It was 2015. Ryan Murphy was coming off the high of American Horror Story: Coven and decided to lean entirely into the campy, blood-soaked aesthetic of 80s slasher films. The result was a neon-pink nightmare. At the center of it all? The Scream Queens Red Devil. Honestly, if you weren't there for the weekly Twitter meltdowns trying to unmask the killer, it’s hard to describe the specific brand of brain rot this show induced. It was glorious.
The Red Devil wasn't just a costume. It was a mascot for Wallace University, a red-latex-clad menace with a cape and a penchant for power tools. While modern horror tries so hard to be "elevated" or "psychological," Scream Queens just wanted to show you a killer riding a lawnmower over a frat boy buried up to his neck in the sand.
It worked.
The Mystery of the Bathtub Baby
To understand the Scream Queens Red Devil, you have to go back to 1995. The show starts with a flashback to a Kappa Kappa Tau party where a pledge gives birth in a bathtub and subsequently dies because her "sisters" would rather dance to TLC’s "Waterfalls" than call 911. This is the inciting incident. It’s the DNA of the entire series.
The mystery wasn't just "who is the killer?" It was "who was that baby?"
Fans spent months dissecting the ages of the cast. We were all looking at Grace Gardner (Skyler Samuels) because, well, she had the hats and the "final girl" energy. But Murphy loves a subversion. The Red Devil wasn't just one person; it was a coordinated revenge plot involving a trio of killers. This wasn't some random spree. It was a twenty-year slow burn of resentment fueled by the toxic Greek system.
The "Bathtub Baby" turned out to be twins: Hester Ulrich (Lea Michele) and Boone Clemens (Nick Jonas). But they had help. Gigi Caldwell, the 90s-obsessed national president of Kappa, raised them in an asylum with one goal: destroy the Chanels.
Breaking Down the Killer Trio
Let's look at the mechanics of the Scream Queens Red Devil team. It’s actually pretty rare for a slasher to have a three-person tag team that stays consistent throughout a season. Usually, there’s a mastermind and a lackey. Here, it was more of a family business, albeit a very dysfunctional one.
Boone was the muscle. He faked his own death early on—a classic trope—and spent most of the season in hiding, or occasionally working out in the Red Devil suit. Honestly, seeing Nick Jonas play a "dead" frat boy who was secretly a serial killer was the kind of camp we don't get enough of anymore.
Gigi was the architect. She was the one who actually had the 1995 trauma. She was the sister of the girl who died in the bathtub. Her descent into madness involved a lot of shoulder pads and a very specific obsession with the 1990s.
Then there’s Hester.
Hester Ulrich is one of the most unhinged characters in TV history. Lea Michele traded her Glee microphone for a neck brace and a terrifyingly blank stare. Hester wasn't just a killer; she was a genius. She managed to frame the Chanels for her crimes, get them sent to an asylum, and walk away scot-free. In the world of horror, the villain rarely gets a "happy" ending where they become the treasurer of a sorority they tried to burn down. But Hester did.
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The Costume That Defined a Decade
The look of the Scream Queens Red Devil is iconic for a reason. It’s the perfect blend of goofy and unsettling. You’ve got the shiny red latex, which looks like something out of a fetish shop, paired with a generic plastic mask that feels like a $5 Halloween store find.
It shouldn't be scary.
But when that silhouette is standing in a dark hallway holding a chainsaw, it hits different. The costume was designed by Lou Eyrich, who has worked with Ryan Murphy on almost everything. The goal was to create something that could be a university mascot but also feel threatening.
Think about the mascot for your own college. Is it a bulldog? A Spartan? Now imagine that thing chasing you with a crossbow.
The Red Devil worked because it was omnipresent. Because there were multiple suits, the killer could be anywhere. This led to some of the show's best sequences, like the "Backstreet's Back" fight where the Dickie Dollar Scholars take on two Red Devils in the middle of the street. It’s ridiculous. It’s over-the-top. It’s exactly what the show was meant to be.
Why the Red Devil Still Matters in Horror Circles
We see a lot of masked killers. Ghostface is the gold standard because of the meta-commentary. Michael Myers is the embodiment of pure evil. The Scream Queens Red Devil is something else entirely: a manifestation of generational trauma wrapped in a satirical bow.
