American Horror Story: A Creepy Unraveling

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the television show "American Horror Story," focusing on its themes, characters, and the overall atmosphere of horror presented in the series. Participants share their reactions to the show's pilot episode, exploring its psychological elements, character dynamics, and the unsettling nature of the narrative.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants find the show uniquely creepy, noting the absence of a "normal" character among the cast, which contributes to its unsettling atmosphere.
  • Others appreciate the character development and psychological depth, comparing it to works by David Lynch, Stephen King, and Quentin Tarantino.
  • Several comments highlight the bold use of language and themes, suggesting it enhances the disturbing nature of the show.
  • Some viewers express discomfort with the horror elements, indicating that the show may not be suitable for everyone.
  • There are discussions about the portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters and how the show addresses political correctness, with mixed reactions to its approach.
  • Participants note the show's crowded character dynamics, leading to a lack of relatable protagonists, which some find intriguing while others see as a drawback.
  • Concerns are raised about the pacing and development of subsequent episodes, with some feeling that the second episode did not introduce enough new elements to maintain interest.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on the show's effectiveness, with some praising its originality and others criticizing its pacing and character relatability. There is no clear consensus on the overall quality of the episodes or the characters' likability.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention the show's reliance on psychological horror and supernatural elements, which may not resonate with all viewers. The discussion reflects a range of personal comfort levels with horror content.

Who May Find This Useful

Fans of horror television, viewers interested in psychological thrillers, and those exploring character-driven narratives in horror may find this discussion relevant.

  • #61
Ivan Seeking said:
I tried six feet under but it didn't keep my attention. All the dead stuff was a turnoff, which is strange because I really enjoyed Dead Like Me.
By "all the dead stuff" you mean them having conversations with the departed?
 
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  • #62
Evo said:
Tonight was so disappointing. It was actully boring. Next week is the finale and at this point I don't plan to watch. How disappointing. Everyone's dead. YAWN.

What do you think of this:

AHS receives Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Television Series - Drama. Jessica Lange for Best Performance for a Supporting Actress in a Television Series, Movie or a Miniseries. Jessica Lange also received a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Drama Series.
 
  • #63
zoobyshoe said:
What do you think of this:
She was outstanding in the show. Creepy, unsettling, the entire show revolved around her, she was really the leading character, the others were just there as fillers in her story. I hope she wins, she deserves it.

Psycho boy was also very convincing.
 
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  • #64
Evo said:
She was outstanding in the show. Creepy, unsettling, the entire show revolved around her, she was really the leading character, the others were just there as fillers in her story. I hope she wins, she deserves it.

Psycho boy was also very convincing.
She is certainly the most vivid character. I think all the all the actors are excellent and it's really executive decisions about where to take the plot that annoy me. The show as a whole was nominated as best drama, though.
 
  • #65
zoobyshoe said:
By "all the dead stuff" you mean them having conversations with the departed?

No, it was just a bit too dark for my tastes.
 
  • #66
Ivan Seeking said:
No, it was just a bit too dark for my tastes.
Hmmmm. American Horror Story is about 5 times darker.
 
  • #67
zoobyshoe said:
Hmmmm. American Horror Story is about 5 times darker.

I tried that show about the serial killer who kills serial killers, which is highly acclaimed, and I only lasted about half an hour. Dark can be fine depending on the tone. it just depends on the spirit of the darkness. :biggrin: I don't like anything psycho. I had enough of that in LA with real people.
 
  • #68
zoobyshoe said:
She is certainly the most vivid character. I think all the all the actors are excellent and it's really executive decisions about where to take the plot that annoy me. The show as a whole was nominated as best drama, though.
So have they just swept the "infantata" under the rug? From interviews it always sounded like it was going to become a central monster, but nothing happened. The show was like that from one episode to the next, the writers would just abandon a story line and go off in a completely different direction, with no explanation, no tying up loose ends. I don't get why Constance's young boyfriend is so happy to be dead.
 
  • #69
Ivan Seeking said:
I tried that show about the serial killer who kills serial killers, which is highly acclaimed, and I only lasted about half an hour. Dark can be fine depending on the tone. it just depends on the spirit of the darkness. :biggrin: I don't like anything psycho. I had enough of that in LA with real people.
I can't predict. You'll just have to watch it to see if it works. It's like a conjunction of Stephen King, M. Night Shyamalan, and the makers of Six Feet Under, with a dash of David Cronenberg.
 
  • #70
Evo said:
So have they just swept the "infantata" under the rug? From interviews it always sounded like it was going to become a central monster, but nothing happened. The show was like that from one episode to the next, the writers would just abandon a story line and go off in a completely different direction, with no explanation, no tying up loose ends. I don't get why Constance's young boyfriend is so happy to be dead.
I guess they are. The ghosts "debunked" the medium, as it were, so I guess they're free to abandon that set up. But you're right, the amount of stuff they've set up only to have it go nowhere or be rendered moot is extremely annoying. It's like they're just making it up on the fly as they go along. Maybe the point is just to reference every previous horror fad possible.
 
  • #71
Now it's turned into a comedy, I like that.
 
  • #72
Evo said:
Now it's turned into a comedy, I like that.
Well, they've gone back to the anti-christ theme, so that wasn't dropped after all. But that makes the house the center of all evil in the world, which means it's not just a ghost story, but the story of Armageddon. Kinda ambitious. The writers are on crack.
 
  • #73
zoobyshoe said:
Well, they've gone back to the anti-christ theme, so that wasn't dropped after all. But that makes the house the center of all evil in the world, which means it's not just a ghost story, but the story of Armageddon. Kinda ambitious. The writers are on crack.
Ahaha.

