells a tale of mistaken identity and as a result, Kit (Evan Peters) and her get hot and heavy in the kitchen -SMOKING! Or it is until they get busted and wind up in Sister Jude's office. Uh-oh, can anyone say 'fifty shades' quicker than Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe) can pull a cane out of the cupboard? Looks like it's sterilisation for the pair of them until Sister Jude is interrupted by the two detectives that are hot on Dr. Arden's heels about the 'rough up' he gave the good-nun-hooker. While Kit and Grace count their blessings, Sister Eunice messes with Kit's head. Later on, he asks Grace about her back story and we discover another version of it, a not so 'poor me, I'm innocent' tale. Kit still thinks she's hot none the less.

Lana (Sarah Paulson) and Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) are developing a 'friendship'. Either the good doctor wants Lana to expose the goings on at Briarcliff or he is falling for the lesbian journalist but it's not clear which yet. Although, after Lana undergoes aversion therapy (possibly the most humiliating television viewing I have ever seen) to 'cure' her homosexual tendencies, the audience is just left thinking that maybe Dr. Thredson is a perverted voyeur.

Dr. Thredson is also hard at work with Kit. He doesn't want Kit go to the electric chair, but to pronounce the man as insane will leave him locked up in the care of Sister Jude for the rest of his natural life. Hello Rock, meet Hard Place.

Getting back to Anne Frank and Dr. Arden, we finish this episode with Anne making a five finger discount purchase off the two detectives as they leave Briarcliff. She then confronts Dr. Arden about his past. It get ugly. Anne pulls the detective's gun on Dr. Arden and shoots him in the leg. She threatens to shoot him again unless he hands over the keys. The bad doctor does this and Anne opens a door. We are confronted with this:

Is anyone getting the feeling Bloody Face is actually based on one of those 'based on a real story' horror movie characters? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

And while you wait for next week's episode, why not check out The Ring of Lost Souls on Amazon or iTunes?

(Photo Credits: FX)

American Horror Story Asylum Season 2 Recap - Episode 3: Nor'easter

Episode 3: Nor'easter

Thank you, thank you , thank you FX for making this episode of American Horror Story Asylum SO much better than the last! This week is like holding a torch up under your chin and telling ghosts stories around a camp fire until someone pees themselves with fright.

Episode 3 (entitled 'Nor-easter') opens with the classic ghost tale (set in the present day abandoned Briarcliff and the two horny but unfortunate honeymooners) of the killer who turns out to be a copycat and then gets killed by the real deal! Needless to say, poor Leo (Adam Levine) and Teresa (Jenna Dewan Tatum) are deader than dead. Sadly, this is the only time we find the cool time change stuff occurring, although there was PLENTY of opportunity for it!

So Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) is possessed by the devil, and my what a wonderful job she does of playing the role. Not only is she deliciously creepy, but she is messing with Sister Jude's (Jessica Lange) head. It seems the devil knows all about Jude's hit and run fifteen years earlier (another great ghost story to tell by the fire) and is hell bent on reminding her of this fact. Sister Jude, as a result seems to be 'coming apart at the seams' (as the horrible Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) so eloquently puts it).

She is not the only one loosing it though. Dr. Arden himself gets seduced by Sister Devil Eunice and flips out; one statue gets tarted up with lipstick and smashed as a result. In his more lucid moments though, the good doctor pokes and prods Kit (Evan Peters) in an attempt to introduce conspiracy theories into American Horror Story Asylum - you can't have a nut house without at least a few of these!

Speaking of Kit, he is still attempting to escape with Grace (Lizzie Brochere). When a movie night is planned during the freakish storm that is ominously working it's way through this episode, they realise it is the perfect time to try again. Shelly the nymphomaniac (Chloe Sevigny) wants in and eventually convinces them to let her come with them. Even Lana (Sarah Paulson) gets a second chance once she has words with Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) and realises that her girlfriend, Wendy (Clea Duvall), may be in danger. She also realises that maybe Kit isn't the serial killer Bloody Face. Oops, hopes she apologises for the caning he got as a result!

We also start to learn more about the creature that Sister Devil Eunice keeps feeding in the forest. In fact, we discover there is more than one of them and apparently they only need to be fed over winter. These creatures turn out to be a crucial plot point this week. not only does one of the patients (who identifies the fact that Sister Eunice is possessed by the devil) get fed to them, but when Kit, Grace and Lana attempt their escape (with the help of Shelly, but more on that later), they encounter these creatures and as a result end up back in the very tunnel they used to escape through! Sister Jude also uses the (now noticed) escapees as a reason to get rid of a few other missing patients by claiming SIX people have escaped instead of only four.