The show was a biting critique of Greek life, privilege, and the "mean girl" archetype. The Red Devil was the equalizer. It didn't matter how much your father donated to the university; the Red Devil would still decapitate you with a floor waxer.
A lot of people dismissed the show as "too much" when it first aired. It was loud and abrasive. But looking back from 2026, the Red Devil feels like a precursor to the "social horror" we see today, just with more glitter. It tackled the idea that the "monsters" aren't just guys in masks—they're the institutions that allow people to die in bathtubs while "Waterfalls" plays in the background.
There’s also the "who dunnit" factor. Scream Queens Season 1 is a masterclass in planting clues. If you go back and re-watch, you can see Hester’s plan unfolding in real-time. You see the way she positions herself. You see the subtle nods to her true identity. It wasn't just random chaos; it was a tightly scripted mystery that actually played fair with the audience, mostly.
Common Misconceptions About the Killers
People often forget that Pete Martinez (Diego Boneta) was also a Red Devil.
Yeah, the "nice guy" investigative journalist. He wasn't one of the bathtub babies, but he was radicalized by his hatred for the sorority system. He killed Roger and Dodger (the twins) and even attacked some of the others. His involvement adds a layer of complexity to the Scream Queens Red Devil mythos. It suggests that the "evil" of the Red Devil is contagious. You don't have to be born into the revenge plot to want to put on the mask and start swinging a blade.
Another thing? People think the Red Devil was the villain of the whole series.
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Actually, the Red Devil was strictly a Season 1 thing. Season 2 moved to a hospital and introduced the Green Meanie. While the Green Meanie had a cool design (and a connection to a swamp), it never quite captured the cultural zeitgeist like the Red Devil did. There’s something about that red suit that just sticks in your brain.
The Legacy of the Red Mask
If you’re looking to revisit the series or you’re a horror fan who missed out, there are a few things you should pay attention to regarding the Scream Queens Red Devil.
First, watch the kills. They are creative in a way that feels like a love letter to Friday the 13th and Heathers. The "chainsaw through the floor" bit is a classic.
Second, look at the way the Red Devil interacts with Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts). The dynamic is fascinating. Chanel is arguably more "evil" than the killers, yet she’s the one we’re rooting for. The Red Devil is the antagonist, but in many ways, they are the moral compass of the show—albeit a very bloody one. They are punishing the "bad" people.
Honestly, the Red Devil represents a specific era of TV where creators were allowed to be absolutely unhinged. There was no "prestige" baggage. It was just horror, humor, and a lot of fake blood.
Actionable Insights for Horror Fans
If you're a fan of the Scream Queens Red Devil or just getting into the slasher genre, here is how you can engage with this specific piece of pop culture history:
- Analyze the Clues: Go back and watch Season 1, Episode 1 and Episode 10. Focus specifically on Hester's dialogue. You’ll notice she "predicts" several deaths or mentions things she shouldn't know. It's a great exercise in seeing how modern mysteries are constructed.
- Study the Slasher Tropes: Scream Queens is essentially a textbook on horror tropes. Compare the Red Devil’s "rules" to those laid out in Scream. You'll find that while Ghostface follows the "rules" of movies, the Red Devil follows the "rules" of social hierarchy.
- Costume Design Influence: For creators or cosplayers, notice the use of textures. The Red Devil works because the latex reflects light differently than a standard cloth robe. In horror, lighting is everything, and the Red Devil's suit was designed to pop against the pastel colors of the Kappa house.
- Explore the "Final Girl" Subversion: Usually, the final girl is pure and innocent. In Scream Queens, nobody is innocent. This is a vital lesson for writers: your protagonist doesn't have to be "good" to be compelling, and your villain can be the one seeking a twisted form of justice.
The Red Devil isn't coming back—unless Ryan Murphy finally gives us that Season 3 we’ve been screaming for—but the impact on the genre remains. It proved that you could mix high-fashion aesthetics with brutal slasher violence and create something that feels entirely new. It’s camp. It’s horror. It’s the Red Devil.