So, no one found Violet's body, no one but Constance knows she's dead? And they only mention one baby missing (the terror tyke), what happened to the body of the other baby, or are we to assume the police picked it up with Vivien's body? I know that it's ghost is in the house, I'm assuming it can't grow up? And why and how do the ghosts eat and drink? Like when Vivien asked Moira to make her a cup of tea after she died. What do they eat and drink when there's nothing in the house? Come on Zoob, I know you know. :-p
 
  • #74
Evo said:
Ahaha.

So, no one found Violet's body, no one but Constance knows she's dead? And they only mention one baby missing (the terror tyke), what happened to the body of the other baby, or are we to assume the police picked it up with Vivien's body? I know that it's ghost is in the house, I'm assuming it can't grow up? And why and how do the ghosts eat and drink? Like when Vivien asked Moira to make her a cup of tea after she died. What do they eat and drink when there's nothing in the house? Come on Zoob, I know you know. :-p
I think the other baby may have been born alive. The doctor might have claimed it was stillborn so he could give it to his wife. I think it should age so it can do battle with its evil twin in the future and save the world.

The exterminator found Violet's body but then Tate killed him. I was expecting the cops to come looking for the exterminator at some point: his van must still be parked around there somewhere. I don't know why Constance didn't get rid of Violet's body. If it's found it won't help her story about Violet taking the baby.

I think ghosts drink pretend tea. Funny how the maid got all uppity: "I don't wait on ghosts!"

They finally explained who the Dad was talking to on the phone when he called Tate's "mother". Someday they'll have to explain where the Dad went to cut down a Christmas tree.

Back to the Black Dahlia episode: I saw a show where they interviewed a guy who thinks his father was the Black Dahlia murderer. He's actually a former LAPD officer and his father was a doctor who performed illegal abortions back in the 40's. He was a major suspect at the time, it was proven he knew Short, and was brought in for questioning. He had, like, 5 different wives and has about 20 children scattered around. One daughter accused him of molesting her, and he was arrested for that, but let go. A very sketchy character, and I'm guessing they're basing the doctor who built the house on him somewhat.
 
  • #75
zoobyshoe said:
I think the other baby may have been born alive. The doctor might have claimed it was stillborn so he could give it to his wife. I think it should age so it can do battle with its evil twin in the future and save the world.
If it's alive, what is it eating? :-p I guess we're not supposed to wonder those things.

Someday they'll have to explain where the Dad went to cut down a Christmas tree.
Since they can't leave the house/yard, it would have to be in the yard. :-p

Yeah, I've been wondering why no one missed the exterminator.
 
  • #76
Evo said:
If it's alive, what is it eating? :-p I guess we're not supposed to wonder those things.
Well, when it was first born the Dad still lived there, so there was some kind of food around. I don't know if it was actually born alive, but it had to have died from the time she got to the house to when she gave birth, which was like, 20 minutes. It had to have died in the house to be a ghost.

Since they can't leave the house/yard, it would have to be in the yard. :-p
You don't see many pine trees in people's yards in Southern California.

I wonder if the Harmons would try to kill Constance now if she came into the house. That three year leap into the future (those writers are SOOOO on crack) leaves a lot to be explained.
 
  • #77
zoobyshoe said:
I wonder if the Harmons would try to kill Constance now if she came into the house. That three year leap into the future (those writers are SOOOO on crack) leaves a lot to be explained.
Probably a lot of flashbacks, or they will just start 3 years later, no telling with these writers. Thing is, according to the story, the ghosts can leave the house and go wherever they want on Halloween.
 
  • #78
zoobyshoe said:
I think the other baby may have been born alive. The doctor might have claimed it was stillborn so he could give it to his wife. I think it should age so it can do battle with its evil twin in the future and save the world.
I think Nora, the doctor's wife, told Vivien that the baby was actually born alive but took only a few breaths before dying in her arms. She thought even her husband didn't know the baby had been alive.
 
  • #79
vela said:
I think Nora, the doctor's wife, told Vivien that the baby was actually born alive but took only a few breaths before dying in her arms. She thought even her husband didn't know the baby had been alive.
That rings a bell. Her explanation went by too fast, and I couldn't make it out. This would mean, though, that there's a baby corpse around somewhere. They'll have to deal with that.
 
  • #80
Well it seems that the story of murder house and the Harmon's is over and next season will be a new location, completely different story, and new characters. It will not be a continuation.

[SPOILER WARNING: This story contains key plot details from Wednesday's season finale of American Horror Story. Read at your own risk.]

American Horror Story really lived up to its name, huh?

In the FX series' first season finale, the Harmons were finally reunited in the afterlife when Ben's vengeful former lover Hayden hanged him by the chandelier, staging it to look like a suicide. (You'll recall that Vivien and Violet, Ben's wife and daughter, already died, respectively, in childbirth and by overdosing on pills.)

So what does this mean for Season 2? Will Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott, who starred as Vivien and Ben, return to haunt the new owners of Murder House? Nope! "Those characters and those stories are done," creator Ryan Murphy told reporters Thursday morning. "Every season of the show will be a different haunting. Every season will have a beginning, a middle and an end. What you saw in the finale was the end of the Harmon house. The second season of the show will be a brand new home or building to haunt."

Murphy says the show was always intended to be an anthology, with a new set of cast members and characters each season. But there will be some residual elements from Season 1. "Some of [the actors] will be coming back... so there will be familiar faces and also new faces on the show, but they will be playing completely different characters, creatures and monsters, etc."
continued...

http://www.tvguide.com/News/American-Horror-Story-Ryan-Murphy-Season-2-1041081.aspx