The Star of the Most Disturbing ‘X-Files’ Episode Ever Looks Back With Rightful Pride

With all the excitement over Ryan Coogler’s X-Files reimagining being picked up by Hulu (yay!), there’s no better time to revisit some of the show’s classic episodes. And the timing is right to shock yourself anew with “Home,” a monster-of-the-week entry that’s scarier than just about any horror movie on your shelf, except maybe the one that inspired it, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In “Home,” set in rural Pennsylvania, Mulder and Scully investigate after kids playing baseball discover the corpse of a deformed baby buried in a shallow grave. That would already be nightmare material, but then the FBI agents trace the infant to a nearby farmhouse occupied by the Peacock brothers. They live off the grid, and, according to local legend, are the product of generations of inbreeding. The agents assume, of course, that they’ll find a kidnapped and tortured woman who has recently given birth held captive inside the house. But instead, they meet… Mrs. Peacock, hiding under a bed and providing jump scares galore thanks to the terrifying make-up that transformed guest star Karin Konoval into the misshapen yet ferocious family matriarch. In an interview with Gold Derby timed to the 30th anniversary of “Home,” which first aired October 11, 1996, Konoval (who later played Maurice the orangutan via motion capture in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and its sequels) looked back fondly at her place in TV horror history. “Home” is often cited as the scariest X-Files episode ever and is certainly its most controversial. “I remember watching the episode when it aired, with the script in my lap, turning the pages and reading along carefully so I could close my eyes in time not to see the gory bits!,” Konoval said. “I had huge appreciation and admiration for the story being told, the underlying themes, the larger questions it asked—but I was squeamish about the gory bits.” At an X-Files convention years later, she attended a screening of “Home” and vowed to keep her eyes open this time. “It was an unforgettable experience watching ‘Home’ with hundreds of enthusiastic X-Files fans,” she said. “I was genuinely blown away to see afresh what a timeless, remarkable piece of filmmaking it is: layered, thoughtful, and the terror in it so artfully crafted.” She also told Gold Derby that the physical limitations of playing Mrs. Peacock, who has no arms or legs, were part of what drew her to the role. “This combination of such monstrous strength of character within such physical limitation [was] hugely intriguing to me,” Konoval said. She also had praise for the X-Files special effects team that helped her get into character, including the “body-fitting box” she had to squeeze into and the facial prosthetics she wore. “It was very focused work throughout,” Konoval remembered, but “Everyone was gracious and wonderful to work with.” Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.