Horror in the Heights
Written By: Jimmy Sangster
Directed By: Michael T. Caffey
"There are sections of Chicago the guidebooks don't refer to. You can't blame them, really. The guidebooks' function is to sell the glamour and excitement of our Windy City. And whichever way you dress it up, old age is neither glamorous nor exciting. Roosevelt Heights used to be a plush neighborhood; but the plush neighbors moved uptown, leaving the old people. And old people don't move easily. They become set in their surroundings, their friends live next door, they've been going to the same store for twenty-five years. And, probably most important of all, they can't afford to relocate even if they wanted to. The battle of fixed income versus galloping inflation never ends. But even inflation took a backseat here in Roosevelt Heights, as a far greater fear overtook the residents.. A terror which effectively dwarfed everything else."
After a security guard (Benny Rubin) dies and has his corpse seemingly devoured by rats, Kolchak decides to do a piece about the plight of the elderly Jewish residents of the man’s neighborhood. As more deaths happen, with the corpses all "devoured by rats", Kolchak investigates and discovers that the culprit is a demon called the Rakshasa
, that can take the form of whoever its victim trusts the most.
Tropes:
- Achilles' Heel: The Rakshasa can only be killed by arrows blessed by Brahma.
- Anyone Can Die: This episode is one of the only, if not the only time that Kolchak’s main ally dies.
- Artistic License – Religion: It's mentioned that the restaurant is serving "beef curry". A restaurant run by a devout Hindu rakshasha hunter.
- Brick Joke: Miss Emily asks Kolchak for help in writing back to a man asking her for advice on his medical troubles, and Kolchak suggests the man ask his doctor for injections of hormones. At the end, the guy shows up taking Miss Emily on a date out of gratitude for her great advice, unaware that the advice came from Kolchak. For his part, Kolchak is pretty bemused.
- Call-Back:
- Joe, one of the witnesses to Buck Fineman's death, had previously appeared as a superintendent in "The Spanish Moss Murders", and he recognizes Kolchak from the episode, still believing he works in the health department (one of Kolchak’s usual lies.) Kolchak responds that that was his brother.
- Vincenzo is still eating greasy sandwiches with a side of pickles in spite of his ulcer.
- Cool Old Guy: Subverted. Harry tries to help Kolchak in his investigation, but his physical limitations wind up getting him killed by the Rakshasa.
- Dented Iron: The Rakshasa hunter has hunted them for most of his life. Unfortunately, now that he’s an old man, his efforts have left him deathly ill, and his body has become so weak he can’t properly aim his crossbow or do much else than try to warn people.
- Developing Doomed Characters: All of the Rakshasa’s victims are given development before being killed off.
- Dirty Coward: The Rakshasa is a spineless coward that ambushes its prey at least partially because it’s too afraid to face them head on, and it waits for the old and dying Rakshasa hunter to weaken further rather than just attack him.
- Eccentric Exterminator: The exterminator Kolchak questions about rats is a fairly eccentric fellow, which may come from him constantly spraying his lunches with pesticide.Kolchak: [as the exterminator sprays around a house, inadvertently spraying his sandwich] I think you got your lunch.
Exterminator: Hey, they're already stuffed with chemicals and preservatives already. [starts eating sandwich] - Evil Twin: The Rakshasa takes the form of Kolchak to kill Harry.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The Rakshasa's murders are kept entirely off-camera. The description of them is creepy as hell, though; apparently, it tears the victim's skin to shreds.
- Hunter of Monsters: Deconstructed by the Rakshasa hunter, who has spent his life hunting Rakshasa, but since he must keep the duty until he dies, he has continued hunting into old age. Unfortunately, he’s pushing 80 and he can’t actually kill the damn thing, much less aim a crossbow at it.
- Immune to Bullets: A police officer fires six shots into the rakshasa, but it's completely unhurt. It takes being hit by a crossbow bolt blessed by Brahma to kill it.
- Police Brutality: Subverted. Kolchak, while giving testimony to a pair of hotheaded officers, imitates Harry Starman’s death scream. Vincenzo, coming into the room to pay Kolchak’s bail, hears the scream and assumes automatically that this has happened, and Kolchak’s attempts to deny it only serve to convince him further.
- Rage Breaking Point: Mr. Lane-Marriot has to deal with Kolchak questioning him about Rakshasas and loudly talking about the gruesome details about the case, scaring off his customers, fiddling with expensive and rare artifacts, and generally making an ass of himself. After having answered all of Kolchak’s questions, Kolchak still sticks around and obnoxiously peruses through the antiques; when he casually asks if Lane-Marriot has seen Citizen Kane, he angrily shrieks "NO!"
- Scatterbrained Senior: Harry Starman isn’t particularly scatterbrained, but he often forgets what he’s talking about in the middle of a conversation.
- Take Up My Sword: See Hunter of Monsters above. The Rakshasa hunter is pushing 80 and can't actually hunt them anymore, so he gives his crossbow along with Brahma-blessed arrows to Kolchak so that he can defeat it, telling him with his dying breaths that it has to be someone brave and honest. Sure enough, he kills it after it appears to him in the guise of Miss Emily.
- "I'd have liked to have told Miss Emily that the Rakshasa appeared to me as her. According to the legend, it meant that I trusted her. But then I would also have had to tell her that I shot a steel arrow straight into her. I don't think she would have appreciated that. But in the final analysis, what's the difference? As long as we all trust each other, why should anyone's feelings be bruised? And if you happen to be walking along a lonely country road one night and you see your favorite aunt coming toward you — good luck to you, too."
