Since its debut in 2011, anthology series American Horror Story has aired 12 seasons of deliciously deranged tales about haunted houses, insane asylums, witch covens, circus freak shows, supernatural pregnancies and even the totally rad ’80s. It’s become a Halloween-season tradition as eagerly anticipated as half-off candy sales on Nov. 1.
Unfortunately, 2025 will be the first year without a new AHS installment since 2020. (You probably remember what was going on then.) This means now is the perfect time to revisit the previous seasons, which I’ve ranked from best to not-so-best, just for you. (All are available on Hulu and Prime Video.)
1. American Horror Story: Murder House (2011): TV hadn’t seen anything like American Horror Story (later subtitled Murder House) when it premiered on FX in October 2011, and it’s still the pinnacle of the series. The story of the Harmon family (Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott and Taissa Farmiga) moving into a Los Angeles mansion with a gruesome past became more mind-wrenchingly mad with each episode, and ran right up to Christmas. If you watch only one season, make it this one.
2. American Horror Story: Coven (2013): Farmiga returned for the third American Horror Story installment, Coven, as a newly cognizant teen witch sent off to an all-girls boarding school in New Orleans. There, she meets fellow students (including then-AHS first-timers Emma Roberts and Gabourey Sidibe) and a dazzling array of mentor witches (Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy and Jessica Lange). Coven’s locale and almost entirely female cast are perfect, as is Lily Rabe as a winkingly intentional dead ringer for Stevie Nicks.
3. American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014): Season 4 went back in time to 1952 and focused on a Florida carnival freak sideshow whose time in the zeitgeist has reached its bitter end. Stars Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Michael Chiklis and Paulson lean hard into the weird as a lobster boy, a bearded lady, a strongman barker and conjoined twins, respectively—but the real star here is Twisty the Clown, a terrifying serial killer stalking the carnies. Freak Show is American Horror Story at peak ick factor.
4. American Horror Story: 1984 (2019): After its heavy, Antichrist-driven Apocalypse season, American Horror Story lightened up a little in Season 9 with 1984, an overt tribute to classic ’80s slasher flicks. AHS regulars Roberts and Billie Lourd slide seamlessly into the trope as summer counselors at Camp Redwood, and 1984 features not one but two killers: Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez (Zach Villa) and Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch, who also played Twisty). 1984 is as fun and comedic as the series gets.
5. American Horror Story: Hotel (2015): American Horror Story finally delves into vampires in Season 5, simply subtitled Hotel. The claustrophobic trappings of the Hotel Cortez and the season’s creepy gothic vibe didn’t win over many TV critics at the time, but who cares what they think? Hotel had its own Hot Topic apparel line! Then-AHS newcomer Lady Gaga chews the scenery as the Cortez’s vampire Countess, while series constant Denis O’Hare strikes a humanizing, sympathetic tone as transgender hotel bartender “Liz Taylor.”
6. American Horror Story: Asylum (2012): The second season of American Horror Story could never live up to the first, but Asylum was a solid effort with splashy cameos from Chloë Sevigny and Zachary Quinto. The story setting is Briarcliff Manor, a Massachusetts mental asylum circa 1964 that’s full of dubiously committed patients. Asylum revisits the demonic possession and serial killer angles from Murder House, and hints at an extraterrestrial presence. We’re looonnng overdue for a full AHS season about aliens.
7. American Horror Story: Delicate (2023): The most recent American Horror Story season is the first without Ryan Murphy as showrunner, and also the first to be adapted from outside material—and Delicate makes a case for shaking things up. Movie star Anna (Emma Roberts) is on a desperate, nightmarish journey to become pregnant, lightened by the hilariously tart tongue of her assistant, Siobhan (Kim Kardashian—yes, her). Delicate goes all-in on body horror, and even directly incorporates Rosemary’s Baby.
The rest: American Horror Story: Roanoke (2016), American Horror Story: Cult (2017), American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018), American Horror Story: Double Feature (2021) and American Horror Story: NYC (2022): The lesser seasons of AHS are all worth a watch, but you might be better off checking out Hulu’s American Horror Stories, where each episode is a self-contained tale. Sometimes, a small shot of the scaries is all you need.
