‘Scream Queens’ recap: Enter the Red Devil’s lair

Cheer up, pledges: Halloween may have been canceled but the Chanels still know how to celebrate in style, as this week’s episode of “Scream Queens” offers up some devilish delight and quite a few cheeky horror film references.

Despite Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) effectively canceling Halloween at Wallace University by imposing a strict curfew, -- you know, due to small things like a haunted house full of dead bodies and Zayday’s (Keke Palmer) abduction -- Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) is still determined to pull off her Pumpkin Patch party so she can stay president of Kappa Kappa Tau.

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Tensions are running high in the house as Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin) loses it after Chanel suggests she dress up as Mary Todd Lincoln for Halloween -- although the “wives of dead presidents” is a fabulous idea for a themed group costume. Hester, or Chanel #6 (Lea Michele), uses this opportunity to once again pit members of the house against each other as she teams up with Chanel #5 to try to ensure that Zayday wins the presidency vote, but whose side is she really on?

Meanwhile, Grace (Skyler Samuels) and Pete (Diego Boneta) enlist the help of Denise (Niecy Nash), Wes (Oliver Hudson) and Gigi (Nasim Pedrad) in their search for Zayday. When they finally reach the spot she is being held captive, they unwittingly find themselves in the Red Devil’s lair which is surprisingly similar to Buffalo Bill’s in “The Silence of the Lambs” -- complete with a pit, a dog and a basket, although I did not spot any lotion.

Things in the lair take a turn for the worse when the Red Devil shows up and cuts the lights, which causes Denise to accidentally tase Gigi, who in turn manages to tase the Red Devil before he/she can hurt anyone. However, the Red Devil attacks Gigi and escapes before the lights flicker back on and Denise brings the rest of the group back to where the Red Devil was lying -- coincidence, I think not. Although they found the Devil’s lair and a plethora of his tools, the one thing they did not find was Zayday, as she managed to escape earlier after stabbing the Red Devil with a fork after he tried to have dinner with her.

While all this is happening, Chanel, who is out on bail after finally being arrested for Ms. Bean’s death, -- anyone else get a chuckle out of the “Orange is the New Black” homage with Chanel’s little jail stint? -- forces Chanel #5 to set up the Pumpkin Patch party after Hester and Jennifer (Breezy Eslin) tell her that Chanel #5 turned her in to the cops. Much to Chanel’s expectations, the Red Devil strikes while Chanel #5 is lighting the jack-o-lanterns and kills one of the Dickie Dollar Scholars as he is trying to run away in the exact replica of the snowy maze from “The Shining” that Chanel demanded be there.

When Grace finally returns to the house, she finds Zayday recounting her harrowing escape and the rest of the girls ready to vote for the new president of Kappa Kappa Tau. However, before the verdict comes in, we see Gigi having a sinister late-night meeting with the Red Devil and saying, “Take care of him” -- which begs the questions of who is this him, and is it the other Red Devil? Looks like we will have to wait a little while to find out.

So what did you think of the episode? Did you love all the references to classic horror films? Are you still anxiously awaiting Jamie Lee Curtis’ “Halloween” reference or reenactment as well? Sound off in the comments and check back for what fresh hell next week’s episode brings.

Scream count: 4

Red Devil sightings: 5

Best quotes:

“You’re out of your frigging gourd, #5. You’re a weird, psycho lunatic who’s gonna end up in an asylum somewhere staring at a wall, trying to nurse a watering can. You’re a Mary Todd Lincoln if ever there was one.” - Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts)

“Are we gonna deny ourselves the sluttiest night of the whole year out of fear?” - Chad Radwell (Glenn Powell)

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