American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 335 Nothing to do today, watching a play at the theater.

"Puppet theater? What puppet theater?"

Jamie looked confused after hearing Roy's words.

"do not you know?"

Roy frowned as he looked at Jamie, whose bewildered expression didn't seem fake.

Jamie shook his head.

Then Roy realized that, according to the movie, Mary Shaw was born in 1869 and died in 1940, at which time Jamie's father, Edward, was probably still a liquid.

Mary Shaw's theater fell into complete disrepair after her death, so it's not surprising that no one knew about it.

Roy recalled the movie's plot again. There seemed to be an old man at the funeral home who had a lot of screen time and gave Jamie a lot of key information. Maybe he could ask him for the theater's location.

Furthermore, Mary Shaw's grave is also in the cemetery, so you can go and see if her body is still there.

"Then let's go to the funeral home."

"The funeral home? I understand."

Jamie still gives Bumblebee directions, and then Bumblebee drives itself.

Ravensfield is a small town, so Roy and Jamie quickly arrived at the funeral home located on the outskirts of town.

The town was sparsely populated, so the funeral home was naturally very quiet. When Roy and Jamie entered the funeral home, they didn't even see a single ghost.

Well, seeing other things in a funeral home would probably be even more terrifying, but thankfully it's broad daylight, so there's nothing weird or strange in the funeral home.

"Henry, are you home?"

Ravensfield is a small town, and most people know each other, so Jamie can even call the funeral home owner by name.

Upon hearing Jamie's voice, an elderly man with white hair walked in from the back of the funeral home. He looked to be at least seventy or eighty years old.

The old man's face lit up with surprise when he saw Jamie.

Jamie, you're back!

The old man stepped forward and hugged Jamie.

"Yes, I'm back!"

"That's wonderful! Jamie, it seems like you haven't been home for over a decade, has it? I heard from Edward that you're married now, why didn't you bring your wife home to see you?"

Old man Henry, as always, brought up Jamie's deceased wife right off the bat, instantly turning Jamie's previously cheerful expression gloomy.

Seeing Jamie's change in expression, Henry realized he might have said something wrong, but words spoken cannot be taken back.

"Lisa has passed away. Her body should be returned to town in a few days."

Henry patted Jamie on the shoulder.

"Jamie, please accept my condolences. Could you tell me how she passed away?"

Jamie shook his head.

"That's why I returned to Ravensfield; I suspect her death is related to this town."

No sooner had the words been spoken than a mumbling, aged voice came from the inner room.

“Mary Shaw, it must have been Mary Shaw!”

An old woman came out of the house. She looked abnormal and seemed to have mental problems.

Henry gave Jamie an awkward smile.

"Lanny has recently developed Alzheimer's and keeps muttering incoherent things. Lanny, go back inside! It's too dangerous for you outside!"

“Mary Shaw, Mary Shaw is back!”

Seeing that his wife Lanny was not listening, Henry could only go forward and coax and persuade her, and finally managed to get Lanny back into the inner room.

When Henry reappeared, he saw Jamie looking at him strangely.

"Jamie, what's wrong?"

"Henry, did Mary Shaw really exist?"

Henry forced a smile.

"Jamie, don't overthink it! It's just a legend!"

Jamie was somewhat angry at Henry's blatant concealment.

“You keep telling me that Mary Shaw is just a legend, but my wife may very well have died because of this guy! Why are you still hiding this from me!”

Henry sighed as he looked at the furious Jamie.

“Alright, now that you know something, I’ll tell you. Mary Shaw was a real person. In the early 20th century, she was a renowned puppeteer and ventriloquist in Washington state. Back then, so many people came to the Ravensfield Theatre to see her performances that some even traveled from other states specifically to see Mary Shaw perform.”

Henry's gaze deepened, as if he were returning to the past in his memory. Neither Roy nor Jamie interrupted him.

