Real Life Nightmares: What American Horror Story Is About

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Lifehacker recalls the main themes of the series and their primary sources.

By design, each season of American Horror Story is a variation on the theme of some classic horror movie. Moreover, authors Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk often took real events and biographies of people as a basis.

The series is an anthology, that is, the stories are not related to each other, and different characters are played by the same actors. So, Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson starred in all seasons.

Launched now "Apocalypse" for the first time violates these rules. The authors decided to confront the main characters of the two most popular stories: "House-killers" and "Sabbat". On this occasion, it will be useful to remember what they talked about in each season of the series and where the authors got their inspiration from.

1. The killer house

The first season of the anthology is dedicated to the Harmon family. Ben (Dylan McDermott), his wife Vivienne (Connie Britton) and daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga) move from Boston to Los Angeles and live in an empty house. The new inhabitants are confused by only one thing: the former owner of the house killed his lover, and then committed suicide.

Strange things begin to happen almost immediately. Vivienne hires a maid, whom she sees as an old woman, and her husband as a seductive girl. A teenager obsessed with murder begins to visit Ben, and a man with a burnt face constantly convinces the owners that this house is inhabited by ghosts.

Indeed, to understand which of the guests is real, and who died many years ago, with each series it becomes more difficult. And at the same time, Vivien becomes pregnant with twins, one of whom is to become the Antichrist.

In the first season, the authors used a lot of real stories. For example, the story of a teenager who shot his classmates is based on the tragedy at Columbine School, and among the ghosts of the house are shown the nurses killed by the maniac Richard Speck in 1966.

2. Mental hospital

Season 2 is set in the mid-sixties at Bricliff Mental Hospital, run by the violent nun Jude (Jessica Lange). Keith Walker (Evan Peters), a suspect in the murders of young women, enters the hospital. And journalist Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson), who is covering these crimes in the press, is trying to find out more about the clinic's work.

A lot has been mixed this season: from experiments on psychopaths put by the former fascist Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) to aliens, the angel of death and the devil himself, who possessed one of the nuns (Lily Rabe). At the same time, many of the creepy stories from the "Asylum" are also based on real events.

Bricliff itself is a semblance of the creepy Willowbrook school for the mentally retarded, which was subsequently closed due to staff abuse of children. Dr. Arden is clearly referring to the eerie experiments of Joseph Mengele, and another character is copied from the criminal Ed Gin - the prototype of Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

In addition, the alien abduction of the heroes is reminiscent of the story of Barney and Betty Hill, who claimed that they came into contact with UFOs.

3. Sabbat

From tales of ghosts and lunatics, the authors of American Horror Story have moved on to witchcraft. 300 years after the famous Salem trial, there are very few witches left, and they try to hide their skills.

Another attack brings the young witches to a special school in New Orleans. High Witch Fiona (Jessica Lange) is aggressive and wants to protect her family. Her daughter Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) is more peaceful and just teaches girls to defend themselves.

Each student has her own secrets. Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) goes to school after she discovers dark forces in her: she can cause hemorrhage in a person when she has sex with him. Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts) has telekinesis abilities. Queenie (Gaburi Sidibe) can injure others if she cuts herself. Nan (Jamie Brewer) hears other people's thoughts.

The plot is based on the struggle of heroines with witches from other clans and hunters for evil spirits. And here the authors recall an interesting mythology. Angela Bassett plays the priestess Marie Laveau, which adds to the voodoo magic. Even Papa Legba appears - an intermediary between people and spirits in the cult.

In addition, the season features Delphine LaLaurie (Katie Bates) - the legendary assassin of the 18th century - and even the New Orleans Lumberjack, who attacked people with an ax in the early 20th century.

4. Freak show

This season is dedicated to another classic horror theme - the freak circus. For the most part, this is just a story about the days of traveling actors in the fifties. When they arrive in the city of Jupiter, an assassin dressed as a clown appears in the vicinity. This causes aggression among residents who already do not trust the inhabitants of the traveling circus.

Here Ryan Murphy literally went for broke. He invited really unusual people to play in the series: Amazon Eve is 203 cm tall, Jyoti Amji is 62 cm tall, legless Rose Siggins and many others.

The rest of the characters had real prototypes. Evan Peters plays a lobster man with deformed arms. This is the second time Naomi Grossman appears in the role of Papper, which strangely connects Freak Show with Asylum, where this character was also. And Pepper herself and her husband look like the famous character Schlitzie.

But perhaps the most interesting is Sarah Paulson. Here she is in the role of Siamese twins with a common body.

The maniac clown Twisty also had a real prototype - John Wayne Gacy. At the beginning of the 20th century, he killed more than 30 people. And then the spirit of Edward Mordrake, one of the most famous people with physical oddities, appears in the plot. Mordrake did have a second face on the back of his head.

Equally important, Ryan Murphy said goodbye to one of his favorite actresses, Jessica Lange. Prior to that, she appeared in all seasons of "American Horror Story", but the role of the owner of the circus was at that time for her final.

5. Hotel

Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley) takes on a series of murders. A few leads lead him to the Cortez Hotel. And the further he understands the events taking place there, the more convinced he is that all the oddities are associated with the first owner of the building, who turned it into a real labyrinth. And of course, not all of Cortez's permanent residents are living people.

This season, the authors managed to attract the viewer with a new bright star. Lady Gaga appeared in the series. She got the image of the sexy vampire countess Elizabeth - one of the former hostesses of the hotel.

Evan Peters this time played the first owner of "Cortez", who already as a ghost every year gathers all the famous maniacs for the holiday. This hero also, of course, had a prototype - the first famous American maniac Henry Howard Holmes, who built a hotel with many dead ends and traps. He killed the girls who worked for him and received insurance payments for them.

6. Roanoke

In the sixth season, the authors of the series moved away from the traditional format. "Roanoke" is shown in the form of a pseudo-documentary show, where supposedly participants in real events talk about what happened to them, and the actors act out what is happening for them. Thus, the same roles are played by two people at once: the "real" hero and the actor from the show. For example, Sarah Paulson shows on the screen what happened to the character Lily Rabe.

Interestingly, since the middle of the season, the format of the series changes again and the "real" heroes meet with the actors.

The main storyline is connected with one of the oldest American legends - the missing English colony of Roanoke. The main characters move to the places where the settlers once settled, and encounter their ghosts.

By the way, Lady Gaga appeared this season as well. Here she played the Scatha witch from Irish mythology.

7. Cult

Sarah Paulson plays a woman suffering from PTSD after the tragic events of 9/11. She has many phobias that she tries to heal. But after the victory of Donald Trump, all her problems are aggravated. She even unwittingly commits murder.

At the same time, Kai (Evan Peters) runs for the city council elections, and then creates a cult of like-minded people who are ready to kill.

This season, for the first time, the authors deviated from the ideas of classic horror in the direction of a social thriller. This is not surprising, since Ryan Murphy is an ardent opponent of Trump. In general, the season shows the psychological state of many Americans after the presidential elections.

8. Apocalypse

September 12th is the start of the new season of American Horror Story. For the first time, the creators of the series decided on a full-fledged crossover. Previously, only a few heroes appeared or were mentioned in different seasons, which had little impact on the plot.

"Apocalypse" will simultaneously be a continuation of the stories of "House of the Assassin" and "Sabbat".

The details of the plot have not yet been disclosed, but it is already known that almost all witches have returned to their roles. Jessica Lange and the main characters of the first season will also appear. There will also be an adult Antichrist born in the finale of Murder House.

At the same time, Sarah Paulson confirmed that she will play three roles at once: two of the previous seasons and an unknown new one.