The American Horror Story is a mixture of thrill, horror, and anthology. This television series has 11 seasons and 123 episodes, with FX being the original network. Every season comes with new actors with a few old ones. However, all end up playing a new character in every season.
For instance, several actors have appeared in five seasons out of eleven. Only two to three actors reappeared in eight or nine seasons. However, they played different characters in every season.
Similarly, every season has a new fictional story with a handful of true events. Their stories revolve around The Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, and more. The first season started getting aired in October 2011.
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American Horror Story Cast
American Horror Story has cast more than 40 actors. So, let’s focus on the actors appearing in several seasons. Actors who appeared in five seasons are Billie Lourd, Jessica Lange, Adina Porter, Leslie Grossman, Finn Wittrock, Kathy Bates, and more.
You will find Denis O’Hare in seven seasons. Similarly, you will not get tired of seeing Frances Conroy in eight seasons. Lily Rabe, Evan Peters, and Sarah Paulson are present to entertain you in the first nine seasons.
All Seasons Of The American Horror Story
Season 1: The Murder House
The Harmons shifted to a new house in Los Angeles in 2011. But, this family of three does not know that the house is haunted by demons that devour the people living in the house. Tate finds that the crowd is more crowded than expected.
Season 2: Asylum
The strict nun, Sister Jude, rules the Church for the criminally insane. It is set in 1964 in Massachusetts. Sister Jude is also accompanied by a troubled past. However, the Briarcliff finally gets shut down by Lana at the end of the season.
Season 3: Coven
Witches get mysteriously attacked after living secretly for 300 years. In search of protection, they went to a school in New Orleans in 2013. Fiona takes charge of protecting the coven. However, her reign ends at the end of the season, giving rise to a new supreme.
Season 4: Freak Show
The performers of the vanishing sideshow struggle for the survival of the show, where the use of television is growing rapidly. It took place in Florida in 1952. The performers of the Freak Show go against the management at the end of the season.
Season 5: Hotel
John Lowe, a family man, and a detective reach Hotel Cortez while investigating the murders occurring in Los Angeles. At the end of the season, Cortez sees a new beginning, and Liz and Iris administer it. It took place in Los Angeles in 2015.
Season 6: Roanoke
The sixth season represents North Carolina during 2014 and 2015. Shelby Miller and Matt relocate to a secluded farmhouse in North Carolina after getting attacked in Los Angeles. However, the house turns out to be haunted, and they start getting strange and unbelievable experiences.
Season 7: Cult
The seventh season has a Cult leader who starts tearing the community apart and terrorizing the people after the US Presidential Election occurred in 2016. The fears of an anxious woman begin to come out.
Season 8: Apocalypse
The eighth season brings the characters from the third and first seasons. The Apocalypse has a guest at the Outpost that brings the flavors of self-destruction, betrayal, and lust. The witches from ‘Coven’ go to the ‘Murder House to fight against the Antichrist and save the world from Apocalypse in 2020.
Season 9: 1984
A summer camp gets reopened after 14 years of Massacre. So, the ninth season focuses on the staff of the summer camp and the five friends that go camping in Redwood from Los Angeles to conduct counseling. Increasing darkness at the camp is a limitation for the humans, not the evil.
Season 10: Double Feature
The tenth season has two parts. The first part is called ‘Red Tide,’ where a family of three, a writer with his daughter and pregnant wife, come across evil after moving to a secluded beach town in 2021. The second part, called ‘Death Valley,’ is about a group of students that get trapped among the evil in the Asylum.
Season 11: NYC
The story takes place in 1981 in Manhattan. On the one hand, an unknown virus hits the US, and on the other hand, gay men are getting targeted by serial killers in Lower Manhattan. The government neglects the virus calling it ‘the gay plague.’
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American Horror Story Review
The first season, ‘Murder House’ consists of a typical horror plot. A family of three shifts to a house that turns out to be haunted, and they experience drifts in their relationships. However, Jessica Lange is the show stealer here.
The second season, ‘Asylum,’ brings some relaxation with the dance performance. The crazy experiments, demons, and aliens are added to attract the viewers. However, the questions that remained unanswered in the first season will remain unanswered in this season too. However, ‘Asylum’ has a proper antagonist. Thus, it does not look vague.
‘Coven,’ the third season, is one of the most appreciable ensemble pieces due to the presence of Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange. This season reminds us of X-men and Harry Potter because Sony Benson learns about her supernatural powers just like Rogue from X-Men did.
‘Freak Show’ is disturbing. The fourth season has intelligently used the concept of evil clowns according to their increasing citations in the real world. Danny looked normal as compared to the several characters. But he turned out to be the freak.
We can say that the fifth season, ‘Hotel,’ is the first one not to include Jessica Lange. Lady Gaga was a surprise. However, she came into her own as an actress here. The hotel Cortez stole the limelight with its horrifying atmosphere. The dinner party was especially chilling.
Roanoke, the sixth season, had weird advertising that showed only a black cloud of smoke. The ending was disappointing too. However, Adina Porter lifted the season to some extent with her appreciable performance.
The seventh season, ‘Cult,’ focused on the psychological elements instead of the supernatural by taking advantage of the US Presidential elections that occurred in 2016. This season also has more dark humor, which does not get appreciated every moment. Evan Peters has, however, made this season notable through his performance.
‘Apocalypse,’ the eighth season, is dependent on the ‘Murder House’ and ‘Coven’ and focuses on the witches of the academy. Several plot threads from those seasons were linked in this one. But, the Harmons appeared in this season for a limited period.
‘1984,’ the ninth season, cannot compete with the other seasons. Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters were absent, and the story was too predictable. However, the campy sense of humor is notable, and the season ended on a happy note. The director has tried to depict 1984 well.
The first part of the tenth season, ‘Double Feature,’ is spine-tingling and horrifying. But the second part has nothing to do with the first one. The last episode of the second part was a contradiction because, maybe, the team must have realized a bit later that they must wrap up.
You will end up watching several episodes to get the intended message in ‘NYC,’ the eleventh season. On the one hand, this season gets appreciated for the mesmerizing soundtrack. On the other hand, it seems like the makers want to stay away from the horror genre this season. Instead, they focused more on serial killing.
The short descriptions of all seasons of American Horror Story show that a few seasons are dependent on the other. So, we recommend you to watch the seasons according to this order: Freak Show, Asylum, 1984, Murder House, Coven, Roanoke, Hotel, Cult, Apocalypse, And Double Feature. The order is according to the year depicted in every season.
Chances Of The Twelfth Season
The twelfth season is expected to get released in autumn 2023, with eight to ten episodes. No specific release date has been mentioned yet. There is no final cast list. Still, some actors agree that they have already appeared in several seasons, and we may get sick of it.
Some actors, like Paulson, consider American Horror Story as home, but she also talks of getting retired from the show believing that it finds the better actors.
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How To Watch The American Horror Story
Purchase the subscription or show on Hulu, Google Play, iTunes, and Prime Video to watch American Horror Story. However, Amazon Prime Video will not stream the show at several locations due to the location-specific content.
Final Verdict
The aura of the American Horror Story started deteriorating with time. However, it does not mean that every initial season is better and the final seasons are worse. You will enjoy watching them in a specific order according to the period mentioned in every season instead of going chronologically. So, we rate the whole series according to the standard it could maintain throughout the years with the seasons.
Our Rating: ⭐ (4/5).
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