American Horror Story

What are you looking at?

So, to take a break from Game of Thrones which I swear to God is basically Dune in a High Fantasy setting, I decided to watch American Horror Story. There are two reasons for this. First, Game of Thrones was too heavy and I really want to read the book version of the first season before I even begin to write about the second season. Then I want to read the second book as well. Second, I have had two people I trust with having good taste tell me it’s a good series: the cousin I’m visiting and one of my besties back home (Hey Cynthia! I’ll get around to HtTT when I think up what happens next and get to writing it down!). Cynthia’s been on my ass about watching it since we became friends. Steph… just told me she had the first season and said that I wouldn’t be wasting my time by watching it. Obviously, my cousin recognizes the fact that I’m too lazy to actually go looking for something someone tells me to read/watch. She also handed me a book series, but then I stole her Kindle and started to read Game of Thrones instead (Sorry?).

There’s two problems with trying to take a break from a deep, political, complicated series with a deep, thoughtful horror series. I’m sure you’ve already figured those out, but I want to finish this paragraph. First of all, both series are involved, so I get emotionally invested in the results. Bad idea. When “taking a break” means an emotional break as well. I wanted “light and fluffy with a bit of gore”. American Horror Story isn’t “light and fluffy”, but there is quite a bit of gore. Second, both series are thoughtful and require a bit of thinking. I wasn’t asking as much questions with American Horror Story as I was with Game of Thrones. However, that was less because I didn’t have questions and more because Steph wasn’t around for me to ask her… And she made it quite clear she didn’t appreciate questions anyhow.

So… what did I think of American Horror Story?

Well, it’s dark, twisted, Zachary Quinto’s hot ass is in it. And… I really like it.

Let’s get to the usual introduction, actually.

American Horror Story is a horror series that first aired on FOX in Fall 2011. There are a lot of actors and actresses in the series, including Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Evan Peters, Taissa Farminga, Denis O'Haire, Zachary Quinto, and Jessica Lange. It’s only twelve episodes long and nicely paced, but even so, a lot happens in the series. There are a lot of memorable characters. Actually, some of the characters are common in haunted-house stories, but they usually have a twist or they’re just deeper than they usually are. When even the ghosts are well-rounded characters (well, most of them), then the story gets awesome. That’s what happens. You have twelve episodes to live in a house with the usual haunted-house dysfunctional family (minus the creepy son that stares, dead-eyed at everything), get to know them, and get to know the house.

I love it because while it is terrifying in some places (especially at night), there are some hilarious parts too. Not all the ghosts and their antics are violent, horrible and willing to kill. In fact, a fair number of the ghosts are just victims of the psychopathic ghosts or very unlucky circumstances. Two ghosts are a gay couple. They want to redecorate. One ghost is a maid. She wants to clean the house, and seduce the lecherous husband. Another ghost is the original wife of the original owner. She just wants a baby. That’s right! A ghost wants a baby!

It’s insane in places. It’s hilarious. I’ll never look at a rubber gimp suit the same way again. And it keeps you guessing.

It is American Horror Story, and if that’s the new standard for horror stories in America, I’d hate to see the British, French, or Japanese versions!

Sweet Dreams!