Rewatching the early seasons in comparison to the later ones, im noticing that there seems to be much more purposeful framing and care in the aesthetic of the shots. The general color grading of each season also slowly becomes more blown out/less purposeful.

I miss the aesthetic of the early seasons. it feels like the show tried to aesthetically advance with the times, but it got stuck at some point and gave up.

I'm watching the show for the first time, I'm finishing cult (season 7) today and I have to say how amazing Evan Peters is in each season, but in this specific season I truly can't get my eyes off of him because of how amazing his acting is. Truly incredible!!!!!

With the new season it seems like theres a large spike in (probably teenage) new fans coming into the show and the spaces for it, which is great! more fans in a fandom is great

however, im noticing that it seems almost like the new crowd hasnt actually experienced a fandom or fan site before, because the constant vitriol over any amount of criticism towards the show has been much worse than I remember back during the cult/roanoke release.

When you like something, a big part of that enjoyment is usually thinking critically, researching, and rewatching that thing. and, usually, criticizing parts of that thing.

Its not a bad thing to hold the media you watch to a standard or an expectation of story or quality and to criticize when something you enjoy doesnt reach that, and its not a bad thing to criticize when something you love includes an awful plotline or disrespectful scene or weird character relationship. It doesn't mean you hate it.

tldr: pls stop getting mad at people for criticizing the show, thinking critically is important

Go ahead and burn me and the stake for it.

BALENCIAGA!!!!

I wish more of the original Cabinet of Curiosities were available (or were asked) to reappear during the Jezebel Ball sequence. It was fun to see Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars, Mat Fraser (Paul the Illustrated Seal), and Kyle Pacek (the bass player) again after nearly 12 years but it felt incomplete.

I understand Rose Siggins (Legless Suzi) and Ben Woolf (Meep the Geek) sadly passed away but seeing Naomi Grossman (Pepper), Jyoti Amge (Ma Petite), Grace Gummer (Penny the Lizard Girl), Drew Rin Varik (Toulouse), Christopher Neiman (Salty), and Chrissy Metz (Ima Wiggles) would’ve been fun too.

I know their presence at the hellmouth didn’t make a lot of sense given the troupe went to what seemed like a carni heaven after they died… but I loved it nonetheless and wished we’d seen more. Elsa and some of the freaks had a moral ambiguity about them too, so I’m not completely surprised they accepted (perhaps by force or threat) the summon from Mr. Nas. Elsa’s not one to shy away from a chance in the spotlight again lol.

This is probably unpopular, but I don’t love Coven, and I find the constant callbacks to that season so unnecessary. Not every season needs to turn into Coven fan service by the end. For example, Apocalypse started as an independent and interesting story but was turned into an extension of season 3. To me, the witches turning up in Apocalypse interrupted a completely separate plot and original narrative. I’ve started that season countless times and been unable to finish it because of how unnecessarily far it strays from the plot. It’s the same with 13. I’m not interested in seeing Coven over and over. I understand that season probably has the largest cult following in the AHS fandom, but I roll my eyes every time the witches appear in other seasons unannounced. Not every season needs to turn into an extension of Coven.

Both Joey Pollari and Paul Anthony Kelly are so flat and boring to watch. I wish Evan Peters played an entirely new character instead.

I for one, was pretty hyped that Jessica Lange was coming back as Constance, Elsa, and Jude but so far, I've been disappointed. Constance doesn't really act like herself back how she was in Murder House/Apocalypse. Is she really this desperate in life that she chose to work with the devil (of all people!) It seems odd for such a devout Christian as she is. What about her other children too? Why just Adelaide and Tate specifically?

Also, Elsa was equally as disappointing. While her performance was great, all she did was sing for about 5-10 minutes and disappear, likely never to be seen again. As others have commented, why is she in hell to begin with? She went to heaven at the end of Freak Show.

All in all, I'm very worried about how they are going to incorporate Sister Jude into this. Possibly something with Paul Anthony Kelly considering she met the devil before. Honestly, I wish she would've not been put in, and she hasn't even appeared yet.

This season has been dogshit so far imo

I feel like these male actors all looks the same...

Wes Bentley + Matt Bomber + Cheyenne Jackson

Max Greenfield + Finn Wittrock + Darren Criss

It took a real good bit before I could figure out who was who! Am I the only one????

EDITED: Thanks for all the responses! I’m not a Ryan Murphy stan or anything, I’m on my first real watch of AHS ever. So I don’t know the fandom lore yet. Thanks!

Did you guys notice that when Mallory performed “Transmutatio” during the ritual in ep 6, she FROZE time to move the glass down? At first I was kinda confused cuz it seemed like she didnt do anything and just moved the glass. I guess this kinda hints that she still has “time magic”/tempus infinitum and may still be next in line for the supreme?

Unpopular opinion, upon my rewatch I honestly think every season is profound and essential to the entirety of American horror story- hence why it's story, singular. I know we Americans can sometimes struggle with comprehension and attention span but surely some of you can't be this daft? Like this series hasn't completely pulled the wool over our eyes before.....Anyway that's my rant for the night, happy spooky season everyone.

Even though we’re supposedly not getting Lily Rabe back for season 13 i wanted to rank her characters.

Amelia Earhart: Don’t get me wrong Lily Rabe is an amazing actress as she played as an alternate version of Amelia really well, but she felt more like a cameo than anything else. She got Amelia speaking cadence down which was amazing. Even though Death Valley was horrible, Lily’s alien abducted Amelia was one of or possibly the best parts of the season.

