"The death of a beloved monster is always a sorrow, but never a surprise." "If oddly-formed organs or a random physical anomaly doesn't claim them," "then it is at the sheer density of their blaze." "A carny's life burns and brighter than most." "It is bound to extinguish sooner." "Pepper." "Pepper, it's time." "It isn't Salty anymore." "It's just a body." "A shell." "No long-lingering embers." "A life lived to its fullest and then-- phfft" "Nahrung fur Wurmer." "Worm food." "Of course she understands death." "Why am I the only one in the camp who knows the depth of that girl's soul, huh?" "Still, Salty's body is about to give off a smell, and she won't budge from that bed." "Most Pinheads die before the age of 40." "No..." "Salty died in his sleep, right next to his soul mate." "A stroke, one presumes." "We should all go that way." "And my sweet Pepper, she never mistreated him" "or took advantage of his moronic nature." "Ugh, he was so stupid." "Und I worked so hard with him." "Flash cards, and... brain teasers." "All to no avail." "Not like Pepper." "She could communicate." "He was a grunter." "Crude and moronic." "But she was absolutely devoted to him." "What is that look?" "Hmm?" "I want you to take a good look at your face." "Tell me what you see." " You're a creep." " No, that's the face of suffering." "That's a face of a woman overwhelmed with too much worry and responsibility." "All I have left is worry." "You know what, Richard?" "I want you out of here." "Ah." "Out of this camp." "Elsa, dearest lady." "What's this?" "This is the telegram we've been waiting for." "This came this morning." "The head of the network wants to meet with us in three weeks." "What does he want me to do?" "All he wants you to do is to rest." "You know, get your beauty rest." "Huh." "Look, I have a source who tells me that a slot is opening up soon" "Friday night, 8:00." "After Perry Como?" "Elsa." "No, I mean..." "You have to understand, you-you've..." "No, no." "Yes, I know, I know." "It's just that I've waited so long." "I don't know what to say." "Which is precisely why you have to listen to me when I tell you that all this tragedy that you've experienced has, frankly, taken its toll on you." "You need to rest." "But my Pepper." "No, she needs me now." "Which is why you need me to take care of her." "Just as I have so rigorously taken care of you." "We will have a splendid cremation." "And I will present dear Pepper with his ashes in an urn inlaid with-with mother-of-pearl." "No." "No." "And she could always keep him close." "No!" "No." "She will want a proper burial." "Perfumed shrouds." "Elsa." "What?" "I have worked miracles for you." "I have made your dreams come true." "Let me take care of the body." "What must a man do to earn your trust?" ""'Wasn't I real before?" "' asked the little rabbit." ""'You were real to the boy,' the fairy said," ""'because he loved you." ""Now you shall be real to everyone.'" ""And she held the little rabbit close in her arms and flew with him to the wood."" "That's beautiful, Dessi." "You're gonna make a great mom someday." "Can I talk to you for a second?" "Shh..." "I've made mistakes." "I haven't been the best husband to you, but I want another chance." "You saved my life, Dessi." "And you saved mine." "You don't owe me anything." "But we've put too many years into this thing to just quit now." "We both deserve a shot at happiness, Dell." "And I could never make you happy." "Truly happy." "Now go on now." "You're making her upset." "All right, Pepper." "All right, I got to go." "No, no." "I can't now, Pepper." "Okay, look." "I've got to go put my face on for the show." "But we can finish reading after curtain." "Stay..." "I can't, baby." "The show must go on." "Stay!" "Stay!" "Stay!" "Stay!" "You finished?" "Hmm?" "Good." "Now you clean all this shit up." "Mm." "How is our little Pinhead?" "She won't eat." "And she just turned her tent upside down." "Yes." "Poor girl." "It was an old emptiness Salty filled for her." "Schnapps?" "Sure." "Sit down." "And her fit came when you tried to leave, no?" "How did you know?" "Well... we all fear that we will end up alone, that love will be pulled from us." "But it is even stronger for Pepper." "She