When American Horror Story premiered in 2011, it was at the start of a renaissance for television horror that arguably began when The Walking Dead first aired a year earlier. Horror television series are nothing new, but there has been a definite revival in recent years and AHS is a major part of that.
Part of the show’s success is in how it blends real life terrors into a bizarre and twisted world where ghosts, vampires and witches exist. It brings a balance to these outlandish stories, preventing the show from becoming too extreme in its fantasy.
From serial killers to unsolved mysteries, Set The Tape presents some of the inspirations behind the stories in American Horror Story.
Warning: the following article contains content which may upset some readers
Serial Killers
Probably some of the most obvious influences on the show are the serial killers who have appeared three times in the series as part of storylines. There is Bloody Face and Son of Bloody Face in ‘Asylum’, the axe murderer of New Orleans in ‘Coven’ (based on real life events) and The Ten Commandments killer in ‘Hotel’. Aileen Wuornos, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Richard Ramirez (aka The Night Stalker) all appeared in ‘Hotel’. Between them they are responsible for the murders of over 70 people. John Wayne Gacy, who often worked as a clown, also influenced the Twisty the Clown character who appeared in ‘Freak Show’. Gacy was caught in December 1978 and was later executed by lethal injection in 1994.
In the first season of the show, ‘Murder House’, it is revealed that the weird next door neighbour Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) was a school shooter, modelled after Columbine High School shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who murdered 12 students and one teacher in April 1999.
Real Life Mysteries
Elizabeth Short appeared in season one, played by Mena Suvari. Short is better known as The Black Dahlia, one of the most famous and brutal unsolved murders of the twentieth century. Short’s heavily mutilated body was found in Los Angeles in December 1947 and her killer was never found, but ‘Murder House’ placed the blame for her death on Dr. David Curran and her mutilation on the ghost of Charles Montgomery.
‘Asylum’ featured interracial couple Alma and Kit Walker who are apparently abducted by aliens. This has echoes of Barney and Betty Hill, a New Hampshire couple who claimed to have been abducted by aliens in 1961. The couple claimed to have little memory of the encounter and underwent hypnosis in 1964 to try and remember the events. Skeptics claim the encounter was simply an hallucination.
Movies
To list every great horror film that inspired aspects of the show would be an entire article on its own, however some are worth noting. ‘Murder House’ has obvious links with The Amityville Horror, a haunted house movie based on a ‘true’ story, while Viviene’s demonic pregnancy has more than a few shades of Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby.
A young priest’s battle with the devil in ‘Asylum’ pays homage to The Exorcist and the asylum itself is like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest on steroids, while links between Tod Browning’s Freaks and ‘Freak Show’ should go without saying.
Forerunners & Legacy
Horror television series have come and gone over the years. Alfred Hitchcock Presents ran from 1955 to 1965 and showed a free standing story every week. The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone were of similar tone and also ran during the same time. Freddy Krueger even got his own stab (pun intended) at horror anthology with Freddy’s Nightmares in 1985 and Tales from the Crypt ran from 1989 to 1996.
Horror fans are now spoilt for their viewing pleasure. As noted earlier, The Walking Dead began the year before American Horror Story and has spawned a spin off Fear the Walking Dead. Penny Dreadful is set in Victorian England and focuses on classic monsters. The story of Norman Bates before Marion Crane is the focus of Bates Motel starring Vera Farminga as the imposing and unstable matriarch Norma.
Television horror is in rude health in this day and age; and with American Horror Story’s hybridisation of the anthology series offering a new story and a new theme each season, it looks like it is set to continue to be a strong part of the genre.
Did we miss any key influences on American Horror Story? What do you think of the latest season? Let us know in comments or on social media.