31 Days of Spooktober, Day 7: "American Horror Story: Freak Show" All the wonderful Mid-Century freaks!!

The cast of AHS Season 4, in all their Mid-Mod splendour.

http://www.mtv.com/news/1954006/american-horror-story-freak-show-premiere-review/

I will not get so excited I pass out.   I will not get so excited I pass out.  I will not get so excited I pass out.

Tomorrow night is the premiere of "American Horror Story: Freak Show".  I've been a fan of the show since its inception and haven't missed an episode.  Even when they're almost too graphic to watch (Hello Season One's black vinyl jumpsuit-clad folk!), even when certain images are presented that are horrifically burned into my retinas for the rest of my life (like Season Three's "atmospheric" attic torture chamber).  I'm not a slasher/gore afficionado one iota.  I am easily disturbed; content warnings for film and TV that warn "may be upsetting for more sensitive viewers" are directly aimed at me.  My husband has absolutely NO sympathy for my post-show ramblings about how gross/disgusting/perverse the show is (he will not watch a minute of it). So why, oh why, am I drawn to it?

A few salient reasons.

1.  The writing is amazing.

2.  The acting is amazing.

3.  The direction is amazing.

4.  Ditto for the art direction.

Its gaggle of Emmys is proof positive that AHS has it over many a major motion picture in all of those categories.  But it's got yet another thing in its slimy back pocket: it's got style.  And when I say "style", I'm talking about stylized style as well as sartorial/design style.

I think the reason why AHS doesn't make me squirm too much is that, although scenarios presented are done so realistically, there's a bit of a heightened reality to the lighting, sets, even the acting.  Jessica Lange is a great example; her acting can be "over-the-top" and completely believable at the very same time.  Simply put, I'm in awe of her.  And I'm equally in awe of Ryan Murphy, who is able to extract such brilliance from his performers, to house those absolutely stomach-churning situations in a world that could be pulled out of a well-conceived graphic novel (I'm recalling Season Two's MANY moments of terror, juxtaposed with moments of pop culture whimsy, evident here in the "astonishingly zippy for a musical number set in an insane asylum": "The Name Game" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvbRwgadw80 ).

And now for the style part.  And, for this season, I'm talking Mid-Century splendour and grime, in beautifully equal amounts. The Mid-Mod Mystic is bouncing up and down in her chair!!!

As a Mid-Century enthusiast, I can't find the words for how exquisitely happy I am that Mr. Murphy is setting "American Horror Story: Freak Show" in the 1950s.  It was an era of an almost dainty, "scrubbed clean" aesthetic - at least on the surface.  There were also subcultures (burlesque, Beat, drug) that were decidedly more seamy. If the above poster is any indication, it looks like Ryan Murphy will be exploring both sides, but especially the darker world of the traveling freak show, a world I got a taste of while writing my book, "The Cotton Candy Road Trip".  But I'll be writing more about that in an upcoming post.  Suffice it to say, I am enthralled with that world - and have huge respect for the performers who keep it alive in the 21st century.