has known nothing but abandonment her entire life." "Until I found her, of course." "Prost!" "Gesundheit." "Well, what will we do when you leave for Hollywood?" "Hmm?" "I mean, Ma Petite, Salty, then you?" "That girl may throw herself from the top of the Ferris wheel from grief." "Well, we can't let that happen." "We'll have to find a way to rouse her spirits." "You know, I came to this country in 1936." "Hitler had already made it plenty unpleasant for artists in Berlin." "There was little work for an émigré." "There was little work for anyone, really, unless you wanted to build a dam or highway." "So I found myself with the Gypsies, the carny folk, in Boston." "My English wasn't good enough to headline, yet, so I suffered through being a chorus girl behind lesser talents." "Still, I made my way to the top of the heap quickly." "You alright?" "***" "But I don't like working for other people." "I need to be in charge." "To have my own show." "The circus owners were morons." "I don't want any freaks." "They could not see the future." "I knew there was a war coming." "The boys would be sent off to fight, the women put to work, and who would be left to get on stage and make them laugh or cry or forget their worries?" "The freaks." "So I decided to start my own collection of oddities." "The idea was simple-- they would come for the freaks, but stay for the star." "But where to find my pets?" "Most people don't see beauty in someone like Pepper." "They see shame." "They see human garbage." "So I went to the place where people throw other people away." "An orphanage." "She never knew her father." "Her mother died." "Her sister loved her but simply could not handle the burden." "Orphanages don't usually take 18-year-olds, but Pepper had the mind of a child." "I offered to adopt her, but since she was of legal age, they just let us leave together." "I think they were worried I might change my mind." "But how could I?" "I loved her." "My first monster." "Adoration, affection, idolization" " I am a performer," "I had felt them all in droves." "But when this strange-looking little one looked at me, it was the first time I had ever felt unconditional love." "I knew, after her first performance, that she was a keeper." "My collection grew." "I took great pride in mothering my troupe." "Most of them knew nothing of the world, save for how to survive in it." "But I could tell that none of my teaching or attention was going to make my firstborn happy." "She was a woman now and she had maternal needs." "But she couldn't possibly be allowed to breed." "Little did I know that the answer to my prayers would arrive a few weeks later from the Far East." "Suryamohan Bahadur was the Maharaja of Kapurthala." "The Maharaja was touring the U.S." "He was a slave to the British, but he was the richest slave on Earth." "He traveled with an entourage-- footmen, concubines, eunuchs... and one tiny miracle." "I needed her, but he could not be moved." "The Maharajah says the girl is a ***, an untouchable." "To trade her for anything, would assume the Raj is giving her value." "He takes it as a personal insult." "She is his favorite pet." "He would never part with her." "He finally caved in when I offered him three cases." "Dr. Pepper." "Sweet irony, no?" "I had never seen Pepper so happy." "Her maternal needs were fulfilled." "And yet, she wanted more." "She needed a husband." "A spiritual husband." "I wrote to every orphanage in the country." "Six months later, a home for wayward boys in Cincinnati wrote back." "It was love at first sight." "I officiated the wedding, obviously." "It was a magical affair." "Simple... the bride and groom knew six words between them, but it was deeply moving." "They raised Ma Petite as their own child." "And I was their fairy godmother." "Theirs was a love story for the ages." "They never hurt a soul, never sinned." "Pure spirits." "That girl... lost everyone she loved." "You got to find out if her sister is still around." "I mean, Pepper is not the handful she used to be." "She's a grown woman, now." "Useful." "Maybe you're right." "Perhaps it's time for our little angel to go back home." "Maggie..." "you remember Angus?" "Hello, ma'am." "Nice to make your