Horror Club

"You know, I deal with this kind of stuff on a regular basis, but, uh, you, uh, looked pretty cool back there."

"Horror Club" is the 41st episode of the first season in Steven Universe, and the 41st episode overall.

Synopsis
Steven goes with Lars, and Sadie to the lighthouse to watch scary movies with Ronaldo Fryman.

Plot
The episode starts at night with Lars jokingly tells Sadie to hurry up or he'll lock the store with her in it. While waiting for Sadie to come out, Lars gets surprised by Steven's sudden appearance in front of him. Steven then tells Lars to not be too afraid and that he is going to a "spooky movie party". Steven then asks Lars if he wants to join him but upon hearing that the party is hosted by Ronaldo, he declines the offer in a mean spirited manner while calling Ronaldo "social-napalm". While the two are still chatting, Sadie exits the store and asks Steven if they should be going to Ronaldo's party. With zeal, Steven says yes and the two make their way to the party. Upon seeing that Sadie was going, Lars then decides to tag along. Lars asks where the party is being held, to which Steven points towards the lighthouse.

Outside the lighthouse, Steven knocks on the door, to which Ronaldo opens and greets Steven in a spooky manner but is only laughed at and mocked by Lars. This causes Ronaldo to lose his composure and accidentally breaks his mask. Ronaldo then sheepishly asks everyone to come in. Sadie greets Ronaldo warmly and enters the lighthouse while Lars abruptly spooks Ronaldo and laughs at his reaction whilst entering. Ronaldo then questions Steven about him being friends with Lars to which Steven replies "isn't everybody?".

Inside the lighthouse where everyone is already seated in front of the TV screen, Ronaldo introduces the film they're going to watch, called "Evil Bear 2". Lars retorts that he had already seen the movie and it was boring and had awful computer generated graphics. Ronaldo then yells blasphemer and rebuttals by saying that he saw the remake and not the original, to which Lars tells him to turn it down a notch. Sadie asks Ronaldo where he got the copy of the movie and if she could to see the box. Sadie then questions whether Steven can handle the movie, to which Steven replies by saying that he could. However, Steven watches the movie from behind the couch (partially due to Steven still being banned from TV since "Fusion Cuisine") and Ronaldo asks him if he could see the movie from there and the sound of the movie causes Steven to become scared. The power then suddenly cuts off, much to the annoyance of everyone. Lars suggests it was just a blown-out fuse but Ronaldo suggests it was a ghost, to which Sadie thought was a joke to lighten the mood but Ronaldo tells her he was being serious.

Ronaldo opens one of his filing cabinets and takes out a pendulum and tries to communicate with the supposed entity. Ronaldo asks the "spirit" for a sign, the pendulum Ronaldo's holding swings lightly and hurls itself towards Lars, hitting him in the face. Ronaldo then asks for more signs. The filing cabinet then opens and the papers inside it burst out and encircles the group. Ronaldo then asks the entity to rein it in but does not listen to him. It instead hurls a coffee mug at them that breaks upon impact, hurls a barrel that Steven swiftly dodges, and another coffee mug that almost hits Lars but was saved by Sadie. Sadie then points towards the door and exclaim that they all should leave. As the group approaches the door, it suddenly slams shut and is unable to be opened. Left with no choice, the group charges at the door causing it to splinter in to pieces. As the group takes a breather, the door pieces reform back into a whole, and closes again. Ronaldo then apologizes to everyone about the ghost but Lars is still not convinced it is a ghost. Sadie then cuts between the two and suggests that they get out.

As everyone is going down the stairs, Ronaldo, impressed by Sadie's bravery, asks her to join him on going in again and investigating after everyone is safe. Lars begins to become jealous and when Steven asks him if something's wrong, to which he covers Steven's mouth. Laughter is then heard. When Sadie asks what that was, Lars angrily takes the lead towards the door, exclaiming that they are just seeing, hearing, and feeling things that aren't there.

