American Horror Story established horror in the television landscape for good. Since Murder House, the team led by Ryan Murphy has been giving audiences the biggest scares, as well as some of the biggest twists, on television today.
Each season is filled with shocking, disturbing, and satisfying reveals that much of the audience never suspects. Over its eight seasons, AHS continues to surprise through captivating performances and excellent writing. Before we visit Ryan Murphy’s vision of 1984 this fall, look back at some of the biggest reveals and twists in American Horror Story’s history.
Lana Winters Murdering Her Son
Perhaps the most disturbing season of the bunch, Asylum explored the darkest recesses of the human mind. The hero of this season, Lana Winters, received the full brunt of this exploration. Murder, torture, kidnapping, and sexual assault were just some of the sins that Lana had to face.
In the season finale, Lana had to come face to face with the son she was forced to have with the serial killer Bloody Face. Johnny Morgan, who took up his father’s mantle, interrupted an interview with Lana. Facing the living embodiment of her trauma, she shot him down. While somewhat expected and a natural outcome, it is still a shocking moment and quite the way to end season two.
Cordelia Being The Supreme
Throughout the arc of season three, the question as to who will end up as the new Supreme was a major thread. With Fiona’s rule slowly coming to an end, anyone in the Coven could have become supreme. Many expected fan favorite Misty Day, while others expected protagonist Zoe to rise to the ranks. But, no one should have questioned the power of Sarah Paulson.
Replacing her mother, Cordelia Goode took the mantle of Supreme and led the Coven into a golden age. With everything that happened to her, no one expected Cordelia to remain let alone win. Luckily, she earned the right to rule.
The Fate of Shelley
Shelley was never in the forefront of Asylum’s proceedings. A minor side character, her arc was fairly short-lived. But, her fate would come to be not only unexpected but disturbingly brutal beyond even Arden’s capacity. After a failed escape attempt, the evil Dr. Arden captured and experimented on her.
What resulted was Shelley becoming a legless and deformed being. Arden left her to be found on the playground of a local school. Instead of being helped, she was reviled. It was cruel and horrifying and remains one of the most jaw-dropping reveals of the whole show.
Elsa and Dr. Arden
Speaking of Arden, he was the result of another shocking reveal. In Freak Show, audiences met the head of the traveling circus Elsa Mars. This performing ringtop showstopper might seem glamorous on the surface, but her traumatic past would say otherwise.
Before her time at the freakshow, Elsa was a sex worker in Germany. After being drugged by a group of men, she was forced into a snuff film where none other than Dr. Arden sawed off her legs. The fact that Arden was behind the act, not to mention the shocking reveal of her past, made this sequence one to remember.
Kyle’s Incestuous Mother
One of Evan Peters’ less memorable performances was as the undead frat boy Kyle Spencer. Love interest for Zoe, Spencer died in the accident triggered by Madison Montgomery. Throughout the season of Coven though, it was revealed that the sweet frat boy had a dark familial past.
When they returned the undead Kyle to his mother, it was revealed that she had been sexually abusing him for years. This incestuous reveal was completely out of left field and beyond disturbing. While Spencer himself wasn’t the most intriguing character, the remains a blatantly unexpected reveal.
Tate’s Murderous History
Tate Langdon is one of the series’ best villains. He also had some of the biggest reveals of the whole series. The fact that he was the one behind the mask of Rubberman was certainly a reveal to remember. But, the biggest surprise was that he was responsible for one of the worst school shootings in the world of AHS.
While many saw this coming through the hints leading up to the official reveal, it was actually witnessing the shocking event that secured its place on this list. It was far too realistic of a portrayal to not be included. While much of season one dealt in supernatural scares, it was moments like this that offered some of the scariest surprises.
Michael Langdon’s Fate in Murder House
The single best ending of any season of AHS has to go back to season one. The loss of the Harmon baby was awful, but at least it spent eternity alongside its family. The other twin, Michael Langdon, turned out to have a fate worse than death.
Taken in by Constance Langdon, Michael, as this final scene revealed, was none other than the antichrist. Murdering his nanny would be the first of many evil doings that he would commit. It was the perfect stinger to the first season, offering a bittersweet and spooky open door for future stories.
The Roanoke Format Twist
The lead up to season six of American Horror Story offered something that the series had never attempted. Normally, the theme and title of the season are revealed months before episode one. This time was different, as Murphy and his team chose instead to keep the theme an utter surprise, revealing the title of Roanoke at the end of the first episode.
Surprisingly, this wasn’t the biggest reveal of Roanoke, as many would learn. Midway through the season, the entire format changed. Where the first half told the story of Roanoke through the lens of a crime reenactment, the second half changed to Reality TV. While the results might have been mixed, the reveal itself offered one of the biggest surprises of the whole show and rejuvenated its reputation for many.
Violet Was Dead The Whole Time
Perhaps not the most original twist, but the reveal that Violet had died earlier in Murder House was one which still struck hard. Violet was established as a pseudo-Lydia from Beetlejuice, one that was expected to change her outlook on life, becoming more positive as the season went on. While she received a happy ending, this gothic teen still lost her life.
The surprising thing is the fact that the secret was saved for as long as it was. There were so many hints throughout the season that she had died, that it is should have been spoiled earlier on. Instead, it was the biggest twists of the whole show.
The Identity of Bloody Face
The biggest and best of all the twists though has to go to season two. Asylum had many reveals over its thirteen episodes, but the biggest of them all was the reveal of Bloody Face’s true identity. The truth that Dr. Thredson, a believed hero of the series, was Bloody Face came out of nowhere.
The circumstances of the reveal were also perfect. The slow realization of Lana as she saw the skin lamp was frightening, as we knew before she did. The final donning of the Bloody Face mask by Thredson was the perfect crescendo to the sequence, proving it as the best twist of the whole show.
