

Honestly, this is one of those you-can’t-do-that-on-television moments in AHS history that feels a bit more designed for shock value than anything else (although that could really be said about almost all of “Coven,” a season that starts at 11 and never turns down the volume.) You could pick an entire dozen WTF scenes from “Coven,” but the most unforgettable moment has to be when a mythical creature summoned by Marie Laveau encounters Sidibe’s Queenie, and, well, things get kinky. The list of Oscar-nominated actresses who have had sex with a minotaur onscreen is comprised of exactly one: Gabourey Sidibe. It’s a moment that’s hard to forget in the history of AHS, and actually was kind of a gross-out turning point for a lot of viewers - a scene that might’ve gone too far. It turns out that not only was Elsa a dominatrix in the past, but she lost her legs as a part of a torture-porn video in which they were amputated during a twisted, depraved film shoot. Elsa, the David Bowie–singing ringmaster played by Jessica Lange, has one of the darkest backgrounds in the history of AHS, as we see in a flashback clip in episode four.

There are no clips of this that can be posted online for a reason - it’s hard to believe it was even on television. It was most definitely not, and the shock of it set the template for all the American Horror Story installments to come.
#American horror story episodes hotel series
In the series premiere, Connie Britton’s Vivien Harmon is startled to see a man in a rubber suit, thinking it’s her husband Ben. had up their bloody sleeves for the seasons to come.
#American horror story episodes hotel tv
It was a gentler, less daring time on TV when American Horror Story premiered on October 5, 2011, and viewers were instantly captivated by the weirdest show basic cable had ever produced - even if it is funny to consider how tame this season looks now compared to what Murphy & Co. Quite a way to welcome people to “Hotel.”ĩ. It’s all brilliantly set to the great “Tear You Apart” by She Wants Revenge, a song so perfectly used that it sounds written for the scene. have a habit of introducing new characters in splashy, fascinating ways, but their best to date may still be in the premiere of “Hotel.” Well into the first episode, we finally meet the Countess (Lady Gaga) and Donovan (Matt Bomer) as they’re preparing to go hunting, finding a couple to swing with, and then murder, basically covering their naked bodies in the couple’s blood. It may not have the bonkers imagery of rubber men or twisted clowns, but it’s a shocking scene nonetheless. Ally has murdered her as vengeance for all the shit Ivy put her through all season. But what first looks like another domestic squabble in a season that had a few too many of those becomes much darker when Ivy coughs up blood. Their characters, Ally and Ivy, first seem to have reconciled all their issues, but the conversation gets heated and ugly as the scene goes along. Part of its success (maybe too big a part lately?) is dependent on shock value: What will AHS do to get people buzzing this week? It’s one of the reasons it’s still such a smash hit you have to watch it live to know what everyone is talking about on your timeline, so you seek out the insanity every week.Īfter eight seasons of chaos, it’s a good time to look back at 12 moments that shocked American Horror Story viewers, picking out some of our favorites, by which we mean “things that still haunt us in the middle of the night.”Ī roller coaster of a season reaches its most unforgettable moment near the end in this riveting scene starring Sarah “Queen of AHS” Paulson and Alison Pill. Murphy’s program has never quite gotten the credit it deserves in terms of craft and screenwriting, but it certainly gets a ton of attention on social media in the WTF department. Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story returns this week with its ninth installment, subtitled “1984.” What craziness does the man who turned Lady Gaga into an immortal and Jessica Lange into a witch have up his sleeve? How could the show keep topping itself? We don’t know, except that we know it will.įrom its very first season, retroactively subtitled “Murder House,” American Horror Story has been earning headlines with its willingness to “go there” in ways that other shows never even consider.