So, Shelly wants to escape. She actually stops thinking about sex for long enough to act as a look out. Her favour with the male staff is definitely to her advantage and we find her back on the sex bandwagon as soon as needed. Once Carl the orderly is distracted, Shelly realises that her need to escape is more important than her need for sex, so the poor man is left wanting. Unfortunately it is too little, too late and Shelly jumps straight out of the frying pan and into the scorching flames of hell (read: Dr. Arden). It seems the poor doctor is still toey. Shelly is actually forced to put out. Or at least until Dr. Arden has a 'little accident'. Shelly finds this hilarious, as a result, Dr. Arden gets pissy and poor Shelly also meets with a little accident.....

Sister Jude is not coping well and as a result gets completely inebriated. She staggers around the abandoned halls in search of someone only she appears to see. Now would have been an awesome moment to put in a time change. The other would have been when Kit, Lana and Grace are escaping back INTO Briarcliff, but these small details were the only set backs in this episode.

Although, if you were to speak to Shelly in the last scene, she may disagree, since we find her minus the lower half of her legs and still in the care of Dr. Arden.....

Can't WAIT for the next episode!

Was this week as good for you as it was for me?

American Horror Story Asylum Season 2 Recap - Episodes 1 & 2

I hadn't been privy to the awesomeness that is FX's American Horror Story last year. When I saw wicked adverts splashed across Facebook of Season 2; American Horror Story Asylum, I was hooked before even watching an episode!

Now that I have watched the first two episodes (and promptly watched  eight episodes of Season 1 while waiting for the second episode), what do I think? Here's my recap:

Episode 1: Welcome To Briarcliff

The first episode starts with just the right mix of creepy asylum back story, sex and gore. We find two horror buffs honeymooning their way through all the haunted places across America. They are fornicating in each place, which we find out pretty quickly would be considered a no-no to the fantastically stereotypical (but excellently portrayed) Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). What could possibly go wrong with having sex in abandoned creepy places? Well, it can get your arm ripped off, that's what! And this is an excellent way to mess with the time frame and send us back in time to meet the aforementioned Sister Jude; a woman who hates sex of any description (especially of the homosexual persuasion). The time changes are super cool and crazy-creepy by the way!

We also meet some pretty great characters. There is Shelly the Nymphomaniac (Chloë Sevigny), Kit Walker (Evan Peters); who loves his wife in an age when blacks and whites don't mix, Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe), Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson); a journalist who is gay - this has to end badly for her and the terribly evil Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell).

There is so much story being set up in this first episode that the time flies with incredible speed! Basically, after we leave the poor unfortunate honeymooners (the groom being played by the hunky Adam Levine from Maroon 5), we discover that in 1964 there was a serial killer on the loose; a horrible person who goes by the name of Bloody Face. When Kit is arrested for killing his coloured wife, he is also accused of being Bloody Face and sent to Briarcliff for psychiatric evaluation. Is he the killer? I don't think so, neither do the writers at FX - they blame the aliens! Lana arrives on the scene and attempts to interview Sister Jude. Needless to say, she 'accidently' gets herself committed and her girlfriend signs the relevant paperwork rather than being outed as a lesbian.

Dr. Arden appears to be a sicko that would rival Bloody Face. He not only has strange mutated plants in his lab, but patients seem to be dying on his watch - patients who have no family to kick up any great stink. Sister Eunice appears to be a quiet little meek thing, but I have my suspicions about her (or maybe it's just because I have been watching her in Season 1 of American Horror Story).

We also discover that the prudish Sister Jude is such a nasty bitch and so Fifty Shades because she really just wants the Monsignor to see her sexy red lingerie. As a result of built up sexual tension, people get whipped with canes.

Episode 2: Trick and Treats

The first episode had so much promise. Unfortunately, Episode 2 left me feelings a little dejected. There was so much promise and yet I found myself checking how long I had to go to the end of the episode this time round. I hope it is just a temporary glitch, since Season 1 is just so damn fantastic.

This week we find our honeymooners still in strife. Teresa (Jenna Dewan Tatum) hides in a closet and watches Bloody face stab her husband, Leo (Adam Levine). I can't see Leo lasting to Episode 3. We then get one of those cool time changes where Bloody Face is banging on the closet door and the door morphs into a 1964 door belonging to Lana's (Sarah Paulson) girlfriend, Wendy (Clea DuVall). Speaking of not lasting to Episode 3, poor Wendy ends up getting stabbed by Bloody Face!

So how is Lana faring as an inpatient? Not so great, she manages to gets caught writing notes, receive electric shock therapy, make a friend, attempt an escape and get Kit (Evan Peters) punished for trying to escape with her. Her week sure does suck.

