Recap / Creepshow S 2 E 3 Dead And Breakfast

Creep: Watch your head, kiddies, because if you're not careful, Old Lady Spinster may add it to her collection. Neighbors say they could hear the screaming all hours of the night. Folks went in and never came out. Step right up for an expense-paid visit to...

Dead and Breakfast

Directed By: Axelle Carolyn
Written By: Michael Rousselet and Erik Sandoval

A man fleeing from something dashes through a hall of doors, each of which lead to a dead end. He soon comes face to face with an old woman wielding an ax, "Old Lady Spinster", who proceeds to hack him to pieces as he screams.

This is revealed to be a story told by Old Lady Spinster's granddaughter Pam (Ali Larter) to a bored family, who promptly leave when an act performed by her brother Sam (C. Thomas Howell) has them covered in fake blood. In the present day, the pair have turned their family home into the "Spinster Murder House", a failing bed and breakfast operated on the premise that their grandmother was allegedly the United States' first female serial killer. In the 1930s, when Old Lady Spinster used to run the building, she purportedly had the house built like a maze; doors leading to dead ends and trapdoors built in the floor would be used to supposedly trap anyone OLS caught violating the house’s rules, whereupon she would hack them to death with an ax.

Hoping to compete with other, more successful murder-themed tourist destinations, Pam and Sam discover a livestream being hosted by "Morgue" (Iman Benson), a social media influencer who has an intense fascination with true crime. Upon inviting Morgue to the house in the hopes of positive reviews, the siblings notice that reservations are steadily rising as she livestreams her tour around the house. The Wi-Fi soon drops thanks to steel panels in the house's walls, prompting Morgue and the Spinster siblings to discuss the legend of the Spinster murders. Pam ultimately admits that no bodies were ever found, and Morgue sees this as evidence that Old Lady Spinster never actually killed anyone, aggravating Pam, who mentions that OLS had confessed to her crimes. Discovering that their business is losing reservations after Morgue advises her followers that there is nothing sinister about the house, Pam retaliates by sabotaging the Wi-Fi.

The next morning, Morgue apologizes to Pam for riling her up, and invites her and Sam for a more thorough investigation of the house, having brought sophisticated detecting equipment to check the premises for anything suspicious. The payoff comes when the trio discover a giant vault hidden behind a section of wall. When Morgue manages to crack it open, the only thing they find inside is a sewing machine. Upon finding further proof that Old Lady Spinster was just a crazy old coot, Pam frantically and desperately tries to persuade Morgue that her grandmother was a homicidal mastermind. Upon finishing her latest stream, in which Morgue calls the Spinster House a scam and advises her followers to avoid it, Morgue discovers that the internet is still down.

Hearing the Spinster siblings' voices, Morgue finds a hidden passage in the back of her room’s closet. The passage leads to the wall behind Old Lady Spinster’s portrait in the house’s lobby, where Morgue discovers Pam plotting to frighten her in retaliation for what she sees as sabotage. That night, Pam dresses up as her grandmother and tries to scare Morgue with an ax while she sleeps. When she wakes up, Morgue sprays Pam with ghost pepper mace, mockingly thinking that she was the ghost of Old Lady Spinster. When Morgue begins filming Pam and her mockery finally pushes her too far, Pam goes insane and chases Morgue around the house with the ax. Morgue manages to find the house’s router and re-establish a connection on her phone to tell her followers to help her. She unfortunately trips and falls down the stairs, where Pam corners her and hacks her to death with the ax. With Morgue’s phone broadcasting the murder, reservations for the house begin skyrocketing. Having witnessed everything, seeing a way to get rich, and having had enough of his sister's domineering tendencies, Sam promptly strangles Pam with a noose to make her death look like a suicide.

A year later, the newly branded "Spinster Murder-Suicide House" has achieved massive popularity from Morgue and Pam’s deaths, leading Sam to acknowledge that his late sister was right about how lucrative the horror market is. While depositing the day’s profits in the secret sewing room, Sam activates a trapdoor that drops him into a decrepit pit full of skeletons, revealing that Old Lady Spinster really was a serial killer. Sam thinks this new discovery will make him even more wealthy, but the trapdoor promptly closes on him. Trapped in the pit of skeletons, Sam screams in rage and fear as the oblivious tourists above ignore him.