acquaintance." "We want to have..." "I know exactly what you want." "Welcome to Mystic Esmeralda's Temple of Destiny." "Have a seat." "Fine tall drink of water, there, Desiree." " Where'd you round him up?" " You remember that evening when I was showin' off the new dance craze?" "♪ Mamba, baby ♪" "♪ Tonight ♪" "♪ You turned darkness... ♪" "I knew right then and there, my days as a confirmed bachelor were over." "I had to make her mine." "Ooh..." "Mmm..." "So... tell us... what do you see in our future?" "You're a traveler." "A salesman, roaming door-to-door." "Why, yes." "That's right." "Jefferson's Floor Wax make your home shiny and new." "Ooh, hush, now." "Oh, let's get to the good stuff." "You're a romantic." "A dreamer." "I see you two lovebirds starting a new beginning." "Somewhere out west." "Oh, a small house... a white picket fence..." "Oh, that's right, Angus." "Mama needs a picket, and the picket better be white." "Oh, whatever you want, baby, you got it." "Well, how many kids we gonna have?" "Ooh, kids!" "Then... everything goes to shit, because that's what happens." "You'll start to..." "despise each other." "There's no joy." "There's no hope." "It guts you, ripping you apart, piece by piece, until one day you find yourself standing in a kitchen heating up *** and creeping a pillow." "Angus, I think I've had enough of the fairy tales for one evening." "Maggie's had a long day." "Let's you and me go get some ice cream." "I'm a God-fearing Christian." "I don't believe in this sorcery stuff, anyway." "It doesn't matter what you believe." "It all ends the same." "Let's get out of here." "Hey!" "Miss Sunshine and Roses!" "What was that back there?" "You weren't telling my future." "You were telling your own." "Your man is rotting in a cell and here you are, full of whiskey and self-pity." "That's right." "There's nothing I can do for him." "And I'll let you in on a little secret:" "I'm no fortune-teller." "I could've told you that, sugar." "We're on the grift." "Me and Stanley." ""Mr. Spencer" is not a Hollywood talent scout." "He's not?" "We're business partners." "Have been for years." "Paper!" "Get your paper!" "Who wants a paper?" "Kansas City Star!" "Paper?" "Get your paper!" "Kansas City Star!" "Paper, paper!" "I caught you, you little scamp." "Show me what's under your coat." "Come on." "Get your hands off me," " you pervert." " Officer!" "Officer, please." "Please." "Forgive my boy." "He just got a part in the stage production of Oliver Twist." "Now, he's come from such privilege that he wanted to see what it felt like to be poor and hungry." "Stanley didn't think" "I was so convincing." "Offered to make me his partner for ten cents on the dollar." "That was big money for me back then." "So your parents, they just let you go off with this man?" "I didn't have parents." "Not really." "I had to fend for myself, and... well, Stanley fed me, kept me out of the rain." "And he never laid a finger on me." "So you all are criminals?" "What could you possibly want with a bunch of freaks like us?" "We're fleecing your customers." "When the lights go down, we pick their pockets." "Oh, you all came down here to Jupiter, Florida, to pick a bunch of pockets?" "I wasn't born on a farm, but I do know bullshit when I smell it, and I gotta say..." "that is some bullshit." "Go to hell, Triple tits." "Come to think of it... been a lot of trouble around here since you two showed up." "Lot of freaks been dying." "Ma Petite and Ethel, now Salty." "I killed 'em all." "Every last one of them." "Is that what you want to hear?" "You listen to me, little girl, and you listen good." "Now, you can tell me anything you want, but don't let me find out that you and your weasel friend had anything to do with hurting our kind, or I will kill you dead." "Now, are we clear?" "We've been looking everywhere for you." "Well, gold star for you," " 'cause here I am." " We want to help." "Dot and I don't have much." "We were saving for something, but our plans have changed." "We want you to have it." "Use this money to get Jimmy a proper lawyer." "Let me get this straight:" "You want me to use your hard-earned pennies to save Jimmy." "Mm-hmm." "Do it yourself." "Maybe he'll even reward you with