Recap / Masters Of Horror S 2 E 10 We All Scream For Ice Cream

Directed by Tom Holland (not the Spider-Man one) and based on a short story by John Farris. Layne (Lee Tergesen) returns to his childhood neighborhood just as his former friends begin to disappear one by one, leaving nothing but their clothes soaked in a milky substance. The reason seems to be linked to an ice cream delivery clown, Buster (William Forsythe), who died when they were children.

---

Tropes:

• Asshole Victim: Virgil, who was responsible for Buster's death as a child, and is strongly implied to have grown into a pedophile.
• Ax-Crazy: Buster's mental state has definitely deteriorated following his resurrection. In the climax, he even pursues Layne with an axe.
• Back from the Dead: Buster is back... somehow. His desire for revenge likely plays into it.
• Bad Humor Truck: The demonic, undead clown works in an ice cream truck. His killing method is to sell ice cream to children, who then cause their parents to melt into a mess not unlike that of melted ice cream as soon as they bite into it.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Young Virgil pissed his pants when he discovered that Buster had no real nose under the fake one.
• The Bully: Virgil is one both as a kid and as an adult.
• Deadly Prank: The episode starts with a childhood prank gone deadly wrong.
• Death by Irony: Virgil declares himself untouchable, because he is the only one without a family. Unfortunately for him, Buster locates Virgil's kid out of wedlock... who Virgil also molested, as evidenced by Buster telling the kid to "get your revenge." For bonus points, Virgil graphically melts in a hot tub he spends a lot of time in.
  • As mentioned in Hoist by His Own Petard below, Buster ends up meeting the same fate as his victims, with his last words being "Oh, my..." like his original death.
• Depraved Bisexual: Virgil readily states he's done... "things."
• Disproportionate Retribution: The episode kicks off with a pretty dark one when Buster gives one of his ice creams to Kent's son. Kent begs his son not to eat it, but the boy does. After watching his father literally melt away in front of him, the boy coldly says, "You shouldn't have grounded me." Jesus Christ, kid! We can only hope being under Buster's influence had to do with it.
• The End... Or Is It?: Buster shows up again for a last pre-credits scare after being destroyed.
• Facial Horror: Buster has no nose under the fake one.
• Friend to All Children: When he was alive, Buster was a friendly ice cream salesman who loved to entertain children as a Non-Ironic Clown.
• Ghostly Goals: Buster kills the children (now grown men) that killed him.
• Hate Sink: Virgil. He was a bully in his childhood, and the Token Evil Teammate to his friends who was responsible for the death of Buster. As an adult, he's just as bad, and heavily implied to be a child molester.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Buster is defeated when Layne creates an ice cream in his likeness and gives it to his kid to eat.
• An Ice Person: In addition to the voodoo ice creams, Buster emanates cold air that can be turned to ice. Layne briefly manages to turn it onto him, but Buster soon breaks free.
• I'm Melting!: Those targeted by Buster melt away when their children bite into an ice cream made into their likeness by Buster.
• Karmic Misfire: While it's true that Vergil and Layne originally caused Buster's death from a prank Gone Horribly Wrong, Vergil was the only one with any malicious intent, so it's not as clear why he went after the other parents who were present, but otherwise had no real involvement.
• Killed Offscreen: Inverted Trope. In the original story, the deaths of Buster's victims, barring Papa Joe, are mentioned after the fact. The adaptation shows us more of the details (especially in Virgil's case).
• Monster Clown: The revenge-seeking Buster became this post-resurrection.
• Musical Trigger: The children go into trances when they hear the ice cream truck music.
• Non-Ironic Clown: Buster before his death. Forsythe's acting is so good that it looks like they are played by different actors.
• Psychopathic Manchild: In death, Buster's maturity and mental development is as stunted as it was in life. That doesn't stop him from being responsible for several gruesome deaths.
• Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: Virgil.
• Sole Survivor: Layne is the only among the targeted parents who survives.
• Team Dad: Papa Joe to the children's group.
• The Unreveal: We never learn why Buster came back from the dead.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Buster started out as a friendly, mentally challenged man who never would have hurt a fly. Then he was murdered, and came back as a Monster Clown hellbent on revenge.
• You Should Have Died Instead: After Kent’s funeral, his distraught wife says this to Layne.

---