Ranking All 7 Seasons Of American Horror Story From Worst To Best
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Ranking All 7 Seasons Of American Horror Story From Worst To Best

Why Cult Was The Weakest AHS Season, And What's The Best?

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Ranking All 7 Seasons Of American Horror Story From Worst To Best
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This month, FX completed the seventh installment it's most popular show in American Horror Story, with this season titled Cult. The show is famous for reintroducing the long-forgotten format of television anthology series with each season being an entirely different story with different characters played by the same actors (Though there are the occasional references to the previous seasons.)

Though it does take place in the same universe, each season has wildly different themes and each setting is a different place in time and location. All of which fall under one universal theme in American fear. So I decided to rank all of them from worst to best.

Ranking all seven seasons of the show was really hard in fact. Each one is its own unique thing and yet often it leaves similar impressions. Each season leads an innocent protagonist into a dark and disturbing world, and their only way of adapting is to take some of that horror within themselves to survive. This list will show what seasons did it best in terms of memorable moments and characters.

And there is one constant that almost all seasons have: Evan Peters's character getting someone pregnant. Enjoy!

*Warning: There Are Some Spoilers in this list, so beware*


7. Cult

Trump's legacy summed up in one gif

Sorry Cult fans, those with recency bias and the belief that Cult's deep messages and fascinating discussion topics make it one of the best seasons will be disappointed in me saying I think it's the weakest of the entire series.

First of all, Cult isn't a bad season, there are no truly bad seasons, and Evan Peter's performance and character of Kai is one of the best and most complex antagonists of the series. But other than Peter's great performance, this season is the mostly forgettable.

This latest season will be known as the show's response to what occurred in last year's presidential election. An event more surreal and terrifying than anything Ryan Murphy could ever put on the show, so he used it to draw the many themes Trump has symbolized over the past year:

A testosterone driven snake-oil salesman who disguises reactionary and chaotic immorality into classic American conservatism.

The epic and never-ending struggle women face against the patriarchy that probably won't end until all masculinity is gone from all people.

Xenophobia towards people of different heritages, beliefs, and intimidating those who don't agree with the Cult.

Overall, the season is dragged down by the references to Trump and last year's election. Most historical events make great stories, but the story of Trump's election honestly doesn't.

There is no deeper context to him and his election other than the fact that it is indescribably terrible and the sooner we escape this surreal nightmare, the better the country and the world will be.

So Mr. Trump, you're basically Charles Manson only slightly more clean-cut.


6. Coven

Does this remind you of Scream Queens too?

It's a good concept and has interesting characters, but for some reason, this season of American Horror Story is one of the least memorable. It has one of the best casts and follows a good story, yet the tone simply never sticks nor lives up to that "American Horror Story" lore.

We follow Taissa Farmiga's character as Zoe Benson who finds out (in the worst way possible) that she is a witch and is sent to New Orleans for a Sorority Witch School. Even though Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett and Lily Rabe are all good, it's Kathy Bates's performance as the vile and twisted Delphine LaLaurie who is the most memorable character of the show. Her disturbing racism (extreme for even the pre-Civil War South) and horrific abuse of her daughters makes her arrival to current times complicated and awkward. Her relationship with Gabourey Sidibe's character Queenie is both funny and serious in Quennie trying to change her mind on race.

Even with some good stuff, Coven isn't quite compelling enough to grip audiences the way the first two seasons did and feels more like a show that throws crazy visuals to the screen instead of a deeply rooted and dark story that it could've been.

Also, Evan Peter's character is wasted in having almost no lines and playing a less-messed up version of Frankenstein's Monster. I could have played that role! Speaking of which FX, if Peters ever leaves the show, feel free to call me to audition as his replacement. ;)


5. Freak Show

Why So Serious? You'll Float Too.

Twisty and Dandy the brat. Those two characters are forever linked to the Freak Show season.

In just a few episodes, the character of Twisty terrified a fan base of young adults. I'm not kidding, everyone was literally scared of Twisty! He makes Pennywise look like Ronald McDonald.

Unlike Coven, the disturbing imagery of Freak Show sticks to the viewers conscious.

I mean how horrifying is the image where The Brat plays puppets with his dead mother?

The skin crawls in seeing the fragile innocence and vulnerability in characters like the two-headed freak and the Indian little person. They're freaks who band together but have the walls closing in by a 1950s American society rejecting people who look different.

One decision the show-runners made that did not pan out well was having the freak show sing great songs that were made decades after the show's time. Did they think audiences wouldn't realize that Kurt Cobain wasn't born yet when Evan Peters sang "Come As You Are"?

It's also the swan song for Jessica Lange's run on the show (for now, she is dearly missed) and while her performance is great, her character is not as memorable as her previous ones.