a big, fat kiss." "I'm going to punch her in the face." "Don't let her get to you." "Let me handle this." "People don't always take too kindly to us at first glance." "You can be his champion, like Margaret O'Sullivan in Let Us Live, crusading to save Henry Fonda." "I hate to break it to you, but life is not like the movies, you simple-minded idiots." "Don't you talk about my sister like that!" "Jimmy thinks you walk on water, but you don't fool me." "You are a phony." "And you don't really love Jimmy." "Because when you love someone, they come first." "Oh, brother." "Next you'll be telling me that love conquers all." "How can you be so cold?" "Jimmy could end up like Meep." "Is that what you want?" "You do right by Jimmy." "Darling, you got a visitor." "Oh... it's you." "Who were you hoping to see," "Mickey Mantle?" "I'm sorry." "It's... it's nice of you to come." "Listen." "I know exactly what you're feeling." "I..." "I lost my mother when I was young." "Suddenly I was all alone in the world." "An orphan." "And I got into some trouble." "Well, not the kind of trouble you're in." "Listen, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy." "Did you do it?" "I..." "I..." "I don't know." "I don't know." "I've been over it and over it in my head." "I had too much to drink." "I was in a rage about my ma, my life, everything." "But from the moment I got to the house, till the moment I woke up here is just black." "So you admit you were there?" "I couldn't have done it." "I-I didn't kill them." "Did I?" "I don't think you did." "That's why I'm here." "I am gonna get you the best lawyer money can buy." "You've no doubt heard of Clarence Darrow." "The mo... the monkey trial?" "Isn't he dead?" "Yeah, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." "His son Donald is an absolutely brilliant attorney." "I've made some inquiries." "He's interested in your case." "But from now on, you got to shut up." "The only talking you're gonna do is to your lawyer." "I don't know...." "I don't know how to thank you." "You don't owe me a thing." "But, to the attorney, that's a different matter." "He's going to want a retainer." "I don't have any money." "Well, what about Ethel's estate?" "She leave you anything?" "I don't have anything of value to give you," "Mr. Spencer." "Shit!" "I might have an idea about how to raise the funds." "Okay, beef chuck." "Arm, shoulder or blade." "Salt." "Pepper." "Flour." "Onions." "Ah... horseradish." "Carrots and potatoes." "Thank you." "I mean, it's just a goddamn pot roast, right?" "How hard can it be?" "Say it isn't so." "Huh." "Toughest woman I know and now you want to be Betty Crocker?" "Damn straight." "If I'm gonna be a homemaker," "I can't let my babies starve." "My mother taught all my sisters how to cook, but she never taught me." "Maybe she saw your potential elsewhere." "Girl... don't butter me up." "Hmm?" "I haven't forgotten what you told me." "And I haven't decided what I'm gonna do about it yet." "But believe you me..." "I want to do the right thing for once." "That's why I'm here." "We can't talk here." "Just follow me." "I want to help Jimmy." "Good." "Get him a lawyer." "I need you to trust me." "Trust you?" "Ha!" "That's a laugh." "Everyone in this entire camp will be dead soon unless you listen to me." "I know how to help everyone." "Jimmy and the freaks, all at once." "I just have to connect the dots." "Place blame where it's due." "Put the real villain away forever." "I don't like riddles!" "Never have." "Listen!" "I know you want to ride off into the sunset with your Prince Charming and your pot roasts, but" "I need you to help me first." "There's something I need you to see." "Good coffee." "Fresh brewed?" "It's Sanka." "My husband has trouble sleeping." "I understand." "I have, too, lately." "So much change." "I think she is happy to see you." "Hi, Pepper." "She doesn't never talk." "Uh... she probably remembers me leaving her at the orphanage." "Yes." "Where I had the great good fortune of finding her." "Is that right?" "Hmm?" "Well... well." "I couldn't keep her." "I told myself, Rita, you will never meet a man and have a children if I have to look after a dim-witted sister." "I..." "I always wanted the babies." "Of