Original subtitles

-When Abaddon the angel fell,

he made his home in the depths of Hell,

alone and full of dark despair.

He defied the god who'd sent him there.

Escaping from his fiery den,

he clawed his way to the land of men.

In the guise of a pauper, he lived his days,

unseen by God's selective gaze.

Lost and alone, a one-winged dove,

he met a woman and found true love.

Playing tricks for her, the Devil's art,

and soon enough, he'd won her heart.

But bodies fade and rot inside

and by and by, his lover died.

Enraged, the Devil ripped his guise

and yelled up to the holy skies.

God awoke in a perilous fit

and dragged the Devil back to his pit.

But he clung to his love, his claws pulled her asunder

'til God pushed him down and the dark sucked him under.

Vultures picked at the body.

God watched the theft

'til only the bones and her heart were left.

And while God slept, the heart revived

with the Devil's needle lodged inside.

Know this, the Devil has his friends,

the murderers, thieves, the odds and ends,

the quiet and broken, the brutally flawed

who slip beneath the eyes of God.

And so the heart was lost 'til found

and through the ages passed around

by those who like to cut and sew

while the Devil guides them from below,

to hide the heart in flesh and bone

so the Devil will no more be alone.

And they sing this song soft and sweet

to keep the heavens sound asleep.

When the road is mean, blood will thicken.

The Devil's pulse begins to quicken.

While the body rots to dust and bones,

there's a tear in the heart where the Devil roams.

-Maggie.

Maggie.

Don't, Maggie.

Maggie.

Maggie, please.

-Excuse me, please don't touch.

That's not for sale.

-Pretending to be in love,

pretending to be moral, pretending.

-No. -The great pretender.

-A quarter.

Okay, good day.

Hi Eve.

You know, if you come by later,

I'll do your hair up just the way you like it.

Hey Mr. Simms.

-But good Christians, you will be brought home.

Miracle, yes, I say yes!

The Devil roams among us,

looking for you.

Throwing rocks, is it you?

Pray it's not!

Do not give pursuit--

Not look at her, do not comfort her--

-67 cents.

- Who is a charlatan?

The whore of Babylon!

If this is where the Devil roams,

and now I know-- -Careful,

or I might clip those nimble fingers.

-And the great dragon was cast out,

metal vermin, called the Devil.

And Satan was deceiving the whole world.

He was cast out!

Do you hear what I--

The Devil roams among us.

This is where the Devil roams--

-Hey, everybody pays!

- My mom's got the money!

-Cats must fall to win, three throws a nickle, folks,

cats must fall to win, three throws a nickel.

-Five pennies,

three throws, come on, folks,

it's a game of skill.

Go home with a prize today.

-Three throws for a nickel, folks,

three throws for a nickel.

-Max.

-Three throws for a nickel, folks,

three throws for a nickel.

Three throws for a nickel, folks,

three throws for a nickel, hit them cats down.

-So what's the scam with this one?

-No scam.

-Cat heavy or the ball light?

-Why don't you slap down a nickel and find out.

- Lady, I didn't get this farm playing the fool.

You have a good night.

-Three throws for a nickel, folks,

three throws for a nickel.

-Oh Lord, what time I cry in the night before thee?

For my soul is sated with troubles

and my life draweth nigh until the grave.

I've called upon thee, oh Lord, every day!

I have spread forth my hands unto thee.

Thou hast laid me in the nether-most pit, in dark places,

in the deeps.

Set apart among the dead!

Like the slain that lie in the grave

whom now remembers no more!

-Everyone's here for Mister Tipps.

-They're cut off from my hand.

I have born thy terrors.

Thy terrors have cut me off.

Lord, why casteth off my soul?

Why hidest thou thy face from me?

Shall thy mercy be declared in the grave?

Or thy faithfulness in destruction?

-Miss Rocky, you sure can make that little guitar sing.

-Nah. -It's true.

I'd kill for that kind of talent.

-Well, you're a better crowd than tonight's.

It was a hard one.

-Well they sure like Mr. Tipps.

-How's he do that?

-He's a magician, that's what they do.

-That ain't magic, he's kissing the Devil.

-Mm, that sound is better than ice cream

on a hot summer day.

-Why don't you take it, Maggie?

Have some fun with it.

-I can't take your little guitar.