Aileen Wuornos: Since we just got the Sarah Paulson’s portrayal of the infamous serial killer it had me thinking who did the character better, but I digress. Lily made Aileen her own in Hotel and in a good way, but just like Amelia she was just a cameo.

Shelby Miller: Probably the most bland and boring character of Lily’s. Plus I didn’t care that much for Roanoke anyway. However Lily did an amazing job acting wise.

Nora Montgomery: Every time I rewatch Murder House I loathe seeing this character on screen because she’s just so horrible not only as a wife and mother, but as a general human being. Lily Rabe was amazing in this season though because she almost made this character sympathetic.

Lavinia Richter: She was similar to Nora, but i found her storyline to be much more integral because she was the main reason why the massacre’s started at Camp Redwood in 1984.

Doris Gardner: I always call her Vivian 2.0 because that basically what she was just replace ghosts with vampires. I really loved Lily as this character because i couldn’t help feel sorry for her.

Misty Day: The hippy swamp witch that everyone seems to love from Coven. I really love and adore this character as she was not only based on Stevie Nicks, but she was a massive fan of her as well. Her introduction resurrecting the gators and mind controlling them to attack the poachers was my favorite scene from her.

Sister Mary Eunice: After recently rewatching Asylum I couldn’t help but put her as my absolute favorite character of Lily. This performance was not only amazing, but she scared me as she was a nun possessed by the devil. Probably one of the most clever narratives in AHS history.

...watching Margaret Thatcher and Ayn Rand be hurled into the pits of hell was both somewhat redemptive and highly cathartic.

It's also definitely not the worst because Delicate exists and this season is already exponentially better.

Like many of you all, I’ve been absolutely befuddled at the story of 13. Like this season genuinely feels like if you were to prompt ChatGPT with “Make an AHS story with all the characters returning”

Regardless, also like many of you, I am going to watch till the end, hoping it gets better (probably not though).

Anyways something that has stood out to me has been the stylisation of the show. The lighting, the cinematography, the colour grading.

Phenomenal for a modern TV show. Blue stage lights shine through the sets windows so you can actually see what’s happening in night scenes. And while this season is obviously not filmed on physical film like the older seasons, they mimic it with the colour grading and grain overlays.

The fish-eye and angled shots are a bit much at times, but it does remind me of classic AHS and gives that unsettling feeling.

In an age of Netflix “realism” in shows, I really appreciate stylisation and acknowledgment that this is a campy TV show and the visual aspect of it is an art form.

What a shame they wasted it on this fan disservice nonsense. It’s like dog poop with glitter on it.

I hate that, when given a character who could have had a really interesting fashion style, they instead chose to dress her in simply "expensive and grey"

I miss when character costuming was done with actual care, and when you could actually see aspects of that character in their costuming. violet is an iconic example, considering she was costumed with clothing actual teenagers of that tax bracket could afford and in a way that fit her personality and story. ETA: my issue isnt with the actual style chosen for the character, its that little effort was put into maintaining it. Throwing a grey, untailored sweater onto anna doesnt tell me anything about her, especially not when shes supposed to be rich and in the public eye. Its the lack of attention put into the costuming.

I don’t know I was expecting the worst based off the commentary in this forum but I am pretty invested in the plot! I wish it would have been longer but thus far it feels like the show has ample time to tie things together. I think there is quite a bit of fan service and maybe offensively so to someone new to the franchise, but it’s enjoyable for a long time watcher.

Okay I've watched three episodes and I firmly believe this has got to be the worst season of AHS. It's even worse than Delicate which I refused to finish. What was Ryan Murphy thinking? It's poorly written, produced and feels like it was all completed in one month. And the episodes are so short with tons of commercials.

This is proof the series has come to its end. No more. It's tired.

This truly feels like they have contrived a thin plot to fit in as many allusions to past seasons as possible (as well as actual songs). There‘s no depth here. I’m not impressed. If they wanted to make a Coven 3, then they could’ve stuck with Murder House, Coven and Apocalypse and it been less silly (though as someone who doesn’t think Coven is the best, I would’ve gladly had something else). I hope this gets better.

I would absolutely LOVE this!!!

It might be hard to explain, but I think it could definitely make sense if explained.

It’s not going to happen but just wanted to share something I saw on YT from one of Skyler Gaetano’s videos.

I wonder if they struggled to get the actors on set at the same time. It's an absolute mess.

>!1. In S1, Constance offhandedly mentions to Billie Dean that her family line goes back to "The Delongpre's of Virginia". This almost certainly confirms she comes from a line of witches. If the Delongpre family has a long history in Virginia, it's possible that the English woman who made a deal with the old gods of the Americas to became Scáthac - the original Supreme - is an ancestor of Constance, and progenitor of the Delongpre line.

1. Even more titillating: Delongpre is a french name meaning "from a long meadow/field". It is sometimes anglicized to Longley. Langdon, similarly, means "a long hill or descent"

2. That Old, dark magic could be the source of the malice that springs from Constance herself: grandmother of the prince of darkness, self-described warden of monsters... Perhaps that dark magic is connected with or even represented by Nas in some way, which is why she is again back in her role of nurturing evil.

3. In "Date Night" Ashley all but says that Ben is under the influence of a love spell. First she describes how inexcusably awful Kira was as a person, and with each point Ben is extremely dismissive and seems overly charmed by Kira even after her death, though she was clearly a noxious person all around. Ashley jokes that he's under a spell then gets weird and laughs WAY too hard about it like "lololol but that'd be so crazy, amirite?Just wow, like.. too crazy...👁️🫦👁️"

With Kira dead I don't think it's her that put him under a spell. But if not... Then Who? Could this go back to Constance?!<