American Horror Story released its tenth season over the summer. Fans have been excited to see what comes next in the anthology series anticipating the release of the season 11. Ten years after its inital release, the show remains widely popular, with new fans swarming in from the release of American Horror Stories, a mini-series based on the events of the original, which has been renewed for a second season. Alongside the main series is a recently release “cursed film” that effectively expands the horror universe.
American Horror Story is available on Hulu, and seasons one through nine are also available on Netflix. Here is every American Horror Story season ending explained.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
10 Murder House
American Horror Story: Murder House tells the story of the Harmon family and their move to Los Angeles following a miscarriage and crumbling marriage. The story takes place in the iconic Murder House where Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) and his family slowly learn they are being haunted by victims of previous muders within the house before the Harmon family are trapped as ghosts within it forever.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Upset after learning that Tate committed a school shooting and was the Rubber Man, Violet overdoses on pills and becomes a ghost in the house. Ben, trying to escape the house, is targeted by his mistress (Kate Mara) and other ghosts, and is murdered so he can be trapped in the house forever. Vivien gives birth to twins. One takes a single breath within the house and dies after birth, and the other lives as the Antichrist. Those souls are condemned to living in that house despite any efforts to right their wrongs.
9 Asylum
American Horror Story: Asylum proved to viewers that the writers could pull off a successful anthology series. This season revolves around the Briarcliff Manor from two different timelines. A tuberculosis ward turned mental asylum, Briarcliff becomes run by the Catholic church when journalist, Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) enters to learn about a serial killer known as Bloody Face. After being locked in the asylum by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) Lana endures the tortures within.
It is revealed in the past timeline that Bloody Face is Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto), who had assulated Lana and is eventually killed by her. Lana later bears his baby and rejects it. The asylum is long shut down after being exposed by Lana’s successful book, and it is revealed in the present day that the neo-Bloody Face is the son of Lana and Dr. Thredson. Lana deceives him and kills him, moving on with her life. After becoming a victim of the things she once wished to report as a starry-eyed jorunalist, perhaps she wonders if it was ever worth investigating in the first place.
8 Coven
An allegory of the Salem Witch Trials and oppression, American Horror Story: Coven centers around a school for witches in New Orleans. After learning she is a witch, Zoe Benson (Taissa Farmiga) is enrolled in Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. At the academy, the Supreme witch, Fiona Goode (Lange), becomes ill and loses her youth, sensing a new Supreme is rising. The witches of the academy fight for their survival leading to the test of the Seven Wonders to crown the new Supreme.
In a conspicuous conclusion, the daughter of Fiona Goode, Cordelia (Paulson), becomes the new Supreme after taking the test of the Seven Wonders. The witches who murdered the former council are sentenced to death and are replaced with Zoe and fellow witch Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe). Cordelia reveals the existence of the academy to the outside world and reopens it under new leadership. She hopes that allowing openness of their beings can help build an understanding for those who fear them, and to never allow the passing of power to be violent ever again.
7 Freak Show
Set in 1950’s Florida, a fame obsessed show manager Elsa Mars (Lange) struggles to keep her freak show alive. American Horror Story: Freak Show weaves around several plotlines surrounding the “freaks” and their liberation. Opening with the introduction of conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler (Paulson), Elsa attempts to recruit them into her freak show in hopes of revitalizing it.
Elsa sells her freak show to a tyrannical, wealthy man named Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) who ends up murdering members of the troupe in a rampage. Bette and Dot agree to marry him in order to help the surviving members avenge their troupe members and kill Dandy. Elsa, living in Hollywood, achieves stardom but is hollowed by it. After learning of the deaths of the troupe, Elsa wishes to join them in the afterlife. She reveals that what she really sought after was a sense of belonging. Their troupe is reunited as a true family in the afterlife. Her obsession with fame and ego caused her to “other” her troupe members and separate herself as not one of them, but what she truly wanted, she had all along.
6 Hotel
Based on the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley) investigates Hotel Cortez, run by the Countess (Lady Gaga) where some mysterious events have occurred. American Horror Story: Hotel’s plot is directly linked to the seasons before it, supporting its world building and characters. Similar to the “laws” in season one’s Murder House, people who die there become trapped as ghosts living within it forever.
