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Finally, Lovecraft Country brings the horror in “Strange Case.” Sure, there have been horrible moments, mostly tied to the horrors of racism, but this episode does a great job of fusing social themes and body-horror in a creepy and effective way.

Ma’am, you appear to have an eyeball in your throat.

The story so far…

The episode continues to build on the ongoing narrative concerning the lodges and the missing pages, but the real draw of the hour is Ruby’s body horror-driven identity story.

Ruby wakes up after her evening with William in the previous episode in the body of a white woman named Hillary and stumbles out into the streets of Chicago alarmed and confused and nearly getting a poor black kid murdered by the police. She’s picked up by a pair of cops who take her back to William who has laid out a tarp in a room, placing the contorting and visibly pained “Hillary” on the floor. He then proceeds to help Ruby escape that fleshy vessel in a gruesome manner and a report about African cicadas is read on the news.

Ruby is given a potion that allows her to slip into “Hillary” for a period of time, and the episode follows Ruby over a series of transformations. Ruby first begins to enjoy the freedom and protection of being a white woman; she gets access to a managerial position at the department store, she gets free ice cream. Things seem great, but “Hillary” also bears witness to how black people are treated in white circles. She also tries to “uplift” the only black employee of Marshall Field’s (the one who applied for the job Ruby originally wanted) but only proves to condescend and perpetuate the worst sort of impulses of the moderate white of the era. “Hillary” chastizes the only woman of color in the store to “be better.” She also forces this poor woman to take a group of white Marshall Field’s employees into her safe space, a bar, where the whites proceed to gawk and fetishize the black people in their space.

With each transformation, Ruby grows more and more disillusioned with the magical transformation and the Hillary identity, and finally breaks when she witnesses the man who hired “Hillary” attempt to assault the very employee she has been bullying. This sets the stage for revenge and a high heel brutally shoved up the ass of the boss (though we do not necessarily know much about what he had done behind a failed assault).

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The wrinkle to this storyline, however, is that it is not merely Ruby who has been under such brutal transformations because Christina and William are finally revealed to be one and the same. “William” granted the magic as a favor, which is later called when he has Ruby pose as the help at one of the local lodges. It’s all very much a solid A-plot for the episode.

Montrose, having killed Yahima, is in a very dark place. He is brutally beat down by Tic and proceeds to lick his wounds in the comfort of his lover, Sammy, and diving into the underground queer community in the area. Montrose seems less about an emotional connection than a physical one early in the hour, refusing to kiss Sammy, but by the end, among the drag performers at the club and the celebration, finally kisses Sammy. However, could an acceptance of himself truly help Montrose with decades of trauma, his fractured relationship and betrayal of Tic, and his very recent murder of an intersex person?

Tic and Leti continue to develop their relationship, albeit with a couple of hurdles. They discover Montrose has sabotaged their plans. Tic is well aware of what Montrose has done, but Leti assumes Montrose merely let Yahima go. Tic’s violent attack of Montrose naturally alarms Leti who at one point checks on him while wielding a baseball bat. Not helping matters is Tic’s obsession with uncovering more magic by translating the text from the now-destroyed pages. Tic and Leti have sex later; Tic’s knuckles still raw and bleeding from his brutal beatdown of Montrose, and later still they have an intimate moment in Leti’s bathroom. Tic opens up about not knowing what love is but finding something like it in Korea with Ji-ah, who we’ve only heard over the phone.

Even so, after finding a little bit of love and mercy, Tic is still agonizing over magic, pouring over photos of the pages taken by Leti uncovers a message in the Language of Adam, something so alarming to him that he calls Ji-ah in Korea. She knows something about what is going on.

Ruby is red.

How it worked out…

Lovecraft Country delivers an outstanding episode that delivers genuine horror that smartly intersects with the larger themes the whole season has addressed. The performances are top-notch and anchoring the episode around Ruby’s experiences with transformation worked out incredibly well.