-Sure you can.

You know, if you learn how to play good,

you might get invited to the Buffalo Horror Show.

- Nah, we're just a little side act.

- Ah,

-Take it, I got three others.

-You're letting in the cold.

Come in.

Time to fix the tips.

Wanna watch?

Devil knows you can keep a secret.

When I was a boy, I loved the circus.

Every summer, when it came to town,

my mother would give me five pennies

to see the show under the big top.

The Strong Man, ladies riding the elephants,

and the acrobats, flying through the air.

I saw a man drop to his death.

His brains flew out of his head like

cotton candy, all pink and soft, all over the crowd.

And a lion eat the arm off a little girl.

I saw Rizzo the Wizzo take her final ride

through her meat cannon, her insides now on the outside.

But I longed for something different,

a ticket away from my mother's tears,

my father's fists.

Magic.

And I found it

in this small tent,

on a battered little stage,

not unlike yours.

A man by the name of Broken Cane

who performed acts, small and sickening,

a pinky, a big toe, snip, snip,

and the very next show, they'd be back.

He's no rabbit puller,

no card counter.

How'd he do that?

I just had to know.

So I watched and I listened, and one night,

he told me the story of Abaddon--

And the magic heart.

It was a burden he was happy to unload.

And when he stank of wine and piss,

I took his magic and made my own pact

with the darkness.

But I'm not greedy, I stick to the tips.

Only the tips.

When you dance with the Devil, you gotta make it quick.

So I sing a lullaby, soft and sweet,

to keep the heavens sound asleep.

When the road is mean, blood will thicken.

The Devil's pulse begins to quicken

while the body rots to dust and bones.

There's a tear in the heart where the Devil roams.

That's a powerful psalm, honey.

Don't get any ideas, missy, Devil and me got a deal.

Needs to be heard anyway,

sweet as the breeze in Abaddon's ear.

Get out.

And not a word.

Not a word.

-You okay, Ned?

-Mm.

-Bank trying to take the farm?

-They already took it.

-I'm out.

-I like it.

How about you, Seven, you like that 10 of hearts,

that good for you?

You ain't got shit this time, buddy.

Your luck's run out.

-Jesus, Sparks, will you shut it?

-Seven, you in?

I'm making you pay a buck to play.

-Eh, ain't your bet to make.

It's your bet, Ned.

-I'm out.

-It's my bet now.

Two doll hairs.

-I'm in.

-All right, let's see 'em.

Oh, that's hard to beat.

-That's a good hand.

-Lay 'em on the table, Seven.

- Oh, that's gotta hurt.

Best hand you've had all night and it ain't good enough.

-Hold on, hold on, hold on.

You know what, he's cheating.

-Bull shit. -He's fucking cheating.

- Don't let Maggie catch you saying that.

-He didn't cheat.

-I ain't won a hand this whole circuit,

and every night you go home with my earnings?

No, fuck that.

You're a cheat.

-Mm.

-He ain't cheating.

Seven's just not a lobotomy prodigy.

-You saying I'm stupid?

-No, but you are a clown.

-Holy shit.

Maggie!

Maggie.

Maggie.

-Don't!

S'cuse us, Ned.

Shh, you okay now, lover.

You're okay.

-Get rid of it, cut it off.

-Kid, I don't have a full kit.

This is not the place, I don't have Morphine.

-Cut it off or I'm dead.

-Stretchers are gonna be here.

- I'll be dead by then.

Cut it off.

-What's your name?

-Sully.

-Sully, can you feel this?

- I don't know.

-Where are you from, Sully?

-Wisconsin.

-Can you do this?

-Do it.

-Can you feel this?

Answer me, kid, can you feel that?

It's almost there.

-Fuck, it's okay, Seven, it's okay.

It's okay.

What day is this?

Getting light.

Go grab them biscuits before the carnies find 'em.

And take mine.

Hey Seven,

tell us about one of them books you're reading.

-You don't wanna hear about them books.

-I do.

-I'm reading a book about early Christians.

-I thought you didn't like Christians.

-I don't.

-Then why are you reading about 'em?

-Comedy, I guess.

So this early group, they were called gnostics.

They believed the Devil was telling the truth

and that God was the liar.

-He is a liar.

-So when the Devil brought the apple,

to our Eve,

he brought her knowledge,

and light,

and good.

