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Rose and I love watching American Horror Story. And have seen every episode of every season, currently we’re in the middle of season 7 which is called Cult. And the stories are all related. Up until season 7 there was no link between the odd and even seasons, but they are all finally linked together with the release of the latest season. So let’s dive into each season and explore the links to the other seasons.
Season 1: Murder House
The very first season of American Horror Story that was by far the scariest of all the seasons. And follows the family of Harmons. Who move into a restored mansion that is haunted by the ghosts of its former residents and their victims. The characters from this season that make appearances in following series are: a medium named Billie Dean Howard played by Sara Paulson and a realtor named Marcy. Vivien Harmon at one point mentions she has relatives in Florida, a very loose tie to Season 4: Freak Show which takes place in Jupiter, FL. There are other connections, but they will be referenced in the seasons they actually occurred in.
Season 2: Asylum
In this season, we are mainly following the character of Lana Winters played by Sara Paulson, who is a journalist that is sent to Briarcliff Asylum in 1964 after they discover she is a lesbian while she trespasses to report on the inhumane treatment of its patients. And this is from a time period where lesbians were not allowed and considered a mental disorder. So she is trapped there and has to become one of it’s patients. Later she managed to escape the asylum and leads to the asylum’s shut down in 1971. Her character will later appear in Season 6: Roanoke. There are more connections to Season 4: Freak Show but I will have them all in that section since they occur during that season.
Season 3: Coven
This season introduced us to the witches and through it’s characters connects the odd seasons. Similar to Season 1: Murder House and Season 5: Hotel, it takes place in the present down in New Orleans. It’s not the most obvious during the episodes from this season. One of the characters is named Madison Montgomery, who is speculated to be related to the original owner of the murder house but this is not directly confirmed in any episode. Another character from the coven that is key to linking the seasons is Queenie.
Season 4: Freak Show
This season takes place prior to Season 2: Asylum in 1952 in Jupiter, Florida. We know this from the character Pepper, who was part of the Freak Show but is placed into the asylum after reconnecting with her blood relative. Due to an incident where Pepper’s niece dies due to neglect of Pepper’s sister, but Pepper is put to blame and sent off to the Asylum. This season is also where we first meet Twisty, a murdering clown. And Pepper is welcomed to the asylum by Sister Mary Eunice. Another tie Freak Show has to other seasons is that the name Detective Jack Colquitt also makes an appearance in Murder House. In Season 1: Murder House, Detective Colquitt investigate Dr. Cole Harmon about a missing patient. While in Freak Show, he is investigating Elsa and her troupe in the case of a missing police officer. Elsa’s leg is also amputated by a Nazi doctor named Hans Gruper as part of a twisted snuff film in World War II-era Germany, who is also the crooked surgeon at Briarcliff. To say Freak Show and Asylum didn’t have enough connections, would be crazy.
Season 5: Hotel
This season has characters from both season 1 and 3 making appearances and takes place in the Hotel Cortez in the present time. Some of them are notable characters while others are rather obscure. The most notable character that shows up is Queenie from Season 3: Coven, while the obscure characters are Billie Dean Howard and Marcy who both are from Season 1: Murder House. Queenie dies after being attacked by vampire Ramona Royale. Billie Dean Howard attempts to communicate to the ghost of Detective John Lowe who is a the main character of that season that dies after years of being the Ten Commandment serial killer. And lastly Marcy makes her appearance by selling the hotel to Will Drake. Also the Countess had an abortion at the Murder House from Dr. Montgomery. Though the baby didn’t actually die and is instead immortal.
Season 6: Roanoke
This season is slightly different from the other seasons in that instead of following characters through the story, we are presented the story as if it were a documentary. Of both scripted and found footage. The character that appears in this season that links it to the rest of the even season timelines is the character played by Sarah Paulson in Season 2: Asylum, Lana Winters. In this season, she interviews the sole survivor Lee Harris on the events of Roanoke and the death of her husband. Another connection that Roanoke has to the other seasons is the Lost Colony of Roanoke ties back to Dandy and Gloria Mott who’s great ancestor Edward Phillipe Mott built the Roanoke house in 1792. These both being characters from Season 4: Freak Show. Ryan Murphy also revealed that the Roanoke witch Scathach is the original supreme, which ties it to Season 3: Coven. Though if you don’t follow everything Ryan Murphy posts about the show, this connection is easy to miss, as that character once referred to as the supreme or mentioned in Season 3: Coven.
Season 7: Cult
The latest season to be released that takes place in the present (2016). Twisty the clown from Season 4: Freak Show makes multiple appearances throughout the series, this is the first time a character from the even seasons appear in the odd season timeline, official creating the bridge between all of the seasons. Though there are plenty of references between the seasons to link them together without Twisty’s appearance in Cult. It just makes the connection stronger if anything, as for the most part the references are very lose ties in the other seasons. And one can be called off just because it’s two different characters sharing the same name. There is also a call back to Season 6: Roanoke as the restaurant is named The Butchery which is the name of the main “villian” of that season. The Butcher was the killer ghost that murdered anyone on the blood moon at the Mott’s House. Speaking of killers, the Zodiac made an appearance in Cult who was also a guest at the Hotel Cortez once a year in Season 5: Hotel. Only we learn the Zodiac killer is really a member of a cult called S.C.U.M. and then popularized by a former member by sending letters to the papers. The outfit we see the Zodiac wear is that of one of the S.C.U.M. members. In the episode following this we had another two references though one is easily missed. That being in one seen there was a wine bottle labeled Freak Show. Funny enough, Rose and I have the same bottle displayed at our house so we had a good laugh. The second reference came from the very same scene, there was Nazi World War II memorabilia which is a sudden reference to Season 2: Asylum with Dr. Hans Gruber who was a Nazi physician during World War II. Though you couldn’t directly see if it was his, though knowing American Horror Story it was a gentle nod towards it.
Know any more connections between the seasons that I missed? Let us know in the comments.
