American Horror Story
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American Horror Story (AHS) is an American horror anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the American Story media franchise, seasons of AHS are mostly conceived as self-contained miniseries, following a different set of characters in a new setting within the same fictional universe (which the show occasionally utilizes for crossovers between seasons, and shares with episodic spin-off American Horror Stories), and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle, and end." Some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events. Many actors appear in more than one season, usually playing a new character though sometimes as a returning character. Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe have returned most frequently, with each having appeared in nine seasons, followed by Frances Conroy and Denis O'Hare who both appear in eight; Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, and Leslie Grossman appear in six, while other notable actors including Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Adina Porter, Finn Wittrock, and Jamie Brewer appear in five of the seasons. The first season, Murder House, centers on a family in a haunted house. The second season, Asylum, follows the patients and staff of a criminally insane institution. The third season, Coven, focuses on a coven of witches and their enemies. The fourth season, Freak Show, centers on an American freak show troupe. The fifth season, Hotel, follows the staff and guests of a hotel inhabited by supernatural beings. The sixth season, Roanoke, focuses on a farmhouse haunted by the lost Roanoke Colony. The seventh season, Cult, centers on a cult after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The eighth season, Apocalypse, is a sequel-crossover of the Murder House and Coven seasons. The ninth season, 1984, centers around a reopening of a summer camp after a massacre. The tenth season, Double Feature, focuses on a family in Provincetown, Massachusetts and the town's true inhabitants, and a group of students in a conspiracy involving extraterrestrial creatures. The eleventh season, NYC, focuses on mysterious killings of gay men and an emergence of a deadly virus in the 1980s. The twelfth season, Delicate, follows an actress who, while trying to get pregnant, believes she has become a victim of a sinister conspiracy. In January 2020, FX renewed the series through to season 13.
Although reception to individual seasons has varied, American Horror Story has largely been well received by television critics, with the majority of the praise going towards the cast, particularly Jessica Lange, who won two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performances. James Cromwell and Kathy Bates each won an Emmy Award for their performances, while Lady Gaga won a Golden Globe Award. The series draws consistently high ratings for the FX network, with its first season being the most-viewed new cable series of 2011.