American Horror Stories Is A Wicked And Scary Delight
American Horror Stories, which premiered July 15 on Hulu, is FX’s hair-raising spin-off of the 2011 award-winning anthology series American Horror Story.
Created by Ryan Murphy, the new series tells a different horror story in each of its seven episodes and features a new cast including Paris Jackson, Noah Cyrus, Kaia Gerber, Sierra McCormick, and Matt Bomer.
In the first two episodes, The Rubber (wo)man part one and two, we are introduced to Scarlett Winslow (Sierra McCormick), a teenager and her two fathers Michael (Matt Bomer) and Troy (Gavin Creel), as they move into what was originally the Murder House in the AHS universe.
The family is aware of the horrific events that occurred in the house and they start to experience odd occurrences.
Events such as a rubber suit reappearing in Scarlett’s closet even after she threw it out, a red ball being thrown toward her feet when she’s in her room and a strange song that plays whenever she starts to develop sadistic thoughts.
Drive-In (episode three) features Kelley (Madison Bailey) and her boyfriend Chad (Rhenzy Feliz) going to a drive-in theater to see Rabbit Rabbit, a banned film. Tipper Gore (Amy Grabow) banned the film after the premiere audience murdered each other years prior. As the film plays, people start attacking each other.
The Naughty List (episode 4) is Christmas themed. It follows four influencers who live in a content house and have a collaborative YouTube channel named the Bro House. Their channel begins losing subscribers after they post a video of a man jumping off a bridge. After failing to regain their popularity by clickbaiting, the boys film a prank video at a mall’s Santa Village. They soon learn that no one messes with Santa Claus.
In Ba’al (episode five) viewers see a frustrated couple going through in vitro fertilization trials in an attempt to have a baby, but after five trials the doctors no longer want to continue the procedure.
A receptionist at the fertility clinic overhears the couple’s struggle and provides the woman with a totem.
The totem represents Ba’al, a fertility God. After 16 months, viewers see the woman with a child. However, the totem is soon revealed to be a demon that is taunting the mother to retrieve the child.
Feral (episode six) tells the story of a family who goes camping at a national park and loses their child. After two years, a hunter contacts the father of the child and tells him that he has proof that the child is alive and is being held by drug-dealers.
The mom and dad then venture into the forest in hopes of finding their son, but they soon learn that the search party is feral.
Game Over (episode seven) revisits Murder House by having Dylan (Adam Hagenbuch) and Connie (Noah Cyrus) renting out the Murder House for a night to take part in the “Escape From the Murder House” experience that the new owners have set up.
Soon they start experiencing its sinister aura. They witness a red rubber ball rolling into the room, a bloody nurse appearing on the stairs and Rubberman walking by their bedroom door.
Many AHS fans have been disappointed by the spin-off because they don’t like the characters, and think the plots are cheesy and predictable.
American Horror Story was an anthology series that spans an entire season allowing the writers, creators and actors to take their time to flesh out characters.
Because American Horror Stories tells a new story every episode, some shows are not as well told as others. The spin-off isn’t guided by a traditional moral compass, it’s mostly determined to shock you and give you a good scare. And, for the most part, it succeeds in doing so.
