We lived in the murder house, escaped the asylum, protected the coven, attended the freak show, checked into the hotel, and returned to Roanoke. Here are the best seasons of American Horror Story ranked from best to worst.
Warning: Spoilers ahead
#1: Murder House
At first, Season 1 of AHS seems like your typical Haunted House storyline—a dysfunctional family with a dark past moves into a new house and spooky things happen, with typical themes of sexual infidelity and birth.
Maybe I’m biased by ranking Murder House as number 1 because it was the first season of the series I watched. However, I can say that I was so genuinely scared during parts of this season that I had to look up the plotlines on Wikipedia beforehand so I knew what would happen and not be scared by jump surprises. Any scene involving the basement I only watched by peeking out from behind my fingers.
In my opinion, the most shocking part of the season is a tie between finding out at the same time Violet did that she was actually dead, anf watching heartthrob Tate gun down his fellow students at Westfield High. I loved that with each passing episode, I learned more about the house’s dark history, eventually causing the residing spirits to come to light.
#2: Coven
Although the witches in Coven were b*tches, there was something so satisfying with this season. Even the supporting characters had captivating background stories, whether it was the musically murderous Axe Man, voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, or silent servant Spalding.
The social commentaries of the racism and oppression associated with the Old South are still relevant in the present-day. And Emma Roberts’ stellar performance as starlet Madison Montgomery gave producer Ryan Murphy inspiration for his other hit series, Scream Queens (that’s right, Madison was the original Chanel Oberlin).
Some things about the series were a bit campy, such as the whole obsession with Stevie Nicks and how people were conveniently brought back to life every other episode. But nonetheless, Coven will always have a special place in my heart, and my rankings list.
#3: Asylum
Asylum is deserving of spot No. 3 because it deals with a different kind of horror: psychological horror. Lana Winters as the lesbian investigative reporter/patient/abducted rape victim is the strongest female character ever created throughout the AHS series. Also, Evan Peters as the drawling Kit Walker who would do anything for his family—err, families—is completely charming.
The one downfall of this season is that it simply tries to do too much. This season contains exorcisms, Nazi doctors, serial killers, and extraterrestrials, all woven throughout the themes of religion, racism, and sexual identity. It’s beautifully done, but could be just as captivating with a little less.
#4: Hotel
This much darker season was filled with blood, sex, and confusion. Lady Gaga made her AHS debut and won a Golden Globe for the portrayal of Elizabeth, the glamorous socialite and owner of the Hotel Cortez. However, things got a bit messy—and I’m not just talking about the blood.
There’s so much going on in this season: Lady Gaga is a fashionista vampire with many (male and female) lovers, and kidnaps blond children in her spare time. Also, the characters of Donovan, Will Drake, Tristan Duffy and Rudy all looked exactly the same—all male white dudes who I couldn’t tell apart.
I was not charmed by the character Hypodermic Sally. But maybe that’s the point: she’s unlovable and that’s why she’s an addict. Liz Taylor, the transgender bartender, was probably my favorite character and I’m pleased that she eventually finds peace in her life and afterlife.
Something that fascinated me with this season was that character James Patrick March, who was loosely based off of historical figure H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer. Like March, Holmes constructed a “Hotel of Horrors” for murdering his guests that contained gas chamber bedrooms and a labyrinth that led to nowhere.
All in all, this was a pretty good season, and the only one in which I watched all the episodes in real-time. If you’re a Little Monster fan, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy Lady Gaga star in Hotel.
#5: Roanoke
I can summarize Roanoke in one word: disappointing. The intense marketing behind the reveal of this season’s theme annoyingly went in so many different directions, leaving the audience frustrated when the actual season was nothing like the teaser trailers. The mockumentary way to film the season was different, but unnecessary. Roanoke should’ve been named something more like Murder House: Country Edition ft. hillbilly cannibalism.
It was confusing that real actors were playing fake people, who in turn were played by fake actors. If this description doesn’t make sense, then you just have to watch the show.
However, this season did provide some connections to past seasons. We met Lady Gaga again, this time as America’s first Supreme, making the Coven witches her kin. The character of psychic Billie Dean Howard from Murder House came back, as well as other Season 1 references such as croatoan and the piggy man. We learned about the Mott family from Freak Show, and even got to see another TV special interview conducted by Asylum’s Lana Winters. If there were less filming on iPhone cameras and less disembowelment, it would have been better.
#6: Freak Show
If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m an American Horror Story fan. Yet, I couldn’t even finish the remainder of this season because it was so bad. Since it was queen Jessica Lange’s last season, her role as Elsa Mars, the owner of a “Cabinet of Curiosities,” was supposed to be her swan song performance. Yet, the plot fell flat about mid-season and became boring.
The only thing that provided horror in this season was the serial killer clown Twisty, who was killed off in episode four. He was so scary that I couldn’t even include a gif of him in this article. Overall, the best part of this season is the scene where Jessica Lange performs Lana Del Rey’s “Gods and Monsters” on Halloween Night.
There you have it, my rantings and rankings of each season of American Horror Story. I can’t wait until the Murder House/Coven crossover season that’s scheduled to come—after all, they are my top two favorites.