course." "We all have our dreams, don't we?" "And where are they now-- your children-- are they at school?" "No, I didn't have any." "'Cause I had piped clogs." "What?" "Clogged pipes." "Something." "I don't know." "I just couldn't have any." "Oh, well, so much the better." "She will be great company for you." "And no trouble at all." "I have taught her words." "And responsibility." "How to care for others." "Even how to make a stiff Singapore Sling." "You enjoy cocktails, Mrs. Gayhart?" "I do." "Mm-hmm." "I love many cocktails." "But, Miss Mars, what am I supposed to tell Larry my husband?" "I mean, he don't even know she exists." "Well, you tell him that you have a lovely sister, which is true, and then you tell him" "she has come to live with you." "No, I just can't do that." "You can and you must." "This is your sister." "Now, you may think that I'm leaving you a burden, but I am not." "Pepper is a gift." "A soul so pure it's rare in this world." "You're right." "I know you're right." "Larry's gonna hit the roof." "Well, stand up to him!" "Pepper has suffered great losses." "And I fear that she will perish from loneliness and a broken heart if she does not have someone who loves her." "Okay." "I guess she can help me around here." "I'll go make up the Castro Convertible." "He's gonna have conniptions." "That room's his study." "Uh, 'cause of all the studying and everything, the study stuff." "Stay." "No, darling." "No, my darling." "No." "I cannot stay." "I cannot stay, my darling." "Well... you and I've known each other a very long time." "And I understand you even without words." "I know all you ever wanted was a family." "So, you just remember no matter how far away I am," "I will always be your family." "Now, here." "Here, my darling, is a kiss from me to you." "If you get lonely, you hold it to your cheek and I'll be there, okay?" "Listen." "Your sister doesn't know you yet." "She may make mistakes." "She may hurt your feelings." "But you must forgive her." "She's a good person." "And she is trying, okay?" "Now, say good-bye." "No, no, no, no." "No crying." "Because if you cry then I will cry." "And then what will happen to my mascara?" "Huh?" "The American Morbidity Museum?" "Why we got to travel all this way for skeletons and such?" "Because I need a witness to this in case something happens to me when Stanley's called out." "All this here is because of him?" "And another recent acquisition of which we're very proud-- a male died from natural causes." "Sweet Jesus!" "And as you can see, the skull is a classic representation of microcephaly." "He got paid $3,000 for Ma Petite's body." "That's why he had her killed." "Wha...?" "We removed the brain of the specimen and found the weight of the organ to be 33% lighter than that of a normal adult male." "Shall we?" "And this is our newest exhibit." "It's just arrived today." "It is a perfect example of a rare congenital defect known as ectrodactyly." "No..." "I gave it everything." "We both did, me and Larry." "But I guess that genes are genes." "Uh-huh." "Like my Uncle Charlie says," ""A goat's a goat and not a chicken."" "But God loves us all." "I..." "I added that last part about God." "So, next question." ""Reason for patient's confinement."" "Can you tell me when the problem started?" "Well I'd wanted a baby ever since I met Larry, but I'd given up." "And then two weeks before my 50th, your God plays a big ol' joke." "I wake up in the middle of the night with the worst stomachache." "Larry rushes me to the hospital, and they tell me, "Mrs. Gayhart," ""you're having the labor pains."" "Twelve hours of crazy later, they hand me little Lucas." "N-Not to be rude, but, um... you're a little... mature... to be having a baby, aren't you?" "God doesn't always give with both hands." "Now, Lucas was different than your normal baby." "He was... deformed." "But to us he was our perfect little miracle." ""Trouble started" ""when baby is born to patient's guardians."" "Then what?" "Well, due to the difficult delivery, and my age," "I was stuck to my bed." "At first, Pepper was eager to help out." "I thought-- well, she's not too bright, but she just might have the mothering instinct." "Pepper, make me another