This might be the single goriest episode of the series yet, with flaps of flesh sluicing right off of bodies during transformations and it really feels the closest to effective Lovecraftian horror the show has gotten. H. P. Lovecraft wasn’t necessarily much of a body-horror writer, as in those themes didn’t exactly drive him, but the larger movement his work inspired has latched onto body-horror as a driving element, such as the recent adaptation Color Out of Space. Plus, it does make a kind of cosmic sense that our mere fleshy vessels are so easily slashed and scrapped as we are just meat in an indifferent universe. So while Lovecraft Country has not delivered the sort of cosmic awareness normally associated with Lovecraft’s prose, the body horror does feel like an appropriate well for the series, especially because it makes for such a nice metaphorical device for exploring identity.

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What I appreciate most is that the episode, while horrifying, was also bleakly funny. Not funny as in laugh-out-loud, but more a recognition of the effective use of situational irony that ran through.

And look, this show still has issues. The William-Christina transformation scene creates some issues because there are moments in the show where the two identities are seen just mere moments apart. Let’s not even get into the fact that there are just strips of meat all over Chicago from the transformations, either. How are the racist cops not investigating the flayed remains of a white woman? Montrose’s rough sex (closer to rape) was uncomfortable given what he did to Yahima the night before. The show isn’t handling queer themes well enough. Themes of blackness the show does quite well. Everything else, well, is a coin-flip.

Lovecraft Country may have bounced back a bit with this week’s episode, one that deftly integrates horror and social themes in a delightfully gory package. I give Lovecraft Country‘s “Strange Case” four and a half Cthulhus. 4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)

Maybe it is just German for “the?”

Miskatonic Musings

So what are the other miscellaneous odds and ends to cover?

  • I appreciate the gorgeous title cards presented with each episode but there’s no way in Hell I am going to make new title cards for these reviews week to week.
  • Yes, that was Shangela from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
  • The actress playing “Hillary” was the same actress who kept the dogs and Shoggoths in the first two episodes, Jamie Neumann.
  • So, the police captain’s torso is apparently black and we didn’t even really get into that or the man in his office closet. I am sure we’ll learn more in the coming weeks.
  • I appreciated Tic looking every bit the Lovecraftian scholar at the end of the episode; flop sweat, panicked eyes, piles of documents. It was very recognizable.
  • The big literary reference this week? The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
  • The monologue over the Hillary montage is “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf.”
  • Some great songs, as usual, on the show. Tic and Leti’s love scene was set to “Return to Love” by Black Atlass. One of the first songs we here is Patience and Prudence’s take on “Tonight You Belong To Me.” My choice for the sound of the episode, though? Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow.”

What did you think about “Strange Case?” Do you think Lovecraft Country has bounced back, or do you think it’s been going strong since the first episode? Let us know in the comments.

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David Davis is a writer, cartoonist, and educator in Southern California with an M.A. in literature and writing studies.

Movies n TV

Goosebumps, You Can’t Scare Me

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Episode eight of Goosebumps felt more like a season finale. Frequently when shows do this, it leads to a lackluster final episode in which it feels like everything has already been said, the monster is already vanquished, and we’re just tidying everything up. But hopefully, the creators remember the number one rule of a horror franchise. The monster is never really dead.

Cover for Goosebumps You Can't Scare Me!

The story

We begin our story with everyone in hot water. Well, at least in a notebook that’s just been damaged by cold puddle water.

After a frankly hilarious battle between Biddle and Bratt for the body, Nathan manages to draw a door in the notebook for the teens to escape. Unfortunately, he is sucked back into the notebook.

Back in the real world, the kids head to Nora’s cabin to save her. But Biddle reaches her first. Possibly because a helpful sheriff tells him right where her cabin is.

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ACAB.

Biddle finds Nora before she can hide Slappy somewhere in the deep woods. She takes off but is having a difficult time losing him. He does eventually take Slappy, leaving Nora in a dangerous position.

Luke and Margot manage to find her but lose Isaiah in the process. Isaiah has fallen down a cliff face and is clinging to it for dear life.

And this is where he is when Slappy and Biddle find him.

What worked

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The first thing I have to mention is that this was a great episode for parent/child relations. I loved that Harold’s parents knew he wasn’t to blame. I loved that they’d been waiting for him all this time, so they could go into the afterlife together.

Rachael Harris in Goosebumps.