They thought the world was upside down

and if you stood on your head,

and opened your eyes,

it was right-side up.

-I like those Christians.

Are we late for dinner?

-Honey?

-Dinnertime.

Oh Eve, love the table setting.

Candlelight just makes everything look so nice,

doesn't it?

Warm and inviting.

Drumstick for you, my love.

They say that ambience is really important.

Is that how you say it, ambience?

-Ambiance.

-Ambiance.

Now don't that sound nice?

- Honey?

-Oh she just spilled a little in the kitchen.

I'll clean it up.

-You're upset about the farm, but the farm was failing.

-This roast looks tender as as a baby's bottom.

- Debts were outstanding.

-Well you didn't just take the farm,

you took a little piece of all of us,

made the world a little more empty.

-I have very nice things that you can take.

I mean, that I can give you.

-Thank you for having us to dinner.

-The head of John the Baptist.

- Maggie.

Mag. -What.

-Roll over, you're sawing wood.

-Weren't. -You were.

-I'm not sawing wood, Eve's sawing wood.

-I said sawing, not saying.

Ah, we gotta get moving,

it's light out and this land's posted.

- Seven, I ain't gettin' up.

-Well, save some wood for tomorrow.

Maggie, we gotta keep moving.

-Okay Seven.

What spooked ya?

It's just a bird.

Hi.

We'll take that room for the night, please.

-75 cents per person.

-Your sign out front says 75 cent per night.

-The room is 75 cents per night, per person.

-That's not what your sign says.

-Well what I say is, it's 75 cents per night, per person.

-Three 75s.

-Correct.

-I'm not counting 75 three times.

Your sign-- -Do you want the room or not?

-Your sign out front says room 75 cent per night.

-Cents, 75 cents,

per person, per night, per room.

Two dollars and 25 cents.

-Uh oh, a dark cloud just hit Maggie.

-Turn around.

-Maggie. -Turn around, please?

-Maggie,

how about I make us a nice fire

and you make us something to eat?

-I got a potato.

I got an onion.

Oh, and I got them apples.

I bet those apples would be real nice in the soup,

give it a little sweetness?

Can't taste the rot.

That sounds nice.

Don't that sound nice?

- Surprisingly.

-You all think we'll ever get invited

to the Buffalo Horror Show?

-No.

Maggie, we don't do this 'cause we care,

we do this to travel.

-Well I think Eve got something really special.

Maybe if you and me piece together

something nice behind or something good,

and real and not half cooked and lazy bones

and good for nothin' like we have done,

we could do real good by her.

Would you like that?

-Why do you keep rubbing your face?

-'Cause I got a toothache.

-You want me to have a look at it?

-Yes please, Sev, it's damn near killing me.

-You got a rogue tooth, Maggie.

-Oh.

Get it out.

-Maggie, I was a country doctor, not a dentist.

-Get them tools and get it out, Eve will help you, Seven.

-All I got's the hatchet and some car tools.

-Get that thing outta my skull.

-Eve, if I knock that tooth out on the first try,

you fish it out of her mouth so she doesn't choke on it.

If it's stubborn, set the screwdriver right back up.

Okay, don't move, Maggie,

I'm gonna count to three and I'm gonna hit it.

-Eh, don't count to three.

Hit it again, Seven.

Hit it again.

Oh, I ain't gonna miss that devil tooth.

Thank you, Eve, thank you, Seven.

Now I'm gonna get some shuteye.

-Don't shoot.

-Lost my shoe.

Critter must have took it.

-Maggie, your shoe's in the tent.

-Seven, Eve should meet her sister and her brother.

I got no problem with your first life, Seven.

It's their curse they left you

after what happened in the war.

It's my blessing.

Who'd a thought a low girl like me

would get to marry the smartest,

greatest doc ever to roam the Catskills?

-Maggie, you were a great nurse.

And you're a better lover.

But you know fuck-well I was a country-hack doctor,

one step above veterinarian, mostly a couple steps below.

-Bullshit.

My foot's cold.

-Oh ah, you're not doing that right.

You don't wanna cut through a bone.

You wanna cut through a joint,

that's where the ligaments and the tendons

hold the bones together.

If you cut through a bone, you don't have a healthy stump.

So cut through the elbow.