Also...Lobster hands...wow...


4. Hotel

Pulp Fiction Sequel?

In the absence of Jessica Lange, Lady Gaga arrived as the star of the fifth season and it actually worked. The queen of weird music outfits fitted as the vampire queen of the hotel.

Hotel brought out great performances from first-timers Gaga and Matt Bomer, and Wes Bently as the season's lead actor. The horror element of troubled spirits being trapped in The Cortez hotel when they died is similar to the first season, but made for some fascinating stories between people, ghosts, and vampires from different backgrounds and eras.

Also, how often do you see a dinner party with the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, Aileen Wuornos, and The Zodiac Killer (who was actually was the SCUM cult in Cult). Charles Manson will finally get to join in this Halloween as well. If only The Golden State Killer got enough attention to attend the dinner too. Look him up, he's still not caught.


3. Roanoke

It's the most unconventional season of the show, especially considering the series itself defies convention. But what made Roanoke unique and brilliant was to scaling back from the traditional American Horror Story season of schlock and horror, to just horror.

This season is divided into three parts.

The "Reenactment", which is probably the best part, where actors are recreating the real-life events of the strange horror that occurred for a couple living in a haunted house.

The "Crossover" with both the actors and real-life people being put together house and almost all of them suffering gruesome fates which even goes above American Horror Story's death standards.

And the third act which focuses entirely on Lee Harris played by Adina Porter, the actress who was the least-famous cast member of the entire season, making for a unique twist.

This season actually felt truly terrifying and real with the use of found-footage cameras and minimal use of lights. Seeing both the reenacted and real-life versions of what happen adds interesting dimensions to the season. What's real, and what is exaggerated entertainment? In the end, we really don't know what happened unless if we were actually there.


2. Murder House

That shot!

The show evolved so much since it's the first season that it's almost unrecognizable.

The three main stars have all but disappeared from the show:

Dylan Mcdermott only appeared at the end of the next season.

Taissa Farmiga was the star of Coven, other than that she had a small role in Roanoke.

Connie Britton hasn't appeared in any season at all since despite being very good as the female lead.

Evan Peter's breakout role as Tate is arguably the most compelling character of the entire series and the image of him walking through school in skeleton face paint might be the most iconic image the show has ever created.

Jessica Lange roars into the show as Constance Langdon, a once inspiring actress now middle-aged with a disturbed and dysfunctional family. The Oscar-winner's fantastic performance in the show's inaugural season elevated American Horror Story from a schlock B-show into intriguing entertainment.

Murder House also establishes the tropes that have been interwoven in American Horror Story DNA: constant character deaths, dark exploration through history, shocking Halloween specials, and the season jumping the shark in the finale before becoming a big joke. Stopping at just the right time.

For better or for worse, we owe so much of this great show to that original season.


1. Asylum

The Kiss of Death

Murder House was a great introduction to the show's unconventional storytelling, but Asylum was the season that pushed the envelope further and peaked the series's potential.

Who could forget the performances?

James Cromwell as the former Nazi turned creepy Asylum doctor (Why has he never come back to the show?!)

Zachary Quinto as the sympathetic psychiatrist who is hiding a dark and twisted secret (Why hasn't he come back either?!)

Sarah Paulson became a television superstar with her performance as Lana Winters, her best character (who reappeared in Roanoke) which made her a mainstay of the show. Winters goes through great character development from a shallow reporter, to a poor victim in being trapped in the asylum, to the cold-blooded author who confronts her bastard son in the best ending of all the seasons.

Evan Peters also became the show's main leading man with a great performance as Kit Walker. While Walker is not as compelling as Tate or Kai, it's his most human and sympathetic character. He goes through a brutal hell in the asylum when framed for murder and finding love in the cold, dark place with Grace Bertrand, played by Lizzie Brochere (Also has never come back!)

Jessica Lange as the head nun of the asylum carries both cold intimidation and genuine pathos. Probably her best performance of the series as well.

Inspired by the disturbing events which occurred in asylums during the 20th Century, Asylum creates a fascinatingly dark atmosphere with our heroes being wrongly trapped in an asylum of psychopaths and monsters, most monsters being the nuns and doctors. Hence, all monsters are human. Even hypnotizing songs like “Dominique” and “The Name Game” are both catchy and creepy.


Unfortunately, no season of American Horror Story has been as been as good as Asylum, and there may never be.

Nevertheless, this show maintains the ability to tell new stories that dwells deep inside the subconscious of America's fear and darkness. The history of America is as dark and twisted as it is inspiring and beautiful, let neither side of the story be forgotten, for one cannot live without the other.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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