Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Cassilda Carcosa - making sense


It's that time of year again as the rumors for Halloween Horror Nights 2015 start to fly back and forth. While many people don't bother with speculation, For some of us (including myself) it is half the fun! Every year we get many "clue givers". Many of them are looking for attention or trolling just to send the fans into a frenzy. But there have been a handful who have been very accurate.

Of course Dr. Jimmy is always there with his video clues and hints on other social media sites. But the majority of these hint droppers are anonymous. People such as Emeric Belasco, Autumn Wind, the Ifrit, and the newest to the bunch Cassilda Carcosa.

Cassilda (who's name is a allusion to "The King in Yellow") came on the scene last year dropping very convoluted and intricate puzzles for each of the houses that was to be at HHN last year. But what made her stand out is that she also droped hints at who she was and also Jack's return. Jack was rumored to be back last year by the fans but it turned out he wasn't. Universal did tease that he would be back this year however in a video towards the end of the event.

Cassilda dropped her clues one after the other until the full reveal and even gave us a audio file as a clue. However, there was a last minute house change (after she had already dropped the hints for the nixed house) and she mysteriously vanished. Naturally, we all felt she was just a well-informed fan and we moved on. I did speak with a member of A&D last year and they informed me they did not know who she was.

Whatever you think of her, Cassilda is back this year and already dropping clues on a new Facebook page. So, if it turns out she is is canonical, (and not just a extremely obsessed fan with too much time on her hands) let's break down her clues and make sense of who she says she is.

The first clue was called Who am I? The text alludes to the movie/novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury.

The line " I see nothing and I see all" implies the dust witch whose eyes and mouth were sewn shut but could still see and do other many powerful things.

"We are of the fall" Implies The autumn people who ran the dark carnival headed by Mr. Dark aka the tattooed man.


Who am I? Pt2


Fellow shipped with Odd = Oddfellow as in the Carnival that Jack was a part of and eventually took over in 2007.

Stripped of beauty/eyes and mouth hushed/Never seeing but always knowing seems to hearken back to the first clue about the dust witch.

Indentured to the dark man could be a reference to selling one's soul or it could be a reference to Jack,OddFellow, or Mr. Dark in Something Wicked This Way Comes.

The below image was found and it appears the clue references Dr. Oddfellow.


My thought is "Cassi" was either tricked into becoming or willingly agreed to become a dust witch by Oddfellow. Indentured sounds negative so I don't think she ultimately wanted to or perhaps didn't realize what she was getting into.

Who am I? Pt 3





The picture is Oddfellow's cane of souls and the swirly thing over it is reminiscent of a soul trap. In HHN cannon, the soul cane is explained to keep it's owner alive long after they should have died.


Chaotic Prince = Jack.
Ruthless Retribution = Jack killed Oddfellow and took over his circus as revenge for having him murdered when he was a human. (Jack is now the "God of Chaos")

Forever bound to the vessel. Cane of souls... soul trap. I think it refers to the cane. she is bound to serve whoever holds the cane. Which Jack was in possession of before he went into the Lantern in 2010.

I shall see his restitution. She will see Jack brought back. Based on the context of the clue the only he is the chaotic prince. That would appear to be her endgame... That is until this last audio clue she gave. It's still being worked but the sentence "She's not who she says she is" means what? She isn't Casiilda Carcosa? That probably goes without saying it isn't her real name. She isn't a dust witch? Maybe. She screwed up which house was nixed last year so maybe she isn't the all powerful psychic witch she claims to be.... Or she just can't see the final outcome.

She wants to she Jack come back? Perhaps her end goal isn't just Jack? Maybe Jack is only a means to an end. She is bound to serve him but she doesn't have to like him. He killed her original master Oddfellow. Maybe she seeks revenge? The line in the Clue "something much worse" may support the idea that Jack is a means to an end for bringing something worse than him back. Could she really be Ignatia Himmel or Gabriel Fell?



 So that's all we have so far. As I write this people are trying to decipher her last audio clue. Is it legit? Who knows? At least they are good time wasters that (at least last year) pay off with clues to HHN. Will we see this story arc come to fruition? In my opinion I would love to see some kind of back story for the 25th anniversary and this is just as good a way to tie it all together as any.