Luke and Nora had a good moment as well. Honestly, it appears that everyone had an honest discussion with their kids or parents at some point because of this.

I also really loved the musical choices in this episode. This has been a bit of an issue this season so far, but this was a great example. I especially enjoyed the instrumental version of Sweet Dreams played during high-conflict moments. Honestly, has there ever been a bad version of that song?

Overall, this was a satisfying episode. Nora was finally vindicated. Nathan finally has his body back, and Harold Biddle is free.

It makes me wonder what they’re going to do with the rest of the season. Or at least it would if the next episode wasn’t titled Night of The Living Dummy Two.

What didn’t work

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One thing about this episode did irritate me, though. Once it’s established that Biddle and Nora are in the woods, everyone takes off after them. And for some reason, no one remembered that cell phones existed. We know the teens have their phones, that was made painfully clear in the car scene. Why did no one, not one soul, consider calling Nora instead of running around in the snow yelling for her? And when Isaiah vanished, why didn’t he call someone? Why didn’t they call him?

This would have been an easy fix. There’s a snowstorm. We could have just mentioned that someone tried to call and cell lines were down. Instead, every character seemed to have just forgotten that modern technology exists and we don’t have to run around shouting for people if they get lost in the forest with their phone.

All in all, though, this was a good episode. I’m not sure yet how I feel about there being two episodes left, I’ll admit. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. This has been a good season so far. Let’s hope they stick the landing.

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

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Movies n TV

Goosebumps, Give Yourself Goosebumps

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This episode of Goosebumps is named after the Choose Your Own Adventure spinoff books. Also known as my favorite way to spend an afternoon as a kid.

Cover from Give Yourself Goosebumps

I still have some of these. I can tell you what they smell like. They smell like childhood joy.

It was nice to be reminded of these wonderful times. It was even better that I was reminded in this wild ride of an episode.

The Story

We begin our tale with the revelation that Mr. Bratt is actually Harold Biddle. And to make sure these meddling kids don’t spoil his plan, he’s trapped them inside of his notebook. The notebook looks very much like the living room of the cabin.

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There, the teens find the real Mr. Bratt. He’s been trapped in the notebook since Biddle took over his body. And he hasn’t made much headway in escaping.

Meanwhile, Nora is finally being released from the psych ward. And she is not thrilled with Victoria. Seeing as how Victoria has been drugging her, this is understandable.

But Nora is done being passive now. She heads right to her garage and packs Slappy up in a canvas sack. Why Slappy was in her garage, where her child hangs out, is beyond me. But here we are.

As she’s trying to leave, Colin finds her. He’s rightfully looking for some answers. But he’s not going to get it from her. She informs him that she has to handle something, and she cannot explain what’s going on. Then she drives off with Slappy.

Poor Colin, looking for some support, goes to see Isaiah’s dad, Ben. He lays out the whole situation, looking for support.

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But Ben hears something else in Colin’s tale of woe. He hears that Slappy is free. And so he takes off, leaving Colin sitting in his living room alone with no answers.

Colin has got to be wondering why he’s still living in this town at this point.

Back in the notebook, Nathan and the teens realize that if Nathan is hurt, he goes back into his own body. This leads to a wonderfully funny scene of the kids taking turns punching him in the face.

Still from Give Yourself Goosebumps.

Eventually, he gets partial control of his body. But Biddle is still there, and still ready to do battle. And when the notebook is tossed out the window and lands in a puddle, the kids find themselves in an even worse situation.

What worked

I want to start by praising a subtle detail that absolutely blew me away. Right before the teens realize they’re no longer in the real world, there’s a color shift. The whole picture becomes a bit browner. Again, it was subtle. But it was such a wonderful transition.

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I also want to bring attention to Justin Long, again. His acting in this season has been so laugh-out-loud funny. In this episode, we saw him jumping back and forth between Nathan Bratt and Harold Biddle in the blink of an eye. Or, the time it took Isabella to punch him. The way he flops around, is clearly either not comfortable or not in control of his body. It’s a delight.

