The curtain closes tonight for American Horror Story: Freak Show, and we can all agree that this season was pretty messed up. From Twisty the Clown (and his weird AF smile) to Neil Patrick Harris’ affinity for talking to creepy dolls, the fourth installment of the AHS series was chock-full of pee-inducing moments.
Ryan Murphy, you outdid yourself. And we all had nightmares because of it.
Before you watch the season finale — and read our recap tomorrow morning — take a stroll through the scariest moments Elsa Mars and her Cabinet of Curiosities brought this season. (You may want to cover your eyes for a few of them.)
Twisty reveals what is behind his smile.
[GIF Credit: FX]
Dandy kills Gloria.
There’s no question that Dandy sucks. But he achieved a whole new level of awful when he shot his mother, Balenciaga queen Frances Conroy (in this season, she played Gloria Mott). After Gloria tells Dandy his father is actually her second cousin, he puts a gun to his head like a dramatic little shithead. “No,” Gloria screams. “Not this way. I can’t go on if you kill yourself.” At this, Dandy responds “OK” and takes out Gloria instead. That’s right: he killed the true Supreme. We’ll never forgive him for this.
Elsa stabs Paul on a spinning wheel (as a “trust” exercise).
When the freaks start to distrust Elsa (rightfully so, given she’d probably sell all of them to win a People’s Choice Award), she demands that one of them get on a spinning wheel and let her throw knives at them (as one does). Paul the Illustrated Seal volunteers as tribute, but Elsa is no Katniss Everdeen and accidentally stabs him. And what’s worse? She doesn’t even call an ambulance. You know what, Elsa? Go to Hollywood. GO TO HOLLYWOOD.
Penny’s father tattoos her face.
[GIF Credit: FX]
Twisty kills two teenagers at a picnic.
[GIF Credit: FX]
Dandy slaughters all the women at the Tupperware party.
After Dandy decides his destiny is to just kill a bunch of people, he hits up the Tupperware/Jimmy Delivers Multiple Orgasms to Sexually Frustrated Housewives party. He knocks on the hosting wife’s door, says his car broke down, and he needs to use a telephone. The (probably still thirsty) woman lets him in, and he proceeds to murder all the housewives. He then dumps their bodies in the indoor swimming pool to the surprise of one of the husbands. Way to kill the vibe, D.
All the times Murphy made us think someone died, but it was just a damn dream.
[GIF Credit: FX]
Neil Patrick Harris and his dummy Marjorie make their debut.
When Chester (NPH) showed up to the freak show, he brought a creepy friend: his dummy Marjorie. She was perfectly harmless, until she started talking. Nothing scarier than a living doll (especially one that wants to kill Bette and Dot so they’ll stop having threesomes with Chester).
Twisty and Dandy put on a fucked up magic show.
Earlier in the season, Dandy joins Twisty on his quest of crazy, and the two kidnap Jimmy and Maggie. While Jimmy and the other captives are chained up, Dandy hosts a magic show, throws Maggie in a saw-box, and for five seconds we think she is going to die. Thankfully, the captives end up escaping, but it doesn’t make this any less frightening.
Dandy imagines his own version of Bette and Dot.
When Bette and Dot leave Dandy after realizing he’s just a teensy bit cuckoo, he becomes obsessed with them. So obsessed that he has a fantasy of conjoining his dead mother and another woman he killed to create a quasi-Bette and Dot. The image flashed on our screen for all of five seconds, but will stay with us forever. Why did we need to see this?
What did you think were the scariest moments on Freak Show? Sound off in the comments below.