DEMON in a Small Town Air BnB

What scares people has evolved over the centuries. Have you ever seen old scary films? Creature of the Black Lagoon. Phantom of the Opera? Nosferatu? They were from a golden era in Hollywood just beginning to learn a new craft in film. They were meant to capture an audience’s’ anxiety, to shock them, and most importantly to take and uneasiness home with them when they left the theater. It worked too. During this era Universal Studios had made such a profit from Tod Browning’s Dracula in 1931, that they approached Director Tod Browning to do another horror film immediately whatever project he wanted. Tod pondered this and finally went to Irving Thalberg (the who’s who of Hollywood producers during the 1930s) and placed a short story on his desk titled “Spurs”. I won’t go into too much detail of the short story, but at its core it was about a twisted union between an average-sized grown woman, and a male midget. Tod Browning before he came to Hollywood did carnival barking in his teenage years. “Come on folks done be a shy step on up my tent for I have the most amazing wonders to show you. And what lay beyond if you pay that nickel in the bucket next to me. Why you’ll be witness before God of the most amazing one of a kind wonders of the world. A man so thin, he’s only a skeleton! A beast of the orient when we found them we didn’t know what to call them because they were half man half woman! Yes, sir yes, sir! Step on up to see only one in the world like ‘em, just behind the curtain!” Tod lived amongst the freaks at the carnival there and noticed a social distinction and purview between “regular” people who worked at the carnival, and the “freak show” people backstage. They didn’t socialize. Freaks were either beloved by some, or kicked down by others seen as ‘not entirely human’. 

So in 1931 when Universal gave Tod Browning full creative control for a new horror project. He was adamant about a horror film that only focused on the backstage life of a carnival, and the examination of the human spirit, and for us the audience to judge who here is the real monster? Even before the first shot was made, the main producer for Hollywood studios read through the initial script and said.

“This is the worst thing I’ve ever read.” and he didn’t mean it as bad writing. He meant it made him uneasy and disturbed. Tod’s reaction to this was “well. Good.” and walked away.

The film was titled “Freaks” and released in 1932 as a talkie with full sound and music. As much as I love all of this film, there’s one scene, in particular, I’ll recount for you. You may actually recognize it’s most famous quote.

“One of us! One of us!” Does that sound familiar? You’ve heard it, but allow me to give you the context of what it means. The plot of Freaks involves a gorgeous tall blond woman who performs in the ring at the carnival. She finds out one of the midgets she teases secretly has come into a major inheritance. The carnival strongman and the woman concoct a plan to have her marry the midget, then kill him to obtain the full bank.

Here now we stumble upon the scene I wanted to tell you about. The wedding feast.

A large long dining table is laid out with simple table cloth, fold-out wooden chairs grabbed from the popcorn gallery in the big top tent, plate ware, and silverware. Each chair is occupied by the carnival’s freaks dressed in their Sunday best. At the head of the table are the midget groom and his now ‘large woman’ wife. Music of horns and clarinets play from the Siamese twins while another carnival member dances on the table for everyone’s entertainment.

Both the strongman and the bride sitting near one another and have become exceedingly drunk and laughing hysterically at...