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"Devil's Night" is the fourth episode of Hotel. It premiered October 28, 2015.

Synopsis[]

John Lowe receives an invitation to attend an exclusive Devil's Night Soiree. Alex Lowe tries to diagnose Holden's strange condition.[1]

Plot[]

Richard Ramirez has a standing reservation for Devil's Night, since he died in 2013. He's attending festivities at the "master's" behest, and laments that Charles Manson won't be joining them yet. Liz checks him in, but he says that he won't need a key.

He enters through a window and finds a sleeping husband and wife, whom he bludgeons. The wife does not die, despite repeated attempts to kill her, and she runs screaming from the room, where she encounters March. Her pleas for help prompt him to hold her and invite his compatriot to finish her off.

John answers a phone call from Scarlett. She doesn't want to go trick-or-treating this year, and wants to stay with her grandmother rather than have him pick her up. During the call, he notices that the ceiling and wall of his room are bleeding.

Miss Evers is having trouble getting out a difficult bloodstain as well.

In 1925, Young Albert is trick-or-treating with his mother, Miss Hazel Evers.  He doesn't like his homemade bedsheet ghost costume and would have preferred an African cheetah costume.

Every Halloween, she is reminded of her kidnapped son. John arrives to question the blood coming from that room, and they commiserate over stolen children over a sherry, but he won't drink. She explains that her son was taken to a ranch outside town, and all they found was the costume. His kidnapper had taken and killed many children.  He disposed of their bodies with quick lime and set them in a mass grave. After the recounting, her mood improves as she blathers on about preparations for the festivities.

Alex has brought Holden home, but the family dog Jasper barks at him incessantly, so Alex shuts the dog in the bathroom. Holden objects to the bright light while she examines him.  She finds a body temperature of 75.5°F, about 23° below normal. He says he's not cold, but he is thirsty. She goes to the kitchen and her nervousness causes her to spill a glass of juice.  She returns with a glass each of orange and apple. When she reenters the living room, she finds that his drink of choice is Jasper's blood. He says that doesn't feel well and wants his other mommy.

John discovers the Wineville murders that Evers mentioned took place 85 years prior.  Astonished that he's never heard of the infamous town, he finds that its name was changed to Mira Loma because of the atrocity.

Under Liz Taylor's watchful eye, Alex returns with Holden to the Hotel, and the boy scampers to his coffin. Elizabeth appears and says that she has answers to Alex's questions.

At the penthouse, Elizabeth explains that she saves children from neglect. Alex protests, but Elizabeth was referring to John's neglect and that she walked Holden away from the carousel herself. She explains the viral infection. Alex holds her at gunpoint, wanting a cure. Elizabeth wants undying loyalty in exchange for passing on the virus to Alex. Alex attempts to run, but she's slowed by Tristan who is curious if Elizabeth is "banging her too?"

John heads to the Liz-tended bar for a ginger ale. John expounds that he was never an alcoholic, just a control freak. He surrenders to the illusion of control and asks for a double martini. Aileen enters for her 13th Devil's Night, and John buys the familiar woman a drink. Liz mentions that John is a special guest of the hotel and a cop. After saying she's a serial killer, he thinks she's got a great Aileen Wuornos costume. He thinks she's speaking in character when she justifies her murders, and he calls her justifications bullshit. She says he hasn't lived until he's had a roll with a batshit crazy hooker, and he offers his room, over Liz's warning.

While tied to a chair, he slowly realizes what Devil's Night at the Hotel Cortez involves, and they fight until he handcuffs her in the bathroom and finds her Driver's License, verifying her identity. He returns to the guestbook and finds plenty of serial killers have signed in. Liz describes March's annual tradition and discovers John himself is on the invitation list for dinner. when he returns to his room Aileen, is missing, but a garment bag is laid on his bed with a card reading "Knock 'em dead tonight - Liz".

Wearing the tuxedo found inside, John arrives at Room 78 for dinner. Aileen apologizes for her behavior and wants him to sit with her, but Mr. March reminds her that the seat-assignment placards must be observed. He serves absinthe and introduces himself. John reminds him that March would have died 85 years prior. March counter-reminds him that anything is possible in this hotel. John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer introduce themselves, and John recognizes the black-masked Zodiac Killer , Aileen, and Richard Ramirez on his own. Despite being dead, they all have received guidance from March and had all stayed in the hotel. The absinthe has taken an effect on Lowe, and Gacy handcuffs him to his chair.