The Creep is then seen in the house's lobby, watching as Old Lady Spinster's portrait turns into Pam, then laughing at the audience.

This episode contains examples of:

• Actor Allusion: In a highly ironic case, Ali Larter and C. Thomas Howell, who have been known for previously playing characters who wanted to avoid murder and death, now play characters who are obsessed with murder and death.
• All Part of the Show: After watching Morgue get hacked to death on a live broadcast, her followers are ecstatic, and reservations for the Spinster House begin skyrocketing seconds later.
• And I Must Scream: Sam ends up trapped in a pit of skeletons, destined to starve to death since no one above can hear him.
• Ax-Crazy: Pam. If idolizing her grandmother for being a mass murderer wasn't a sign, then dressing up as her and repeating her crimes certainly is. It's even hinted at the end of the segment that she's actually her psychotic grandma's reincarnation, providing an explanation to her manic behavior.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: After noting the growing amount of evidence disproving it, Pam vows that the Spinster murders really happened and her family's name will live forever. Her prediction comes true in the end, mainly because she becomes a murderer that is subsequently murdered herself, becoming part of the mythos.
• Berserk Button: Pam has three strong ones: don't insist her grandmother wasn't a homicidal mastermind, don't call her crazy, and don't insist her grandmother was crazy.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Spinsters finally have their business become a huge success, but with Pam strangled and Sam fated to starve to death, they can never enjoy their newfound wealth and recognition.
• Bizarrchitecture: The Spinster House is purposely built like a maze, with trapdoors in the floor and numerous doors leading to dead ends meant to trap victims.
• Black Dude Dies First: The black Morgue is murdered by Pam when she loses her mind. She's the first person to die.
• A Bloody Mess: One of Sam's roles in entertaining guests is wearing a headless victim mask and spraying fake blood everywhere. As seen in the opening, it usually makes a mess and sends the guests packing, forcing the siblings to clean it themselves.
  Sam: (as he and his sister scrub a fake blood stain off the carpet) This fake blood sure stains.
  Pam: How grandmother was able to get real blood out of this carpet, I'll never know.
• The Cameo: The Creep appears at the end of the story, witnessing Old Lady Spinster's portrait become one of Pam.
• Chekhov's Gun: Sam dresses up as a headless victim with a noose around their neck for guests of the house. When he becomes consumed with greed as reservations skyrocket, as well as finally getting the upper hand over his sister, he uses the noose from the costume to strangle Pam and frame her death as a suicide, so he can take over the business and the entire fortune.
• Crazy-Prepared: Being the true crime fanatic she is, Morgue brings a metal detector, some ultra-wide radar scanners, and an infrared camera to check the Spinster House and its passages for bodies. She also apparently sleeps with a can of ghost pepper mace, which comes in handy when Pam moves in to scare her.
• Creepy Changing Painting: In a very brief outro, the Creep watches as Old Lady Spinster's portrait suddenly turns into the portrait of Pam dressed as her that Sam commissioned, implying that Pam was actually the reincarnation of her psychotic grandmother.
• Deadpan Snarker: Sam throws many a one-liner towards his sister in regards to her obsession with their business and grandmother.
• Death by Irony: Morgue's death by way of a woman who was descended from someone she thought wasn't actually a killer. She even trips over the hole in the floor she made earlier in the episode, allowing Pam plenty of time to catch up with her.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Pam and Sam mention that back in the 30's, their notoriously strict grandmother would routinely kill those who would disobey the house's rules.
• The Dog Bites Back: After all the hassles she's had to go through with Morgue supposedly debunking her theories about her grandmother, Pam goes nuts and hacks her to death with her granny's ax.
  • Sam, who has been bossed around, repeatedly had his ideas shot down, and at one point even slapped by his domineering sister, finally gets his revenge by strangling her to death.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Morgue's real name is "Morgan". She's only identified by the name once by Pam, who she politely insists calls her "Morgue".
• Door Roulette: A man fleeing from Old Lady Spinster and her ax in the opening scene tries to flee using four different doors in the basement. The first leads to a brick wall, the second leads to the secret sewing room, the third leads to a pit, and the fourth leads right to OLS, and his death.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Old Lady Spinster's true name is never revealed.