As Lars approaches the door, he is then knocked back as it suddenly opens and reveals that the scarecrows outside have become animated, along with the fake bats. One of the scarecrows gets in and charges directly at Lars and chases him along with the bats. The scarecrow corners Lars and grabs him but Steven throws the scarecrow out before it can do anything, along with the bats, to which Sadie and Ronaldo then forcefully close the door. Ronaldo then explains the difference between a ghost and a poltergeist, and that the latter is attracted to the emotionally disturbed, he then points the flashlight towards Lars. Lars, angry, begins to insult Ronaldo but Steven tells Lars that he should not be ill mannered towards him. Still angry, Lars then goes to Sadie and asks her if she believes in ghosts. Sadie remains silent and then Lars tells her that it was the doing of both Steven and Ronaldo and that they should ditch them. Sadie, surprised at Lars' remark, backs away from him and tells him that she isn't ditching anyone. The floor boards suddenly open and causes Sadie to fall into a pit filled with red light. Ronaldo then remarks that this is Lars' doing and that he is going to drag them down along with him. Suddenly, a covering on the floor opens that leads down to the basement.

In the basement, Steven tells the two that the spirit is close and is hurting. Hearing the sound, Ronaldo then points the flashlight towards a wall. The light reveals a red pulsing structure with what appears to be veins radiating from it, along with Lars' name on it. Ronaldo then faces Lars and angrily exclaims that it should have been him and not Sadie. The beating structure then forms a mouth just below it. Ronaldo headlocks Lars and makes his way towards the mouth and lifts Lars up. Ronaldo intends to throw Lars into the monster in exchange for Sadie. Lars pleads to Ronaldo saying that they used to be friends but Ronaldo quickly remarks that he threw him and their friendship away as he throws Lars into the mouth.

Steven then runs after Lars, ignoring Ronaldo's statement about him not being worth it. Steven reaches Lars inside and quickly forms a protective bubble over them after the steam pipe that was preventing the mouth from closing collapsed. Trapped in the mouth, Steven tries to strengthen and expand the bubble but the force caused by the expansion causes the mouth to burst, throwing back Steven and Lars which pops the bubble and causes a hole in the wall where the mouth was. Sadie then emerges from the debris of the wall, along with a blue gem. As Steven picks up the gem, it suddenly begins to flash a bright light and begins to holographically relay a past memory.

The memory shows a young Lars and Ronaldo, nicknamed Ronnie, making a secret club and the lighthouse their base. To commemorate the occasion, Lars begins to carve his name onto the wall and jabs the screwdriver onto the wooden wall. After a short tremor, a board then hits Lars and sends him flying. That moment was captured by Ronnie with his camera. Zealous that he captured a paranormal event, he shows it to Lars who was still on the floor and says it will be in every station. Worried, Lars asks him that their club was secret but is ignored by Ronnie's enthusiasm. Lars gets up and begins to tear the photo into pieces saying that he was just removing himself from the picture, much to the dismay of Ronnie. The two begin to argue over it and escalates into a fight with Lars stepping on Ronnie's foot and running away. Just before Lars leaves, Ronnie asks Lars why he cares so much about the opinions of others but Lars retorts by saying he wouldn't have asked that if he knew what other people think of him. The hologram then ends.

In the basement, Steven deduces the lighthouse served as the gems' body and that the sensation of Lars carving his name into the wall made it feels as if it was under attack. He reassures the gem and says that he understands how it had felt. Ronaldo then asks Steven to let him see it, to which Steven replies that they should let it rest and proceeds to bubble it away. Sadie then understands that the actions of the gem was due to it being hurt and trapped for so long. Lars then says that he didn't mean to tear up the picture and they should stop talking about him, when they weren't. Ronaldo asks Sadie if she was hurt, to which she says she was fine. Lars then hastly adds that he was worried about her and that he arrived at the basement first, which makes Sadie smile. She then asks that they all leave now and Steven suggest that they both go first as Lars and Ronaldo have things to clear up, to which Sadie agrees. Ronaldo then says that he wasn't trying to make Lars look bad but Lars tries to avoid the conversation and hurriedly tries to catch up to the two.