One of Paulson’s characters, Sally McKenna, is like the flipside of a coin with The Countess on the other side. Sally longs for her partners to stay and is desperate for companionship. The Countess, however, thirsts for more and cannot be satisfied with just one. Sally is shown the concept of social media by Iris, played by Kathy Bates, which seems to fill her void for longingness. Meanwhile, the Countess becomes trapped in death with a lover who is possessive of her, stripping her of what she wants and who she truly loves. Elsewhere, Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare) reunites with her son and learns she is a grandmother. She hopes that the world her granddaughter is born into is more accepting than that of her own, signalling a “rebirth” for her character after she passes away in the hotel. The characters continue on in pursuit of happiness and their search for longingness, hopefully with more time to self-reflect on their unhappiness as a consequence of what they have done to others.
5 Roanoke
Being set as a reality series in North Carolina, American Horror Story: Roanoke takes inspiration from the real-life Roanoke colony disappearance. In the first half of the season, the characters are placed into a reenactment of strange events that took place inside a farmhouse. The second half deals with their attempt at a season two for their internal show which ultimately goes wrong.
Perhaps the ending of this season, resulting in the deaths of most of the characters, alludes to the way live television can capture almost anything without limits, and that cameras can tell an objective truth. The farmhouse was set up with hidden cameras to capture natural reactions and events, but as a result, captured more than what it was intended to. It may also be the spirits of Roanoke wanting to be seen by the public to tell the viewers they never disappeared.
4 Cult
Airing September 25, 2017, American Horror Story: Cult was directly inspired by the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and the followings of the Trump era. Ridden with clowns, bigotry, and so many phobias you definitely didn’t know existed, this plotline does not shy away from any hidden meanings.
This season showcases the formation of a cult and the violence it commits physically and mentally, specifically against main character Ally (Paulson). We see her struggle when an opposing, far-right political party seems to overtake her almost far-left life. Murphy said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter he wanted to “express all sides of [the two party] equation”. Episode titles are direct references to phrases used throughout the 2016 election, supporting the themes written in the season. For example, the finale episode is titled “Great Again”, and episode nine being titled “Drink the Kool-Aid”.
3 Apocalypse
American Horror Story: Apocalypse is a combination of the first and third seasons set in the “near” future. We see the return of the antichrist from season one (Cody Fern) and some of the witches from American Horror Story: Coven.
This season acts as a redemption and revisit for many previous characters. Some are brought back to life, some aren’t. Mostly, however, there is a sense of empowerment we see with the Coven witches who free humanity from the apocalypse. The season dips into themes of good versus evil like other seasons, but more explicitly with the witches representing the “good” and “living”, and Michael Langdon, the antichrist, as the “evil” and “dead”. By undoing the apocalypse, the events of the season are also undone showing that the evil is never resolved nor vanquished.
2 1984
Paying homage to vintage slasher films, American Horror Story: 1984 begins in Camp Redwood with a mysterious killer known as the “Night Stalker” on the loose.
This self aware season not only works to build on the lore of American Horror Story as a franchise, but to create something fresh in the horror genre. By using familiar tropes, visuals, and ideas the audience comes to expect, Murphy fills in the gray areas to modernize what we know as horror, allowing us to relate more as an audience. The ending of this season shows that someone can simultaneously have a wrongful past and also be deserving of survival and uplifting.
1 Double Feature
The most recent entry in the anthology, American Horror Story: Double Feature packs two new stories in one. The first half of the season, known as Red Tide, tells the story of vampiric creatives hiding along the shores of P-Town, Massachusetts. The second half, Death Valley, speculates on the existence of aliens and their role in major U.S. politics.
In Red Tide, we see a family turn to a pill that creates outstanding creative performance for those born with a natural talent, while the others turn to zombie-like fiends living in the streets. However, those who are talented must pay a price: the life of another to survive. We see the characters put themselves first for success, which does not work out for everyone, and how it turns an entire town into a state of madness.
Similarly, Death Valley deals with the colonization of aliens on earth hoping to save their own race from extinction, but at the cost of humanity. Also showing the greed of politicians giving away citizens in place of alien technology, which then leads to their extinction. If anything, this season teaches us that thinking of individual-based rewards poses greater harm overall.