It's called disambiguation.

And then you can put a prosthetic arm on it or a hook.

Please, stop cutting through those bones.

-I don't see no lights.

No tracks or automobile.

-It's not a dead farm, Maggie.

-Oh it will be if I get woke.

We are not sleeping in the snow again.

I'm hitting the hay in that barn.

-Hi.

I have a fire inside.

If you'd like to warm up before you go.

I'm Eric.

Eric Johanssen.

Yeah?

It's goat, I raise them.

For milk and for cheese.

-Thank you.

-As my parents did and theirs before them.

And Christianson.

My home place, when the great war came,

terrible, terrible war.

So much blood, so much fear.

Were you in the war?

-I was.

-So bad, very very bad.

So much lost, everyone suffered.

We had thousands of men that died at sea.

When I lost my brother, I felt so alone.

So, I leave my motherland for big America

to begin again.

But for what?

Here I'm also alone.

But now I have company.

-Oh, that's such a lovely melody.

It reminds me of a song my mother used to sing for me.

-Maggie, what did you do?

-Germans.

After what they done to you--

-He was Norwegian.

-Is that a kind of German?

-It's close.

-I ain't ignorant.

-I know Maggie.

You love me.

-I do.

-And I love you.

So much.

Bum radiator hose.

-It's all right, Seven,

let's just go back to that nice house

we just passed down the road.

Seven.

We don't gotta be at the carnival until tomorrow

and we're just a spit's throw away.

Like a stick of gum.

-Hi sir.

We've run into some automobile trouble,

about a mile up the road.

-Oh, I'm sorry.

-Randy, you're letting in the cold.

-Um, excuse me, I'm going to go back to my friends now,

uh-- -Very sorry to bother you,

it's just a radiator hose, it's--

-Oh well, then that shouldn't be too hard to fix.

-I see you have an old garden hose

propped up against your red barn,

if I could just take a slice out of it,

I could replace the radiator hose with that

and it would get me out of a world of trouble.

-Mm, you know, let me tell ya,

there's a farm, about five miles down the road,

and a farmer who knows about such things.

I would suggest you check with him.

-Five miles up the road and five miles back to here,

another mile down to the automobile,

that's gonna put me and my family into some deep night.

If I could just take a small slice outta that garden hose,

I'd gladly pay ya double what it's worth.

-Um, his name is Jackson.

I would check with him, he's more your man.

I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me, my wife's out of town.

I'm sure you understand.

I don't get to entertain as often as I like.

Good day.

-Eve, did you move that ax?

You know Eve, these dead girls are about your size.

I'm gonna go peek upstairs in the closets.

Seven, quit looking at them birds, come on.

How'd the garden hose work out?

-Good, but someone stole the spare.

-There's a special place in Hell for thieves,

and I run it.

Seven,

try that on for size.

I'm gonna keep snoopin'.

Seven!

-Oh Lord,

what time I cry in the night before thee.

For my soul is sated with troubles

and my life draws nigh until the grave.

-I called upon thee, oh Lord, every day.

I have spread forth my hands unto thee.

Thou has laid me in the nethermost pit,

in dark places, in the deeps.

Set apart among the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave

who now rememberist no more.

And they are cut off, from thy hand!

-My mother beat my baby brother to death

'cause he lost his shoe.

But I lost his shoe.

I don't know what you got yourself into, Eve,

but if it'll save my Seven,

I'm grateful.

-Pull off that other hand!

-Yeah, she broke it!

She broke it!

-Yeah, do it again!

Woo!

How does it feel

to hold the thread between Heaven and Hell?

-Looks like somebody cut off more than you can sew.

Hm, nice work.

But it takes more than a good stitch

to keep the light asleep.

You gotta say the spell.

What happened, did you forget?

Oh that's right, you can't speak.

You're in a fix, kid.

And I'm in a fix too

'cause somebody snatched my pin cushion.

Give it back.

Give it.

Looks like the Devil's got a new dance partner.

Don't step on his toes.

-Seven, is this game all luck

or is there something we can do

to make them pennies fall different?

Speaking of luck, what do you think the chances are

of us finding the thief that stole our spare tire?

-Tiny.

-That's right, tiny.

What's it gonna cost her, Seven?

-An arm and a leg.

-That's right, an arm and a leg.