• Evil Old Folks: Old Lady Spinster, who butchered every guest who broke her house's rules.
• Failed a Spot Check: Morgue's investigation of the Spinster House turns up trapdoors and secret empty rooms. As Sam discovers, she turns out to have missed finding trapdoors inside secret empty rooms.
• Foreshadowing: The secret sewing room is discovered by the doomed patron in the opening scene. Even though it appears to just be a harmless empty room, it's revealed to be more than that decades into the future.
  • As Morgue runs for her life against Pam, she goes the same way that the above patron does, even opening the same doors he did in the order he opened them.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: This episode features no supernatural threats, instead presenting itself as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the commercialization of true crime.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: A lot of viewers of Morgue's livestream leave comments that can be read if you're fast enough to see them.
• Hell Hotel: Pam and Sam try to make their grandmother's old house into one, but it usually fails. The opening scene alone shows a family who are unimpressed with Pam's stories about her grandmother, and up and leave when Sam accidentally sprays them with fake blood.
• Hidden Depths: Morgue's intensive knowledge of true crime allows her to crack safes with ease, such as the giant one she and the Spinsters find hidden behind the wall.
• History Repeats: Pam goes insane and becomes a murderer, just like her granny once did.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: During her investigation of the house, Morgue removes a pair of floorboards to reveal a hidden stash of alcohol. Later, when she's fleeing for her life, Morgue ends up tripping over the empty hole in the floor and tumbling down the stairs, which allows for Pam to catch up and kill her.
• Homage: The entire story, right down to the title, feels like an episode of Tales from the Crypt, since it focuses more on serial killers and those motivated by relentless greed rather than anything supernatural, like the majority of episodes from that series did. It's quite fitting, considering that Creepshow itself was conceived as an homage to EC Comics, the source material for Tales From the Crypt.
• Hypocritical Humor: Pam has the audacity to ask what Morgue's problem is after she maces her, ignoring the fact that she's dressed as her grandmother and was plotting to give her the scare of her life.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Sam posits a theory that Old Lady Spinster fed the bodies of her former victims to her guests.
• Intergenerational Rivalry: Morgue, a young social media influencer with an extensive intellect, and the Spinster siblings, a pair of middle-aged business owners who rely on the old wives' tales they were told as youths, spend the majority of the episode debating on whether or not Old Lady Spinster was actually a serial killer through their different ideologies.
• Ironic Echo: Morgue wraps up one of her livestreams by telling her viewers to avoid the Spinster House when it appears that it has no gruesome history, remarking "I wouldn't be caught dead here." Hours later, Pam goes insane and chases after Morgue with her grandmother's ax, during which Morgue streams that the former is trying to kill her, which she does as the phone records her.
• Irony: Despite her obsession with murder and true crime, Morgue reveals that she's vegan and thinks meat is murder.
• It Runs in the Family: Having had her Berserk Buttons pushed one too many times, Pam goes nuts, dresses up as her grandmother, and hacks Morgue to death with her late grandmother's ax. When he discovers her recovering from the ordeal, Sam notices the reservations skyrocketing and (while finally getting revenge for all of Pam's abusive treatment of him) strangles his sister to make her own death look like a suicide. It's safe to say that being descendants of a mass murderer has rubbed off on them.
• Jerkass: Pam certainly has her moments, gradually becoming callous and outright vicious towards Morgue and her own brother. With the implications that she's the reincarnation of Old Lady Spinster, her attitude could be seen as a warning sign of her descent into complete lunacy.
• Kubrick Stare: Pam gives herself one after losing her mind and looking in the mirror, showing that she's finally snapped.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After murdering Morgue, Pam is strangled by her long put-upon brother.
  • A year after he murders his sister, Sam gets dropped into a pit of his grandmother's victims and left to die.