martini?" "Mm... can't you take him with you?" "Well, turns out, she had a few other instincts." "Like sneaking gin, which we only keep around for guests who might enjoy a cocktail." "Pepper?" "What's taking so long?" "!" "Oh..." "Pepper?" "Shh..." "Oh, you're spilling it." "Where's a little onion?" "Oh, for Christ's sake, put it down on the nightstand." "Ugh." "Ugh." "Jesus Christ!" "If there was some way you could make money off of that freak's screams or that thing's face, we'd be millionaires." "Just take the baby downstairs." "You and him can watch the TV." "The TV." "Do you know how to turn on the TV?" "Come on, get up." "Come on, come on, we're going downstairs." "Let's go!" "And then there was the obsession with my husband." "Scheming ways to get alone with him." "I'll show her." "You just can't wait to get alone with her, can you?" "Some women just shouldn't have kids." "Pretty soon, she's walking around without any clothes on." "Bare-ass naked." "Can you believe it?" ""Obsessed... with husband."" "Truthfully, a lot of our patients here, they... they suffer with a, um a lack of inhibition." "But the... the shock therapy helps with that." "And the... and the caning helps, too." "Well, do they help with the killer's instinct?" "'Cause that's what she has." "She's a murderer." "My very own sister." "Oh, dear." "Oh..." "Oh, no." "I-I-I... um..." "I-I need to ask you to describe exactly what happened." "Well, thankfully, neither of us actually saw what happened." "Where do you think you're going?" "I thought we should go to the Lamplight." "Have some steaks." "Have a bottle of wine." "Like real people." "Aren't you afraid that mongoloid with the baby?" "Might drop it on its head and kill it." "Which wouldn't be the worst thing to happen." "I don't want to talk about them." "Listen, Rita." "Ah-la-la-la-la-la, la!" "Rita, Rita." "Rita, goddamn it, this is no life!" "Just a constant smell of that baby Frankenstein's shit, 'cause that thing is too dumb to wash diapers." "With her ugly mug and elephant ears and the smiling" ""Pepper good girl, Pepper good girl."" "It's like a permanent freak show around here." "You think I'm any happier?" "!" "Stuck in here with them all day in, day out!" "Day in, day out..." "She's so dumb, I hurt." "And he makes me want to squeeze the life out of his little baby body half the time." "So... you and I, we're on the same page about this." "You never bonded with that baby." "Admit it." "Say, "I never bonded with that baby."" "Say it." "I never bonded with that baby." "Me, I'd be happy to see the two of them gone." "Gone?" "As in...?" "I could never murder my own sister." "N-N-N-No, hear me out." "What if I had a way to kill two birds with one stone?" "I was at the park with the baby all afternoon." "I was worn out, so I asked her to please give him his bath." "Shesnapped his little ears off." "Drowned him in his tub." "Then went downstairs to watch her show." "She killed him!" "She killed him!" "She killed him..." "Oh, God." "Oh, God!" "He's gone!" "He's gone, he's gone." "She ruined my life." "You must never ever let her out of here." "Hush." "Self-pity will get you nowhere." "Any more of that and..." "I'll put you in a scalding bath." "Then you'll really feel sorry for yourself." "I need to get you out of this thing." "I have to put you in the decontamination shower." "What you did-- that's one of the worst ever things I've heard." "Maybe in my whole life." "It made me throw up." "Actually... throw up." "Baby." "Baby." "Yes, that's right." "You killed a baby." "And that poor mother." "You ruined her life." "Baby Lucas." "Yes, that's the baby's name." "Lucas." "Lucas." "Oh, my heavens." "Is this..." "Are you..." "Is that real?" "Do I see real remorse in your eyes?" "Is redemption closer than I thought?" "Oh..." "Oh, thank You, dear Lord, for Your lesson in humility." "Since Sister Priscilla left, we've had no one to tidy things up in here." "Why don't you start by making piles." "Life... in the Life pile." "National Geographic... in another pile." "Reader's Digest in another." "You... are my special project." "No filthy toilet scrubbing." "I am determined to bring out the best in you." "Maybe soon you can work in the bakery with me."