American Horror Story (sometimes abbreviated as AHS) is an American horroranthology[1][2] television series co-created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a different set of characters and settings, and a storyline with its own beginning, middle and end. However, Murphy has stated that all of the seasons are and will be connected by the end of the series.[3] Some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events.
The first season, retroactively subtitled Murder House, takes place in Los Angeles, California, during 2011 and centers on a family that moves into a house haunted by its deceased former occupants. The second season, subtitled Asylum, takes place in Massachusetts, during 1964, and follows the stories of the patients and staff of an institution for the criminally insane. The third season, subtitled Coven, takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, during 2013, and follows a coven of witches who face off against those who wish to destroy them. The fourth season, subtitled Freak Show, takes place in Jupiter, Florida, during 1952, and focuses on one of the last remaining American freak shows and their struggle for survival. The fifth season, subtitled Hotel, takes place in Los Angeles, California, during 2015, and focuses on the staff and guests of a supernatural hotel. The sixth season, subtitled Roanoke, takes place in North Carolina, during 2014–2016, and focuses on the paranormal events that take place at an isolated farmhouse haunted by the deceased Roanoke colony. The seventh season, subtitled Cult, takes place in the fictional suburb of Brookfield Heights, Michigan, during 2017 and centers on a cult terrorizing the residents in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The eighth season, subtitled Apocalypse, features the return of the witches from Coven as they battle the Antichrist from Murder House in an attempt to prevent the apocalypse. The ninth season, subtitled 1984, takes place outside of Los Angeles, California, during the titular year, 1984, and focuses on a group of young staff members at a summer camp getting ready to reopen after a massacre. The tenth season, Double Feature, is split into two stories; the first half, Red Tide, centres around a screenwriter who moves to Provincetown, Massachusetts with his family for the winter; the second half, Death Valley, revolves around an alien invasion of the United States and the response of the U.S. government. The eleventh season, subtitled NYC, takes place in New York City in the early 80s and follows members of the LGBT community who are targeted by a serial killer, as a mysterious virus is being carefully monitored. The twelfth season, subtitled "Delicate", is based on Danielle Valentine's book Delicate Condition. The season takes place in New York City and follows an actress who comes to believe that someone is going to great lengths to stop her from fulfilling her dream of getting pregnant. In January 2020, FX renewed the series through to season 13.
Some characters have appeared in multiple seasons: Pepper was the first, appearing in Freak Show after having appeared in Asylum.[4]Hotel, Roanoke, Cult and NYC also had characters from previous seasons making appearances.[5] As a crossover between Murder House and Coven, several characters from those two seasons reappeared in Apocalypse.[6]
Cast Members and Characters
List indicator(s)
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in each season.
A green cell indicates the actor is a main cast member.
A red cell indicates the actor is a recurring cast member.
A light blue cell indicates the actor is a guest or special guest cast member.
A light gray cell indicates the actor is a co-starring cast member.
A dark gray cell indicates the actor has not participated in the respective season.
^Peters' character's first name, Malcolm, was revealed via media articles only after the Apocalypse season had aired. During the season he was simply known as "Mr. Gallant".
^Throughout the Coven season the character was only known as "Spalding", with his full name retroactively revealed to be Otis Spalding Van Wirt in the first episode of the second season of American Horror Stories.
^O’Hare's character also portrayed Dr. Elias Cunningham in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Quinto played an uncredited role as a presenter at a fictional version of The Gotham Awards.
^Paulson's character also portrayed Lily Rabe’s character, Shelby Miller, in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Paulson also portrayed Susan Atkins in Kai's Storytelling.
^The real name of Conroy’s character who portrayed the fictional version of Robin Weigert's character, Mama Polk, in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season) is unknown.
^Conroy's character's real name is Sarah Cunningham with Belle Noir used as a pseudonym for her writing.
^Bates' character also portrayed Thomasin White (The Butcher) in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Bassett's character also portrayed Adina Porter’s character, Lee Harris, in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Bentley's character also portrayed Ambrose White in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Jackson's character sometimes went by the name Dr. Rudy Vincent to hide his surname and association with his brother, Kai Anderson.
^The real name of Gaga’s character who portrayed Scáthach in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season) is unknown.
^Gooding Jr.'s character also portrayed André Holland’s character, Matt Miller, in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Ross' character was known as Nurse Rita during promotion, which was revealed to be a stolen identity the character was using throughout the first half of the season).
^Jordan's character also portrayed Cricket Marlowe in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^The real name of Whitfield’s character who portrayed Mason Harris in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season) is unknown.
^The real name of Richmond’s character who portrayed Ishmael Polk in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season) is unknown.
^The real name of Pyper-Ferguson’s character who portrayed Mr. Cage in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season) is unknown.
^The real name of Wade’s character who portrayed Guinness in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season) is unknown.
^Goodwin portrayed a fictional version of herself in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^Bono's character also portrayed Lot Polk in My Roanoke Nightmare (a fictional documentary series within the Roanoke season).
^ Schilling played herself in an uncredited role as a presenter at a fictional version of the Golden Globe Awards.