• Meaningful Name: The Spinsters, seeing as how every member of the family turns out to be a maniacal killer.
• Mythology Gag: The "Father's Day" ashtray is seen on the Spinster House's front desk.
• Never Found the Body: Sam notes that the bodies of Old Lady Spinster's victims were never found, and this leads Morgue (who firmly believes that no body = no murder) to gradually come to the conclusion that OLS never actually killed anyone. In the end, the bodies are finally discovered at the bottom of a pit housed in a secret room, where Sam is set to join them.
• Never Suicide: Sam strangles his sister to death so he can reinvent the Spinster House to be centered on what he sells as a murder-suicide.
• Nightmare Fetishist: The episode is hinted to be set in a world full of them, so much so that people can actually make a living by fulfilling peoples' perverse love of true crime. Morgue herself is incredibly devoted to the study of serial killers, to the point where she livestreams about staying in their former homes to her followers.
• No Sex Allowed: Rule #3 of the Spinster House strictly forbids noise after dark. This includes late-night sex, as is gruesomely illustrated in the comic illustrations.
• No Smoking: Rule #1 of the Spinster Murder House. As seen in a comic-style flashback, a pair of young ladies with cigarettes are dropped down a trapdoor, after which Old Lady Spinster stomps out their smokes.
• Offscreen Teleportation: As soon as Morgue gains enough of a lead over Pam, she finds the house's Wi-Fi router and establishes a signal to beg her followers to help her. As she does, Pam suddenly appears behind her.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As Sam kills his sister, he refers to Old Lady Spinster as "Grandmother", just as the murderous and psychotic Pam had done all episode, revealing he's undergone a Face–Heel Turn.
• Out with a Bang: In a flashback, a couple having sex in a squeaky bed after hours are snuck up on by Old Lady Spinster, who dismembers them mid-coitus.
• Perky Goth: Morgue, who wears lots of black clothes and make-up, is highly knowledgeable in true crime, and has a pretty sunny attitude for most of the segment.
• Portrait Painting Peephole: Morgue finds a passageway in her closet that leads behind the wall of the house's lobby, right behind Old Lady Spinster's portrait. She peers through the eyeholes to spy on Pam discussing her plan to scare the influencer in her sleep.
• Real After All: In the end, after all the evidence apparently disproving it, it's revealed that Old Lady Spinster really was a mass murderer, as Sam falls into a pit containing the skeletons of everyone she's ever killed.
• Real Fake Door: The Spinster House has quite a few doors leading to pits, brick walls, and empty rooms, which were used by Old Lady Spinster to trap fleeing victims.
• Refuge in Audacity:
  • As it turns out, this episode is set in a world where serial killers are glamorized like celebrities, to the point where their homes are turned into tourist attractions that actively compete with one another to make more money. The "Lizzie Bord-Inn", "Dahmer Apartments", and "John Wayne Gacy Circus Tent" are among the many tourist destinations mentioned.
  • When the Spinster House is rebranded, the final moments of Morgue and Pam are re-enacted for a crowd of tourists. When the actress portraying Pam steps into a noose, the tourists applaud.
• Reincarnation: Judging by her manic behavior throughout the episode, and the Creepy Changing Painting scene in the outro, it's implied that Pam is actually the reincarnation of Old Lady Spinster, hence her pride about her grandmother's crimes.
• Repeated Cue, Tardy Response: Sam usually misses his cue whenever he and Pam are entertaining customers of the Spinster House. He also does it when Morgue films them for her stream.
• Rewatch Bonus: After watching the outro, where Old Lady Spinster's portrait changes into one of her granddaughter dressed as her, it's clear that Pam is actually the reincarnation of her grandmother, hence the reason why she acts like a domineering asshole to both Morgue and her own brother, even killing the former after what she perceives as mockery.
• Rule of Three: The Spinster House used to operate under three strict rules, and as shown in a flashback, anyone who broke them back in the day would be disposed of by Old Lady Spinster.
  • Rule 1: No smoking. A pair of girls with cigarettes are dropped down a trapdoor.
  • Rule 2: No feet on the furniture. A man putting his feet on a table gets an ax to the back of the head.
  • Rule 3: No noise after dark. A couple having sex in a squeaky bed after hours end up getting completely dismembered.
• Safecracking: Morgue is shown to be a surprisingly effective safecracker, a noted side effect of her devotion to true crime.