Although Roy had seen the movie, who knows if the story of this world is exactly the same as the movie plot?
After all, Mary Shaw already has the added identity of a witch compared to the original film, and there might be other differences in details as well?
This is also the main reason why Roy did not act rashly when he arrived in Ravensfield.

“I’m just the child of a funeral home owner, and I’ve only had one chance to enter a puppet theater in my life. But it was that one chance that I witnessed a miraculous performance, and I still remember it vividly to this day.”

On the stage of the puppet theater, facing a packed audience, Mary Shaw drags a large trunk onto the stage, only to find it empty when she opens it.

"Oh, my little rascal Billy, where are you?"

Mary Shaw looked out into the audience like a loving mother searching for her mischievous child.

"I'm here, Mom!"

The audience all heard a child's voice, but no one actually opened their mouth, including Mary Shaw on stage.

Then Mary Shaw pointed to a seat that was exactly where Henry had sat when he was a child.

"I've found you, you little rascal!"

Henry was a little confused at the time and didn't know what Mary Shaw meant.

"Child, look under your seat!"

Henry bent down and lifted the curtain under the seat, and saw a puppet inside, which was none other than Billy the puppet.

"Good boy, could you please bring Billy onto the stage?"

This performance technique would be considered completely commonplace now, but it was quite novel in 1940.

Henry was completely dazed when he delivered the puppet Billy onto the stage and handed him to Mary Shaw.

Then, Mary Shaw, holding the puppet Billy, began the formal performance.

Mary Shaw was top-notch in everything she did, from puppetry to ventriloquism to vocalization.

So, a lighthearted and enjoyable performance made the entire audience burst into laughter.

Watching the performance, young Henry even had the illusion that Billy, the puppet in Mary Shaw's hands, was a living person.

However, at times like these, there are always people who will try to sabotage things.

A mischievous child suddenly shouted, "I saw her mouth moving!"

The entire puppet theater fell silent at these words, everyone staring intently at Mary Shaw, wondering how she would react.

"Jamie, I later found out that the child was your uncle."

Henry stared at Jamie, his eyes revealing a strange meaning.

Jamie knew nothing about this, and he didn't even know he had an uncle.

"How come I don't know such a person exists?"

"That's because your uncle disappeared a few days after that performance."

Jamie wanted to press for more information, but Roy held him down on the shoulder.

"Jamie, don't rush, let Mr. Henry continue."

Upon hearing this, Jamie could only suppress his curiosity for the time being and listen to Henry continue.

"That was a performance I've never seen before!"

Henry was once again lost in his memories.

"Oh, Mom! That little kid actually thinks I'm fake! Let him come up here, I need to have a good talk with him!"

"No, no, no, children shouldn't fight! Billy, you need to learn to get along peacefully with other children!"

"But he suspects me! Mom, do you think I'm telling the truth or lying?"

"Oh, my little rascal, Billy is definitely a real, living child!"

"So I'm going to prove it to you, Mom!"

The conversation between the person and the puppet grew faster and faster, and sometimes their voices even overlapped.

This incredible ventriloquism skill amazed the entire audience, and enthusiastic applause resounded throughout the theater. Even the mischievous kid who had previously expressed doubts was stunned.

Roy speculated that this ability to speak in two voices was probably Mary Shaw's unique witch talent.

Henry paused for a moment at this point.

"Then?"

Jamie, already captivated by the story, quickly pressed for more details.

"After that, the little boy, who is your uncle, disappeared. The townspeople suspected that Mary Shaw had kidnapped the child, so under the leadership of the mayor at the time, the townspeople secretly tried Mary Shaw. I don't know the specifics because I was too young at the time."

In short, after Mary Shaw's death, people began to disappear from the town. The townspeople suspected that Mary Shaw's vengeful spirit was at work, and the poem about Mary Shaw originated from that time. The townspeople were terrified, so they invited a powerful exorcist from the church to exorcise Mary Shaw's spirit.

