
Last year, when Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story debuted, I gave it a scathing review, writing:
How deep into Ryan Murphy’s ass must FX be to air this cocked-up, senseless, sh*tty wet-dream nightmare of camp and stomach-pit revulsion? American Horror Show is beyond the pale, over the brick wall, and swimming in hallucinogenic condom spunk. It’s Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest ratcheted it up to 13; it’s Nic Cage in Wicker Man yelling, “Not the bees! Not the bees!” for 45 minutes; it’s every horror-movie convention known to man crammed into Ryan Murphy’s gut and puked back on to the television screen and combined with a$$ shots, masturbation sequences, and a gimp.
I stand by that review, only now all of those things that I initially disliked about American Horror Story are exactly why I watch. It is Amityville crossed with David Lynch, and it borrows from every horror movie trope in the book, but it’s good television.
The problem with Ryan Murphy has always been he overdevelops plot-lines, throws everything into a story as rapidly as possible, and after 12 episodes, there’s nowhere left to go (see Nip/Tuck, Glee). It works out well, then, that American Horror Story is now considered a mini-series, and each season is a reset: Different story, different characters, different setting. This year, it’s an insane asylum in 1962. We haven’t gotten any new footage from the show yet, but the promos so far are gleefully creepy.
Check out these five 10-second spots. Which do you think is the creepiest? Bonus points if you can identity the horror movies from which the imagery is lifted.



None of them actually creep me out. They’re not quite up to the level of the little girl in The Ring. Closest would be the first one, because as The Exorcist and footage of Quarterback Joe Thiesman taught us, bodies bending the wrong way is disquieting.
The Va-jay-jay shaped one is pretty strange.
Clip 1: Exorcist…
Clib 3: I’d rather not say…
Clip 3: Zipper Bath Semen Vagina?
Or is it Bath Semen Vagina Zipper?
Squirrel Nut Zipper
…Annnd, they just released a new one on Facebook. I fail to see how these clips are going to tie in to any kind of coherent plot, but I sure can compliment them on their marketing strategy.
Their first season (first mini-series? ugh) marketing was also pretty solid, and they too were more about the visual than any solid representation of the story.
As for a coherent plot: it’s American Horror Story.
Oh yeah, I was mostly being facetious. Did anyone happen to visit the interactive website of the Horror House from the first season? It was completely irrelevant to everything that happened that “season” or whatever. “Hey! Here’s a bunch of crap that makes no sense, but on the plus side, it’s kind of spooky? You’re welcome!”
I don’t understand why she throws the bucket of bloody hands on her path. I mean, she has to return to the seal training facility eventually.
she was all out of breadcrumbs.
I’m pretty sure that seal is swimming in circles, freaking out his whole family.
My girlfriend loved the first season and since I mostly dominate the tv every other time, I’m stuck watching it anyway. Just tell me I don’t have to see Dylan McDermott’s ass again and then him weeping as he masturbates and moans about his monstrous penis and how it controls his every move or just own it and get David Duchovny instead.