Evers serves, and Ramirez puts on some music ("Sweet Jane", which he and Aileen dance to). Evers brings out an appetizer, a drugged young man. Lowe tries unsuccessfully to shoot Dahmer to prevent him from trepanning the young man.

Sally muses with a suited man about the fate of Halloween teens walking past. He wants whatever she's providing in the way of fun.

Dahmer has "zombified" his victim, and the assembled killers are disappointed that John hasn't warmed to them yet. March toasts his famous equals, and he wants them to join him for dessert. Sally brings in her now heroin-tainted man, which will buy her a year of solitude from March. The killers, with Gacy now in clown make-up, all take turns stabbing the man. Sally sees the distressed Lowe and tells him he's hallucinating from the alcohol/absinthe combination. The night's festivities are absent in the dark and otherwise vacant room. She walks him away so that the others can enjoy themselves, though March is wary.

Elizabeth prepares for Alex's turning, and they kiss on Elizabeth's bed. Alex suckles from Elizabeth's sliced breast and then falls asleep for her last mortal rest.

Featured Characters[]

Aileen Wuornos[]

Aileen Wuornos was a sex worker who killed seven men in Florida, all within a one-year span (1989-1990). She was convicted of six of the murders and executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002. She meets John Lowe at the bar upon her arrival at the hotel for Devil's Night, and invites him to her room. She knocks him out in the hall and cuffs him to a chair in her room. He turns the tables on her and cuffs her to the bathroom sink. At dinner, she apologizes to John but he doesn't accept, promising that she'll be leaving in his custody. Aileen is later seen dancing with Ramirez and killing a man. When Billie Dean comes, she threatened her if she didn't keep her mouth shut.

Notes[]

  • Aileen is the fifth character portrayed by Lily Rabe. For a complete list of her characters, see Cast.


Richard Ramirez[]

Ricardo Ramírez, dubbed the "Night Stalker" by the media, was an American serial killer, rapist, and burglar who terrorized the residents of the greater Los Angeles area, and later the residents of the San Francisco, from June 1984 until August 1985. An avowed Satanist, he never expressed any remorse for his crimes. He is attending Devil's Night for the third time since dying of liver cancer after 23 years on death row in 2013.

Notes[]

  • Richard is the second character portrayed by Anthony Ruivivar. For a complete list of his characters, see Cast.
  • The character of Richard Ramirez is further expanded on the ninth season, titled 1984


Jeffrey Dahmer[]

Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the "Milwaukee Cannibal", was an American serial killer who committed the rape, murder, and dismemberment of seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991, some which involved necrophilia and cannibalism.

John Wayne Gacy[]

John Wayne Gacy, also known as the "Killer Clown", was an American serial killer and rapist who sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.  During his years of killing, he was known in the community for appearing as Pogo the Clown at local charity events.  He was convicted in 1980, and sentenced to death. He visited the Hotel Cortez in his youth and met Mr. March, who set him on his path of murder. He has been attending the annual event since his execution in 1994.

Notes[]



Zodiac Killer[]

Zodiac Killer is the nickname given to an unidentified serial killer who operated in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although he was never caught, he has been presumed dead for some time - correctly it seems. He arrives late to the soiree of killer ghosts in full regalia of black hood and clothing, with the white circled cross symbol he used to sign letters to the police emblazoned on his chest. The identity of this killer gave raise to false claims and assumptions over the years, including the possibility that the Zodiac Killer could actually be a she.

See "Valerie Solanas Died For Your Sins: Scumbag" for more information.

Gordon Northcott[]

Gordon Northcott (credited as Sheik) was a kidnapper and multiple murderer involved in the sexual abuse and homicides of several boys in the Los Angeles area during the late 1920s known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. Among his victims was Miss Evers' son Albert, whom he abducted on Halloween of 1925. Albert was not among the surviving boys found upon Northcott's arrest.

Notes[]

Quotes[]

References[]

  1. The Futon Critic - American Horror Story Season 5, Episode 4
  2. In Go to Hell he makes no appearance, but is mentioned during the tour on LaLaurie's mansion.
  3. Mentioned by Donna Chambers
  4. Mentioned by Margaret Booth
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