After the exorcist arrived in Ravensfield and learned the whole story, he instructed the townspeople to properly bury Mary Shaw's body and to bury the one hundred dolls she had made with her. The exorcist then sealed Mary Shaw's grave, and Ravensfield enjoyed several decades of peace afterward.

At this point, Henry sighed deeply. He had a good impression of Mary Shaw and didn't believe that she was the one who kidnapped Jamie's uncle.

However, what happened later proved that it was Mary Shaw who kidnapped Jamie's uncle, and that Jamie's uncle was Mary Shaw's first human test subject, who had already been turned into a doll.

At this point, Roy spoke up, having heard enough of the story, it was time to ask a question.
“Mr. Henry, we would like to know where Mary Shaw’s theater is located.”

Henry looked at Jamie with a surprised expression, as if he had just seen Roy.

"Who is this?"

“Oh, this is my friend Roy Black, who's coming with me to visit his hometown.”

Henry nodded, not giving it much thought.

"The puppet theater is located east of Ravensfield, near a small lake at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and the puppet theater is on the lake."

"Thank you, Mr. Henry. Jamie, let's go."

Jamie still had many questions in his mind, but Roy had already dragged him away.

“Mr. Black, shall we go and see Mary Shaw’s grave?”

"No need to look! Since Mary Shaw is already able to move around, it means her body has already been dug up."

Maybe it was the Iron Hook Man who dug up Mary Shaw's body.

Actually, there were some things Henry didn't say. The person who collected Mary Shaw's body was her father. He must have had a good relationship with Mary Shaw, so he made her into a doll according to her last wishes.

Henry, who was just a child at the time, saw the Mary Shaw doll with his own eyes, which caused indelible damage to his young mind, so he did not want to talk about this past event.

Because of this past event, Henry's family lived in Ravensfield without any major incidents.

However, Roy knew this from the movie. In the movie, Henry was killed by Mary Shaw because he confessed this past to Jamie.

Preventing Henry from speaking out might be a good thing for him.

Roy and Jamie drove eastward in Bumblebee for about half an hour, and after seeing the Rocky Mountains, they came across a small lake.

In the middle of the lake stands a huge theater, connected by a wooden bridge, but the bridge is now broken, and only a small boat can enter the theater.

“Mr. Black, the bridge is broken.”

“No problem, we’ll row in.”

Expert-level water sports skills also include rowing, so Roy's rowing skills were so superb that he reached the center of the lake in just a few minutes.

I glanced at the sky; it was noon, and the sun was blazing. Entering the theater now shouldn't be a problem.

"go in."

Upon entering the theater, the first thing they saw was a ticket hall. Roy and Jamie didn't linger there and went straight into the theater lobby.

The theater was covered in dust, but its former glory could still be faintly seen through the dilapidated decorations.

Just as Roy and Jamie were about to continue walking backstage, they suddenly heard a click, and then the theater lights came on.

Jamie was startled by the noise and almost screamed, but luckily he remembered the poem and covered his mouth in time.

"Let us welcome our two distinguished guests from afar, Mr. Roy Black and Mr. Jamie Ashen!"

Suddenly, a stage light came on, and an old woman's voice rang out.

A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience, but the applause sounded a bit strange; it didn't sound like the clapping of hands, but more like the clapping of wood.

At this moment, Roy noticed that there were many puppets sitting on the chairs in the front row. Because these puppets were only half a person's height, they were not easy to see from the back.

The puppets all stood up and began to turn their heads to look at Roy and Jamie, a bizarre scene reminiscent of a famous movie scene.

(Famous scene)

With so many eyes watching him, even Jamie, who was usually very brave, couldn't help but start to panic.

"Mr. Bubublack, what should we do now?"

"What should we do? Of course, we'll see what kind of performance Mary Shaw has in store for us!"

Nothing much to do today, so I went to the theater to watch a play.

(End of this chapter)