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Meet the Real Sisters that Inspired American Horror Story’s Tattler Twins

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As you’re probably aware, many characters from each season of American Horror Story are based on actual people, including this season’s Edward Mordrake. And he’s not the only member of the Freak Show with real-life inspirations, as most of the so-called freaks are at least partially grounded in reality.

Now available for instant streaming on Netflix is a 2012 documentary called Bound by Flesh, which tells the tragic tale of siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. Joined at the side, the sisters are the real-life inspiration for Freak Show‘s Bette and Dot Tattler, and their true story is surprisingly quite similar to the fictionalized characters on the show.

Though their affliction wasn’t quite as visually peculiar as the Tattler twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton were nevertheless ostracized by society and even their own mother, adopted at a young age by a woman who wasn’t all that different than American Horror Story‘s Elsa Mars.

Daisy and Violet Hilton

Born in 1908, it wasn’t long before the Hilton sisters were exploited for monetary gain, as their handler Mary Hilton was more interested in profiting off of their deformity than caring for them. They became big time stars on the sideshow circuit, since at the time nobody had ever seen anything quite like them, and it’s said that Hilton pocketed all of the money they pulled in.

Much like Bette and Dot, Daisy and Violet had their own personalities and even their own relationships, and later in their career Daisy dyed her hair blonde, to differentiate herself and spice up their act. Their act included singing and tap dancing, and they were needless to say the headliners everywhere they went.

American Horror Story Hilton

After emancipating themselves from the ownership of Hilton, the siamese sisters landed a role in Tod Browning’s Freaks, which was a huge inspiration on Freak Show. In fact, the characters they played in the movie were much the same as the Tattler sisters, right down to conflicting personality traits.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after Freaks that the Hilton sisters fell off the radar, their act worn thin and the sideshow scene all but replaced by movies and television. Towards the end of their lives they worked in a supermarket to make ends meet, and their story came to a tragic end in 1969.

It was the Hong Kong Flu that spelled the end of the sisters, contracted by Daisy. According to forensic reports, Daisy died a few days prior to Violet, leaving Violet to sit around and wait for the disease to claim her life. Right up until the end, the sisters stayed by each other’s side, never giving much thought to the idea of being separated.

American Horror Story siamese

If you’re interested in learning more about the real-life Tattler twins, I highly recommend you check out Bound By Flesh, which is again on Netflix. Theirs is a fascinating story, and it’s a film that’s a must for all fans of American Horror Story.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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