You see, you stole a spare tire from us,

now we're gonna have to steal some spares from you.

Eve, is that the smallest saw you could find?

Well cut it at the elbow, just like your father taught you.

'Cause that arm smells like rot.

you got your father's hands,

a doctor's hands.

Oh, I loved watching him work.

He was just Dr. Axon to me then.

I was just around to tidy up, scrub up the blood and such.

Nobody wants to do that job.

But I liked it.

Eve, when you stuck that lady in the head,

did it feel like you were on a rollercoaster,

chugging up and up, and your heart's thumping,

and ain't nothing you can do about it now,

and then you get to the top

and everything's clear and you can see for miles.

And then it's just a crazy, wild, wonderful ride down,

did it feel like that?

Like you forgot how to breath and then you remembered,

like that?

Well you did real good.

I'm so proud of you.

You may got your dad's hands for sewing,

but you got mine for stickin'.

-Hey Seven!

We're expecting a big crowd today.

I heard your show's fantastic, some kind of new magic.

I can't wait to see it myself.

-Seven?

-We're so glad to have you.

Thank you for coming here and doing this for us.

It means a lot to me.

-Seven.

I was worried about you, Seven, where'd you go?

-I'm hungry.

-Eve will make you some breakfast.

-Three cents

to see John the Baptist head inside,

the Tent of Terrors, the peculiar, the shocking.

Miss, miss, no, John the Baptist head awaits.

Inside you'll see things you've never believed,

things you couldn't imagine.

The Tent of Terrors, it awaits.

All that they, miss, miss, no, miss,

you'll see things you'll never believe.

Three cents gets you John the Baptist head--

-Love you, Seven.

- In here we have--

Come beside the body of Jesus, inside--

-Hey, there they are, Eve and Maggie.

Good afternoon.

-Hey, headed to the stage?

-Oh yes, Swinging Boy's always on time.

-Break a leg.

-Ha, we'll leave that to you, ma'am.

-This hand don't look so good.

It'll work for tonight,

but I'm gonna need a new one quick.

Playing my favorite song, Rock.

-Have you been practicing?

-A little.

But people seem to be liking our show.

-I like what I'm hearing, I hear it's pretty nasty.

Did you guys hear what happened to Mr. Tipps?

That man, he rotted from his hands up.

He tangled with the Devil and he paid.

You know what they say, nothing good rots.

-Here we have the unrepentant thief,

hung beside the body of Christ, but inside--

-Saw Mag and Eve out there socializing.

Are you babysitting?

Gonna drink that?

-See the head of John the Baptist.

Three cents gets you entrance into the Pit of Terror.

See the peculiar, the strange.

Three cents-- -Honor among thieves.

-Sir, John the Baptist inside.

-What?

I can't feel--

Where is my god?

Where is my mom?

My mom.

-Night and decay pierce my bones.

My skin grows black and peels.

Grant me relief from days of troubles

while a pit is dug for the wicked.

Yoo hoo, anybody home?

Enjoying the magic?

I love the smell of rot.

I got it too.

Your daughter did this to me.

Dirty little thief.

I can fix it, you know, with one little spell.

So can Eve.

But she can't speak.

And I'd rather rot in Hell.

Wanna hear it?

When the road is mean, blood will thicken.

The Devil's pulse begins to quicken

while the body rots to dust and bones.

There's a tear in the heart where the Devil roams.

Toodle loo.

-Hey Rock.

-Hey Maggie.

How's it going?

-I just wanted to give you back your beautiful gift.

-You keep it, Mags, if it makes you happy.

-It does, Rocks,

but my fingers don't work so good no more.

-The papers say your act is amazing.

I didn't need the papers to tell me that though.

-Take it. -No,

you keep it.

Please.

-Take it.

-No, you keep it.

I want you to have it.

-I'll see you, Rock.

-I'll uh, I'll see you after the show.

I tried to dress him for the big show and he fell.

We're just rotten, Eve.

The Devil took the best of me, took the best of him,

left us here, just broken pieces of nothin'.

I ain't no Devil's puppet.

End it, Eve, cut us loose.

No more magic.

- When the road is mean,

blood will thicken.

The Devil's pulse begins to quicken

while the body rots to dust and bone.

There's a tear in the heart where the Devil roams.