American Horror Story

This is a really good series. So far three seasons have come out, but a fourth is in the works. It is a horror series, and each season deals with a different theme often dealt with in the horror genre.

The first season was about a family that moved into a haunted house. At first, everything appears to be normal, but they are repeatedly warned that the house is bad news and that there have been many killings there. Strange things start to happen, and with each episode, we learn about a new ghost that is cursed to forever live in the house. We travel back and forth in time and discover what happened in the house in years past and why the friendly or angry spirits reside in the house. How they died. What will happen to the family currently living there I wonder?

The second season takes place in a 19th century insane asylum. A reporter goes into an asylum to report on a new resident there supposedly guilty of murder, and who is supposedly a sick serial killer who skins his victims, but she is then not allowed to leave. We see some of what life was like in those institutions at that time, complete with human experimentation, evil nuns, exorcisms, shock therapy, and more. Will this reporter ever be free? And will she encounter this brutal serial killer?

The third and most current season was about a coven of witches. Young girls with special abilities attend a school of magic to learn how to properly use their skills. At the same time, they must learn who the next supreme, or ruler, will be. We have the classic magical school genre here, but we also get to see some voodoo. This wasn't as scary as the other seasons, but was still worth the watch.

The upcoming season is called circus and will take place at... A circus.

The stories are all very well written and interesting, but what really stands out for me in this series is how the actors are recycled. The same actors reappear in every season, and the fascinating thing is that they play the same character. For example, in each season, Jessica Lang plays a woman was once powerful, but now that power is fading, and she has or does use sexuality to gain or wield that power. Sarah Paulson always plays a woman with a 'sight' and with latent potential not fully realized. She seems to be able to see things that others can't. Evan Peters is always on the search for a seemingly unattainable love, and ends up being some woman's tool. Lily Rabe always plays the innocent who is later corrupted, used, and destroyed by evil that she did not initially seek out. And so on.

It's a fascinatingly complex story that is well written, and has very interesting characters. Worth the watch.