• Sanity Slippage: Pam's mental state rapidly goes down the drain when it's seemingly proven that her grandmother, who she had spent years idolizing for being murderous, was actually just a drunken old lady who lived in a wonky house. Of course, given the implications that Pam was her psychotic grandmother's reincarnation, it's very likely that she was actually insane from the very beginning, and only chose to start killing when she was pushed too far.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The uninterested family who Pam and Sam attempt to entertain pack up and leave after Sam's "headless victim" act has them being sprayed with fake blood.
• Serial Killer: Old Lady Spinster, who was long suspected (and is ultimately proven) to have been the first female serial killer in the United States. Several other infamous killers are name-dropped, and some of their homes are shown to have similarly become tourist attractions.
• Serious Business: Pam's devotion to her grandmother, which is given a whole new set of implications when it's revealed she's likely Old Lady Spinster's reincarnation.
• Shout-Out:
  • Dolly Parton's theme park "Dollywood" is mentioned by the aggravated tourists that leave the house in the opening.
  • Pam shares the name of the mother of one of the most infamous murderers in all of cinema. Similarly, her brother shares the name of one of the most infamous killers in real-life.
  • The dumbwaiter in Morgue's room is labeled "Zelda's Automatic Space Saving Dumbwaiter", as a reference to Rachel's sister Zelda from Pet Sematary (2019), who experienced death by dumbwaiter in the film.
• Shrine to the Fallen: A shrine of Old Lady Spinster sits in the house's lobby, Morgue calling it "trashy". Pam later uses the ax it holds to kill Morgue.
• Sibling Team: Pam and Sam spend the first half of the episode working together to try and generate profit for their business. When Morgue begins driving a wedge between them and challenging Pam's stern beliefs, their bond (or whatever was left of it) completely falls apart.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Pam and Sam have different ideas for how the Spinster murders should be popularized. Pam wants to solely frighten and terrify people to uphold her grandmother as the morbid figure she supposedly was. Sam, on the other hand, wants to add some fun and playfulness to the fear, intending to scare customers so they can have a good time. He's also revealed to be ashamed of coming from a supposedly crazy family.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Pam views her grandmother, who was supposedly America's first woman serial killer, as a groundbreaking inspiration. Morgue, who is mentioned to have studied every serial killer who ever lived, never heard of the Spinster murders until Pam and Sam emailed her.
• Staircase Tumble: Morgue trips over the hole in the staircase floor she made earlier, falling down the rest of the stairs and allowing Pam to catch up with her.
• That's All, Folks!: The episode (barring the epilogue) ends with the front door of the Spinster House closing, the words "THE END" displayed in full view.
• This Is Gonna Suck: When Sam accidentally sprays the bored family in the opening scene with fake blood, Pam gets this look on her face, instantly knowing another reservation just went down the toilet.
• Truth in Television: The Spinster House and its late founder share traits with a few historical figures of dubious morals:
  • Old Lady Spinster herself is modeled after Belle Gunness, who killed her husband and children and hid a large number of graves on her property.
  • The Spinster House is based on the Winchester Mansion, which was also built like a maze for a suspicious purpose. In Sarah Winchester's case, it was used to trap spirits of people who died from the firearms her husband's company produced instead of helpless victims.
  • The fact that the Spinster House is loaded with all sorts of hidden booby traps is a nod to H. H. Holmes, who built all sorts of hidden traps, torture rooms, and gas chambers throughout his house, known by locals of his time as "Murder Castle".
• Too Dumb to Live: Morgue mocks the insane Pam for dressing up as her murderous grandmother, even when she's preparing to move in for the kill.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: While Morgue initially comes across as polite and professional toward the Spinsters, when she comes to the conclusion that their house has no gruesome history after all, she calls them wackjobs, gives the house one star, and advises her followers to avoid it at all costs. She even mocks Pam for dressing up as her grandmother, in spite of the fact that she's gone mad.
• Trap Door: Several of them are built into the floor of the Spinster House, used to stop fleeing victims.

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