American Horror Story

American Horror Story premiered on FX on October 5, 2011. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, it uses an anthology format: each season tells a distinct story, though some characters and settings return. The first season, later subtitled Murder House, follows the Harmon family after they move from Boston to Los Angeles. Their new home is haunted by people who died there. Connie Britton plays Vivien Harmon, Dylan McDermott plays her husband Ben, and Taissa Farmiga plays their daughter, Violet. Jessica Lange portrays their neighbor Constance Langdon, whose past is closely tied to the house.

The second season, Asylum, moves to Briarcliff Manor, a Massachusetts psychiatric institution in the 1960s. Sarah Paulson plays journalist Lana Winters, who is confined there while investigating it. Lange plays Sister Jude, and Zachary Quinto plays psychiatrist Oliver Thredson. Coven centers on a school for young witches in New Orleans and features Lange as Fiona Goode, the reigning Supreme. Freak Show takes place around a struggling 1950s carnival in Jupiter, Florida; Lange plays its leader, Elsa Mars. The returning actors take on new roles rather than continuing their characters from Murder House.

Hotel, the fifth season, is set at the fictional Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles. Lady Gaga plays its owner, the Countess, a performance that won her a Golden Globe. Roanoke tells a North Carolina haunting through a fictional documentary and a follow-up reality show. Cult, set after the 2016 United States presidential election, follows a Michigan community terrorized by a politically motivated cult. Apocalypse brings back characters and storylines from Murder House and Coven. Among them is Michael Langdon, whose role in its end-of-the-world plot makes the anthology’s shared continuity especially clear.

Later installments continue to change setting and structure. 1984 draws on slasher films and centers on a summer camp called Camp Redwood. Double Feature divides its season into two stories: Red Tide, about a writer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Death Valley, which involves extraterrestrials. NYC follows murders affecting gay men in 1980s New York. Delicate is based on Danielle Valentine’s novel Delicate Condition; Emma Roberts plays an actor struggling to conceive, while Kim Kardashian plays her publicist. The series has won multiple Primetime Emmy Awards, including acting awards for Jessica Lange. Its season subtitles mark stories that can be watched separately, but Apocalypse demonstrates that they do not always stand entirely apart.