American Horror Story Seasons, Ranked
The eerie theme song of American Horror Story can be recognized anywhere. The series is so different from everything else available today on television and streaming services that it only takes one scene for the audience to know they have been transported into Ryan Murphy’s mind. The great TV anthology series is now going into its 11th season.
Since 2011, the horror show has taken the viewers everywhere. The horrors in the basement in a cursed house, the secret corridors of a terrifying asylum, mysterious aliens and demonic possession, a coven of witches in New Orleans, and even an unusual circus back in the 1950s — these happen in the first four seasons, alone.
Updated October 14th, 2022: If you’re a fan of American Horror Story, or a newcomer who wants to know which are the best seasons to watch first, we’ve updated this list to maintain our high standards and better reflect Ryan Murphy’s series.
After 11 years, it is no surprise that the series has myriad fans, peaking at an average of eight million viewers an episode in season four. but garnering many millions of views since streaming on Hulu. From iconic and innovative panels and exhibitions at Comic-Con to getting the spin-off series American Horror Stories, this show has created a cinematic universe of its own. It does help that the cast is basically the same all these years (including the amazing Sarah Paulson and Jessica Lange), with a few additions and some actors who took a break from the show. Overall, the fans know they will see familiar faces even before the cast for a new AHS season is officially announced.
American Horror Story has one of the best marketing teams working for television today, as well, hooking people with creepy images and brilliant TV spots. That, combined with spellbinding concepts and the ability to grasp the audience’s attention from the get-go, makes this series so iconic, some seasons more than others. Here are all American Horror Story seasons, ranked.
10
Double Feature
20th Television
FX
Season: 10
Even though this season was bifurcated into two separate stories, both ended with the feeling of not being able to achieve their goals. The boldness of trying such a different structure after nine seasons is appreciated, but the plot twists at the end of each story weren’t worth the narratives which preceded them.
Related: Endings of Every Season of American Horror Story Explained
The first part of this season is called Red Tide and focuses on a new kind of vampire. Creative people who are looking for success can find them at a price: they can take a pill that will either enhance their talent or destroy them if they weren’t talented; the infamous ending was rightly criticized. Death Valley focuses on Area 51 and aliens, mixing them with real-life people and events. Needless to say: very different subjects. Either way, the compelling aesthetics of both stories are not enough to intrigue the viewer, though it is very stylish.
9
Roanoke
20th Television
FX
Season: 6
This season is based on the real story of a whole village disappearing in the 16th century. Roanoke had the potential of being an intriguing story. The sixth season of American Horror Story had a very different structure compared to other seasons: a mixture of a reality TV show and found footage. It started strong but lost itself in its own originality.
Even actress Sarah Paulson, who has been in the show since the beginning, said she didn’t like this particular season. By the final episode, the ending is dark and emotional, but the confusing structure makes the ending seem rushed and not as big of a payoff as it would have been if it had been done differently.
8
Apocalypse
20th Television
FX
Season: 8
Apocalypse goes to show how much the creators of the series listen to its fans. Having the return of beloved characters from two previous seasons, Murder House and Coven, this season could have been so much more. Revealing interesting new information about the coven, however, becomes the highlight of this campy season.
This season of American Horror Story is more ‘story’ than ‘horror,’ and doesn’t focus on the horror itself, but rather the characters from previous stories who evoke different emotions from the audience. Because of that, and the desire to introduce certain characters and arcs, the plot often has to be contrived or manipulated to bring them about. This made a few moments dull rather than exciting, mainly because they served to move the plot forward for these characters to appear. Regardless, it’s great to see the characters.
7
Cult
20th Television
FX
Season: 7
The horror element of what makes Cult so terrifying is how factual the horror portrayed is. This season is a clear reaction by Murphy of how he (and many people) reacted to the rise of cults and extremist groups that have gained attention after the 2016 elections. It is scary how this season honestly doesn’t need any supernatural elements to be completely terrifying. A more satirical season of American Horror Story than usual, Cult is full of social criticism that has a few weak aspects, but is great for those who like more contemporary or political horror.
6
Hotel
20th Television
FX
Season: 5
With a compelling old Hollywood aesthetic and a performance by Lady Gaga, the fifth season of American Horror Story, Hotel, started with a bang. Murderers and vengeful ghosts walked the long hallways of The Hotel Cortez, inspired by the building built in Chicago by America’s first serial killer H.H. Holmes, known as ‘Murder Castle.’
