‘American Horror Story 1984’ Finale: Leslie Grossman Discusses That Wood Chipper Scene

SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Episode 9 (titled “Final Girl”) of FX’s American Horror Story Season 9. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid spoilers.

As Season 9 of FX’s American Horror Story came to a close, the villain of the series, Margaret (Leslie Grossman), finally had revenge exacted upon her by the ghosts at Camp Redwood.

Normally, if a character dies in Camp Redwood, their spirit is trapped there and, as a ghost, they can never leave. However, the ghosts thought that they had found a way around this. Using a wood chipper, the ghosts hacked up Margaret and put her body parts into the device. Her contents were then spewed over the property line, and the ghosts expected that she would not become like them after her death because of this.

However, the ghosts miscalculated exactly when a brain died and, as a result of this, Margaret was actually stuck in Camp Redwood along with the others.

The actor who played Margaret has since told Entertainment Weekly what it was like shooting the wood chipper scene.

“Actually, I didn’t have to do a lot for that scene, to be perfectly honest,” Grossman said. “Mike Mekash, the co-head of the makeup department, does all the gore and the blood and the guts.”

During the scene, in which Margaret has multiple limbs amputated before they are fed into the wood chipper, a fake arm and a blood rig was set up prior to the cameras rolling.

“So they cut off one of my arms and then the blood spilled out, and I have to scream and sell that, but a lot of it is really good directing.”

Once the scene was shot, it then came down to creative editing and special effects such as CGI in order to really bring the moment to life.

In fact, according to Grossman, this scene may never have occurred at all. Initially, there was talk regarding Margaret actually surviving the finale. However, it was finally decided by the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, that the character had to die.

“There were scenarios where Margaret was going to live, and then it was like, ‘No, she’s got to go, and she’s got to go horrifically because she’s awful and everybody, the audience, really needs to see her brutally killed,'” Grossman said.

When first told of how Margaret would die, Grossman responded by saying that it was the “single most perfect ending” for her character.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, American Horror Story has already been renewed by FX for a 10th season. As yet, it is unclear whether or not this will be the final season.