Piggy Man

Piggy Man is the name attributed to a fictional character and urban legend featured in teh FX Network television series American Horror Story. This article relates to the urban legend of the "Piggy Man" as first chronicled in the season one episode, "Piggy, Piggy". For information on the actual Piggy Man, who was a ghost from "My Roanoke Nightmare", see Kincaid Polk.

Background
The Piggy Man was an urban legend that originated in Chicago, Illinois in the year 1893. He was a butcher who wore a pig mask while slaughtering animals. Following an accident, the pigs avenged themselves by tearing him apart. In short order, all of the butcher's former customers were dismembered.

The spirit of the Piggy Man could be conjured by speaking the words "Here piggy pig, pig," into a mirror.

In 2011, a mental patient named Derrick was terrified of urban legends and sought council from a therapist named Ben Harmon. He told Harmon about his fear of the Piggy Man. Ben told him that to conquer his fear, he had to confront his fear and urged him to go home and speak the words in front of a mirror.

Derrick did as instructed, but the result was something other than what he truly expected, though no less violent. Two burglars had broken into Derrick's home and were hiding in the bathroom. One of whom was overweight, and thought that Derrick had ferreted out his location and was making fun of him. The burglar came out from behind a shower curtain and shot Derrick in the head.

Notes & Trivia



 * The urban legend of the Piggy Man is a call back to an actual urban legend known as "Bloody Mary", which involves summoning a spirit by invoking the words while facing mirror. This trope has been more famously utilized in the Candyman film series wherein one could invoke the murderous spirit of Daniel Robitaille by saying "Candyman" three times in front of a mirror.


 * It is later established that the Piggy Man of urban legend is based on an actual (in-universe) historical figure, Kincaid Polk, who was a ghost haunting the Roanoke House in North Carolina. During his lifetime, he moved to Chicago where he gained fame for a mass murder he committed at the Chicago World's Fair.