In ‘Hotel’, the 5th season of the horror anthology series, after being invited to what James Patrick March (Evan Peters) calls Devil’s Night, the ghost of Ramirez along with other serial killers like John Wayne Gacy also known as “Clown Killer” and serial killer Aileen Wuornos come to the Hotel Cortez. Ramirez, who died in 2013 after a murder spree that lasted from 1984 to 1985, is shown killing a married couple with help from March.
In the ‘1984’ premiere, Emma Roberts’ character Brooke, prior to leaving with her friends to go to a summer camp to work as counselors, is assaulted by Ramirez in her apartment. He takes what seems to be a wedding ring, calls himself the Night Stalker and tells her to “swear on Satan.” This is a reference to his real-life crimes in which Ramirez gave his victims the same instruction as he was an avowed Satanist. During the attack, he also asserts to Brook that she is going to be famous. “You’re going to die by the hands of the Night Stalker. I will find you. Satan will show me the way,” he says before fleeing her apartment. Ramirez pops up again at the end of the episode when Brooke sees him at the camp.
The new season is set in 1984 Los Angeles, which parallels the real life setting of Ramirez’s murder spree took place for over a year. The only discrepancies between the show and Ramirez’s life seem to be the summer camp story line and the interactions between this season’s fictional murderer Mr. Jingles ( John Carroll Lynch) and himself. Mr. Jingles, another killer speculated to be prowling the camp, allegedly killed all the campers back in 1970, which leads to the question of how they are connected.
I guess we’ll just have to keep tuning in to find out. Overall, I like the use of real life murderers in the series’ story arcs because it makes it just a little more terrifying. And I’m definitely eager to see how this season unfolds!
