The Heart, She Holler

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

From the creators of Delocated and Xavier: Renegade Angel, The Heart, She Holler was a 2011 live-action miniseries (though it only totaled 66 minutes) on Adult Swim. Described as a "Southern Gothic drama," the show chronicled the machinations of the Heartshe family after the death of their patriarch, the mayor of the town of HeartShe Holler ("holler" being a southern colloquial version of "hollow").

Think William Faulkner+Dark Shadows+Tim and Eric+David Cronenberg.

The Heartshe scions:

  • Hershey (played by Kristen Schaal), an amoral slut
  • Hambrosia (played by Heather Lawless), a psychokinetic prude in the vein of Carrie
  • Hurlan (played by Patton Oswalt), a feral man released from his underground dwelling to take his father's place as mayor
Tropes used in The Heart, She Holler include:
  • Age Without Youth: The Heartshe matriarch, Meemaw. Her condition is apparently the "curse of Heartshe Holler," though it is unclear how her decrepit undying state is connected to the town's misfortunes.
  • Body Horror: Numerous scenes include disgorged organs and bloated body parts.
  • Expy: Hambrosia's character is not only reminiscent of Carrie, but Heather Lawless even resembles Sissy Spacek who played Carrie in the 1970s film.
  • Gainax Ending: Hurlan's father tricks Hambrosia's husband into opening his booby-trapped casket, killing him. Heartshe is sentenced to 're-death' by electric chair, which reanimates his corpse, allowing him to take back control of the town. Meehaw passes away but seems to have taken over Hambrosia's body. Hurlan tearfully crawls back into the hole in the wall from where he came. Although this ending is not that bizarre given the general atmosphere of the show.
  • Grand Theft Me: Heartshe's initial plan is to trick Hurlan into switching brains, but his plan is easily foiled.
  • It Makes Sense in Context: As mentioned above, "holler" is a term for 'hollow' or 'valley' and Heartshe is the name of the ruling family who founded the town
  • Man Child: Though that doesn't even begin to describe Hurlan
  • Parental Incest: Played for laughs
  • Surreal Humor
  • The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Taken up to a thousand. Not only do Boss Hoss's video's manage to hold lengthy conversations with people, but he even responds to knowledge and events that he couldn't possibly have known about before death, but reacts to them with appropriate surprise. He also makes alternate video tapes in case his various plans are foiled, and somehow receives oral sex despite being a face on a tv screen.
  • Video Will: Hurlan's father has left him a series of these to help Hurlan cope with the real world, and somehow even manages to hold lengthy conversations from within the TV monitor
    • When he fires a gun pointed at the ceiling in the video, it emerges from the top of the TV.
  • Word Salad Title