TheDr Arden (James Cromwell) character is explored more this week. This is the only interesting part of the episode, as far as I'm concerned. We find he has a thing for nuns. Especially ones that go by the name of Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe). We find he likes her so much that he hires hookers to dress just like her. He has a sick 'good girl' fetish going on which freaks the hooker out so much she kicks him in the balls and escapes without payment.

Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) is introduced in this episode. He is one of the reoccurring cast members from Season 1. He is horrified at the way in which the Briarcliff asylum is run. Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) tells him to suck it up and then they both get to witness an exorcism.  This exorcism goes terribly wrong; it seems the devil is well and truly stuck in the body of the poor man and he dies as a result. The spirit of the devil then escapes upon death and it appears that Sister Eunice just may be possessed now - I told you this character was too nice for words!

What did you think of the second episode of American Horror Story? Do you think it will live up to the first season?

And if you can't wait until next week's episode, why not try reading my book, The Ring of Lost Souls - set in the real abandoned asylum, Larundel and the reason I started watching American Horror Story Asylum. 

Check out the comparisons between the two institutions here.

American Horror Story: Asylum vs. Australian Horror Story: Larundel

So, who watched the premiere episode of American Horror Story: Asylum? Besides the fact that there appears to be an even level of sex and gore in this show, I am finding other things interesting too. Having only watched the first ten minutes so far, I already am making comparisons between the institution that inspired my novel, The Ring of Lost Souls, called Larundel and the one in the show called Briarcliff.

American Horror Story Asylum: Briarcliff

So lets have a look at the similarities so far:

• Both were built at the start of twentieth century. Briarcliff in 1908 and Larundel in 1938 (but the larger facility it belonged to, Mont Park, was founded in 1912. However the oldest buildings which were built around 1911, now officially belong to the Larundel section)
• Briarcliff was originally a tuberculosis centre. While Larundel never housed tuberculosis sufferers, the buildings that did, were situated in the very next suburb
• Larundel housed the criminally insane. People like serial killer Peter Dupas spent time there. These 'locked wards' have now been demolished, but there are plenty of stories on the Internet that claim the houses built over that area are now haunted.  Briarcliff converted to a centre for the criminally insane in the 1960s
• Even the name forms a coincidence. While Larundel is in the suburb of Bundoora, a mere three suburbs away is one called Briar Hill
• Bloody Face the serial killer. As I said in an earlier point, Larundel housed serial killers. While Dupas was not known by any fancy serial killer tag, he was known to mutilate his female victims in a bloody fashion
• Dr. Arthur Arden performs torture on his patients in an attempt to discover the meaning of madness. While there have been no actual reports of behaviour like this at Larundel, there have been plenty of unsubstantiated rumours
• Graffiti - both places have tons of it! Not to mention the mess! People just don't seem kind to old asylums :-/ 

Australian Horror Story Asylum: Larundel

All this and so far I have only watched a small portion of American Horror Story: Asylum!

Let me know if I have missed any.

American Horror Story: Asylum Season Two Starts October 17th!

Now I didn't get the chance to watch Season 1 of FX's American Horror Story, so I can't comment on how good (or not) it was. I have had a whole pile of friends tell me I should check it out though. Season 2, however, has got me waiting, perched precariously, on the edge of my seat!

Considering one of my books, The Ring of Lost Souls, is based in a disused mental asylum, the storyline for Season 2 of American Horror Story has gotten me all excited. Jessica Lange will play the sadistic Sister Jude and several of the cast from Season 1 will be returning. Maroon 5's front man, Adam Levine  is playing a character called Leo and HBO's Big Love actress Chloë Sevigny will not be a closeted second wife, but Shelly the Nymphomaniac!

Some of the imagery released for the FX channel show is fantastic, there promises to be a hydrobath, a bloody face, strange stairwells and the 'hellovator'. Besides the uber creepy image above, the one below is probably my fave:

This poster shows the possibility that it will tie in closely with the storyline I chose for The Ring of Lost Souls. While I steered clear of the clichéd evil nun (although I am sure Jessica Lange will be brilliantly eerie), I did use a time frame that promoted the Larundel asylum as old and abandoned. I get the feeling that there may be some time travel involved in American Horror Story: Asylum as well. Maybe not to the extent that I used it, but it will be interesting to see how they play around with the fact that the story line is based in the 1960's.

So, what are you expecting from this season of American Horror Story? Are you sad to see the old characters go? Or excited to see where FX will take the next season?

And while you're waiting for October 17th, why not check out my book, The Ring of Lost Souls? 

It's available on:

 Amazon Kindle 

iTunes

Angus & Robertson

Lulu

and 

Smashwords