Related: Here’s What to Watch If You Liked Yellowjackets
Secret passages and dinners hosted by dead serial killers are only a few things inside this hotel. Gaga, Kathy Bates, and the rest of the excellent cast start the fifth season off wonderfully, but by the middle of the season, the plot started to lose the force and violence it began with.
5
Coven
20th Television
FX
Season: 3
The third season of American Horror Story was the first one to tackle another genre that was, at the time, mostly unseen in the show: comedy. The season received a lot of backlash because of it, but after a few years, the New Orleans coven received more love than when it was released, so much so that the witches are seen once more in Apocalypse. Mixing the fictional narrative elements with real female serial killer Madame LaLaurie, Coven certainly makes a bold statement while telling the story of this unusual coven of witches.
4
Murder House
20th Television
FX
Season: 1
The story of the most famous haunted house of modern television, Murder House introduced viewers to AHS. Fans of the series go to the filming location almost every day in Los Angeles, and the first season of American Horror Story carries a lot of sentimental value for the fans. The first time the audience heard the opening song, with the tremendously frightening visuals along with it (so unlike anything else on television in 2011), this season remained a favorite due to the heartbreaking story it tells.
Dealing with mental health and abusive relationships, this story tricks the viewer into thinking the ending will be one thing, and turns out to be completely different. While the audience starts anticipating the jump scares, Murder House develops into such a riveting series that it hardly matters, and audiences finished the last episode crying. It is a rollercoaster of emotions (or rather, a ghost ride). The house is so iconic that it made a comeback in the spin-off series American Horror Stories.
3
Asylum
20th Television
FX
Season: 2
A fan favorite, the corridors of Briarcliff Manor will forever bear the screams and weeps of its unfortunate patients. A dark, gruesome story with a lot of awful sexual abuse and gory torture, this is definitely one of the most difficult watches in all of American Horror Story. Aliens, butcher doctors that delight in spilling blood, the devil, serial killers, Nazis — Asylum is definitely not for the faint of heart, and proved that AHS didn’t have any qualms going over the top.
Asylum finds a reporter infiltrating the titular asylum to report about its abuses, until she finds herself trapped there as one of the inmates. Surrounded by demonic nuns, Nazi doctors, and mentally disturbed patients, the reporter has to fight to maintain her sanity in this intense, sad, and wild season. With a darker aesthetic that pleased the fans, Asylum is one of the best-constructed narratives of the series. With incredible performances by Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe, this story is as addictive as it is horrifying.
2
Freak Show
20th Television
FX
Season: 4
The circus lullaby, the pastel colors, and the smell of popcorn fill the screen once the freak show is about to start. A controversial season regarding the representation of disabilities, Freak Show has nonetheless been a fan favorite from the start, thanks largely to the beginning of one of the most feared monsters in the American Horror Story universe: Twisty the clown.
Serial killers and crazy murderous clowns are only elements of the show, though. The audience gets to see one character who won everyone’s heart inside the Briarcliff Manor of Asylum, Pepper (Naomi Grossman, also great in Bite Me). Freak Show happens a few years before she goes to the asylum, showing the viewer new information about the character; with the first time a character came back in AHS,Freak Show was innovative due to various creative choices.
1
1984
20th Television
FX
Season: 9
The ninth season of American Horror Story takes on one of the most beloved horror subgenres of all time: the slasher movie. There are clear homages to famous franchises, such as the Sr. Jingles’ (John Carroll Lynch) backstory and the origin story of Jason from Friday The 13th. 1984 is arguably (and perhaps controversially) the best AHS season due to a few creative choices. While doing everything the audience loves about these movies (the blood and gore, the scenario, and the insane plot twists), it also deconstructs stereotypes associated with the subgenre (like what happens to the final girl, the lack of sexual content, and the revelation of the killer).
This season masters the art of mixing true-crime elements into the fictional narrative, like how serial killer Richard Ramirez sets in motion a lot of the plot. AHS 1984 makes a lot of homages to the movies that solidified this subgenre as one of the most prominent in the past decades, while also creating a narrative of its own, and its this innovative fusion of hybrids that American Horror Story does so well.