Just before Lars goes up the stairs, Ronaldo tells him to take it down a notch, a callback to what Lars said to him earlier, which causes Lars to blush and the iris closes in on him.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Ronaldo Fryman
 * Lars
 * Sadie
 * Lighthouse Gem Monster (antagonist/debut)

Locations

 * Beach City
 * The Lighthouse
 * Big Donut

Production Notes

 * This episode was originally going to be called "Beach City Horror Club", but six days before it aired, it shortened to "Horror Club".
 * This is the third time an episode has had its name changed at its release. The first being "So Many Birthdays", which was originally called "10,000 Birthdays, and the second being "Fusion Cuisine", originally called "Fusion Crime".

Music

 * TBA

Trivia

 * Lars knows and inadvertently admits that he has problems and can be a jerk at times.
 * Ronaldo was unaware that Steven was friends with Lars up until this point in the series.
 * This is the second time Lars' ear holes are filled with an accessory, the first time being in the "Pilot".
 * This is the first time Ronaldo and Sadie are officially introduced to each other.
 * This episode reveals that Lars and Ronaldo used to be friends when they were kids.
 * Their friendship ended, however, when Lars tore up Ronaldo's picture, due to his insecurities about people seeing him in such a state.
 * This is the first Halloween special of the series.
 * It is also the first holiday special so far.
 * The episode airing in February as opposed to October may have been due to the summer hiatus.
 * This is the first episode where none of the Crystal Gems (except Steven) are present, or mentioned. Not counting "An Indirect Kiss" where they appeared in flashbacks.
 * This is the third time where Garnet is absent. The first being "Frybo" and the second being "Joking Victim".
 * This is the third time where Amethyst is absent. The first being "Frybo" and the second being "Garnet's Universe".
 * This is the third time where Pearl is absent. The first being "Joking Victim" and the second being "Garnet's Universe".
 * This is the third time Steven bubbled a Gem monster.
 * The other two being the Centipeetle Mother and the Invisible Gem Monster in "Monster Buddies" and "Island Adventure" respectively.
 * This episode shows the second time a Gem is shown being able to project images and memories in a light blue holographic form, the first being Pearl.
 * The Lighthouse Monster was able manipulate inanimate objects and bring them to life in a sense. Whether this is an ability special to this Gem, or an ability of Gems with no physical form, is up to debate.
 * Although in the episode "Rose's Room", Rose's voice was projected through a tiny pink whale, making it possible that Gems without a physical form can possess or project themselves onto inanimate objects.
 * It is also similar to the "Dessert Glass" with its ability to manipulate sand in a variety of ways.
 * This is the first time Steven's shield bubble was used in an offensive way but it was done inadvertently.
 * This is Sadie's third major role. The first being "Joking Victim" and the second being "Island Adventure".

Cultural References

 * Ronaldo's costume is a reference to the musical The Phantom of the Opera, and the film Dracula based on the book of the same name.
 * Evil Bear 2 is a parody of the Child's Play film series, while the title is a play on the Evil Dead series, and the bear itself being a reference to Teddy Ruxpin.
 * When Ronaldo is searching through his folders, one of the folder titles read "Gnolls", a reference to the tabletop role playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.

Continuity

 * Sadie's scar from fighting the Invisible Gem Monster in "Island Adventure" can be seen in some scenes.
 * Lars' red jacket is worn by him again, the first appearance of the jacket was in "Lars and the Cool Kids" where Lars attempted to look cool while slinging it over his shoulder.
 * The fence that was put around the lighthouse from "An Indirect Kiss" is shown when they were walking to the lighthouse.
 * In the episode "Keep Beach City Weird" Ronaldo mentions using "psychic ghost powers." He was most likely referring to the lighthouse gem that for many years he thought was a ghost.

Errors

 * When Ronaldo welcomes Steven to the Beach City Horror Club, the eyehole in the mask doesn't have any glass over it. When he blinks, however, the eyeglass suddenly appears.

Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.

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