Posted by American Horror Story is a horror anthology series by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk in which each season tells a different story. Here I talk about the first six seasons, from Murder House to Roanoke, including my favourites (Freak Show above all). At the bottom you will find the update: in 2026 the thirteenth season came out.
American Horror Story has reached its sixth season. And it does not disappoint. I am enjoying this latest season even if it is not my favourite and even if, I have to admit, the teasers made it look like something else.
American Horror Story
If you are a fan of horror series and have not seen American Horror Story yet, catch up right away! It is an excellent horror series and has the great merit of dealing with a different subject each season.
This is something I really appreciate, because it avoids ruining the story by dragging it out. As we all know, if a series does well in the ratings, season after season gets ordered, ideas often run out and quality drops sharply. With a new subject every season there is no such danger.
So far six seasons have aired (the last of which is not over yet), so let’s look at them in detail.
Murder House
The story takes place in 2011, when Ben and Vivien move into a new house with their teenage daughter Violet. Locally the house is known as the “Murder House” because of the many murders that have happened there since it was built in 1926. The couple who bought it, however, know nothing about it.
This gives rise to strange episodes inside the house, which mix with the vices and fears of its inhabitants. Put like that it sounds like the classic haunted house story, but I cannot reveal more without spoiling the surprises this series will certainly give you.
One of my favourite seasons, highly recommended.
Asylum
The second season takes place in 1964, mainly in the Briarcliff asylum, run by Sister Jude and Monsignor Howard. Besides the asylum’s directors we find sweet Sister Mary Eunice and the sadistic Dr Arden.
Among the patients there is Kit, a young man accused of being the serial killer Bloody Face who says he is innocent and was abducted by aliens, and Lana, a lesbian journalist committed by deception after getting into the asylum to interview Kit.
Each of these characters hides secrets that are revealed as the season goes on. Here too the story is gripping and full of emotion, highly recommended, if only to see Jessica Lange sing “The Name Game”.
Coven
This was one of the seasons I liked least, although I know it was one of the most popular overall. It takes place in 2013 with some flashbacks to 1834, and follows a group of girls attending Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. They have various powers, from telekinesis to mind reading to voodoo.
I did not finish this season, because about halfway through it gets really heavy and boring (for me). I did like the idea of bringing in two real historical figures, Delphine LaLaurie and Marie Laveau.
Freak Show
This is my favourite season of all. If you love the 1932 film “Freaks”, you cannot miss Freak Show. The season is set in 1952 and follows the freaks of a circus run by Elsa Mars, a woman with a dark past that is revealed during the season.
Among the main characters are the lobster boy and his mother, the bearded lady, the two-headed woman, the smallest woman in the world, the strongman, the fat lady and many others.
Things change for this nearly bankrupt circus with the arrival of a strange man who fascinates Elsa and seems interested in her singing talent, when in fact he only wants one of the freaks to kill and display in a museum.
Here we meet Pepper again, one of the characters from “Asylum”, and learn her story. The characters of Elsa and Sister Jude are also closely connected, although they are not the same person. This is one of the things I liked most, the link with another season.
Around all this there is also a killer clown and a spoiled psychopathic young man. Highly recommended.
Hotel
So far this is the season I liked least. I only watched the first two or three episodes, but it did not grab me at all, so I gave up.
The story is set in various periods: 1925, 2010, 2015 and 2022. Reading the plot I found out that these characters also intertwine with those of another season, the first. The hotel is inhabited both by paying guests and by strange creatures.
Roanoke
Roanoke is the latest season for now and is still on air. It mixes real events, such as the lost colony of Roanoke, with fiction.
Specifically, the first part is a mockumentary in which actors play a couple who had paranormal experiences in a house in the woods. The second part brings the actors and the real people from the mockumentary together in that house for a reality show that will end in blood.
Update: the later seasons
Since I wrote this article American Horror Story has come a long way. After Roanoke came:
- Cult (2017), set after the 2016 US election, with a cult and lots of clowns;
- Apocalypse (2018), which brings the witches of Coven together with the Murder House;
- 1984 (2019), a tribute to 1980s slashers set at a summer camp;
- Double Feature (2021), split into two different stories;
- NYC (2022), set in early-1980s New York;
- Delicate (2023-2024), with Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian.
Since 2021 there has also been the spin-off American Horror Stories, with standalone episodes.
And just this year, on 24 September 2026, the thirteenth season began, American Horror Story: 13: 13 half-hour episodes, the last of which aired on 29 October, with a cast of the show’s historic faces and a return to the witches of Coven.
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