Finally, despite the number of grownups who are now involved, the kids are still clearly the heroes. They are the ones working together, sharing information, and trying to fix their situation before they die. They are not waiting for rescue, like Mr. Bratt. They are not ignoring the problem. They are not working with Slappy, as I suspect one of the parents might be. The kids, in this show, are alright. And they are certainly the good guys.

This season just gets better and better. And the best part is that Slappy isn’t even awake yet. We haven’t released the big bad. And the good guys are already overwhelmed. So what are they going to do when Slappy is back?

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

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Goosebumps, Night of The Living Dummy

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After the very alluring ending to the last episode of Goosebumps, this one had a lot to live up to. It is also, of course, named for possibly the best-known Goosebumps book. Night of The Living Dummy is the book that gave the series its mascot character, and our primary antagonist, Slappy the Dummy. It’s safe to say that this episode was going to change the course of the season. And I’m happy to say that it lived up to all of those expectations.

If you’re into detailed, elaborate, multigenerational backstories, then this episode is going to be a real treat.

The story

After Biddle/Mr. Bratt invites the kids inside, he sits them down on the couch and starts to tell them an elaborate backstory. This story begins with his great-great-great-grandfather, Ephraim Biddle.

Slappy in Goosebumps

Ephraim was a failing magician until he finds Slappy the Dummy in a magic shop. After accidentally bringing Slappy to life (do not repeat strange words you find on a piece of paper out loud) his act takes off. Eventually, though, he discovers that Slappy has plans to hurt people. And so he bricks him up in the wall of his basement.

Years later, Harold Biddle and his parents move in. And Slappy calls to Harold, who was bullied at his last school. He’s worried that he’ll be bullied again. Slappy talked to those fears. And, as is too often the case, this worked like a cursed charm.

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What worked

I’d like to start with how our main characters responded to Harold Biddle’s tale. Because I loved it possibly as much as he hated it. But they are correct when they say that their parents weren’t to blame for what happened to Harold.

They didn’t bully him. They took him into their group, or at least they tried to. And after Harold stood up on stage and aired out their secrets, Nora was quick to defend him. They even wanted to protect him from Slappy.

And yes, their actions caused his house to catch on fire. But they would have gone back and saved him if it hadn’t been too late.

I felt so bad that Harold’s unhappiness was completely self-fulfilling. He assumed people would hate him, so he didn’t give them a chance. This is a lesson we don’t see much of.

Of course, the bulk of this episode’s greatness came right in the last few minutes. This ending was perfect.

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When Margot asks “How do you know all of this, Mr. Bratt?” And his response is, “That’s right, the twist,” that was it for me. Because of course, Goosebumps books were always known for that last killer twist. And I think we all love a good fourth-wall joke around here.

This, of course, led us to the big reveal. And this was perfect. It was a cool line. The effects were flawless. The kids’ reactions were hilarious and completely understandable.

Oftentimes in horror, when we finally see the monster it can be a bit of a letdown. Stephen King talks about this struggle in Dance Macabre. When we can’t see the monster, it’s the worst thing we can imagine. After we see it, we often realize it isn’t that bad. It might even be unintentionally funny.

Because the point of this scene isn’t really the monster’s revelation to the audience but is instead focused on the revelation to the characters, it works much better.

What didn’t work

Sadly, the rest of the episode didn’t work quite as well. Starting with the flashback to Ephraim Biddle. While I understand the value of this story, it was slow. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as the rest of the episode or the season. It certainly dragged this episode down. Which isn’t to say the actors didn’t do a fine job. It was just that the story itself was a little dull.

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Cover for Goosebumps, Night of The Living Dummy.

Finally, though, I have one primary complaint. And this has been an issue I’ve had with the season so far.

If Slappy was supposed to be a big mid-season surprise, maybe he shouldn’t have been plastered on every single bit of advertising for this season. It took some of the joy away honestly. When we first saw the dummy-sized case, we all knew who it was going to be, because we’d already seen his face. Worse, Slappy’s appearance couldn’t be a surprise, because we saw him as soon as we knew the show was going to happen. It took some potential fun away to have that expectation already established.

That being said, this was still a fun episode. And it certainly left me eager to see what’s going to happen next.

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

If you’re a fan of my work, please check out my latest story, Nova, on Paper Beats World. New chapters launch every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

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