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[[File:American-Horror-Story-Banner-500x291_1155.png|frame| [[Teens Are Monsters|Tate]], [[Mama Bear|Cons]][[Complete Monster|tance]], [[I Just Want to Be Beautiful|Adelaide]], [[Ms. Fanservice|Young Moira]], [[Love Makes You Crazy|Larry Harvey (on fire)]], [[The Woobie|Old Moira]], [[Nightmare Fetishist|Violet]], [[Supernatural
''American Horror Story'' is a 2011 Horror series created by Ryan Murphy (creator of ''[[Nip Tuck]]'', another FX series) and Brad Falchuk (Two of the ''[[Glee]]'' co-creators) . It follows the story of a couple from Boston, Ben and Vivien, and their daughter, Violet, who decide a change in location to sunny Los Angeles will help heal the wounds left by Vivien’s miscarriage and by Ben’s affair with a former student. Their nightmares are far from over, however, as their new dream house turns out to be full of dark secrets.
The series is known as a "movie buff's delight", as its plot, soundtrack and visual style thrive on numerous classic movies and horror stories (including, but not limited to, ''[[The Shining]]'', ''Frankenstein'', ''[[Bram
▲''American Horror Story'' is a 2011 Horror series created by Ryan Murphy (creator of ''[[Nip Tuck]]'', another FX series) and Brad Falchuk (Two of the ''[[Glee]]'' co-creators) . It follows the story of a couple from Boston, Ben and Vivien, and their daughter, Violet, who decide a change in location to sunny Los Angeles will help heal the wounds left by Vivien’s miscarriage and by Ben’s affair with a former student. Their nightmares are far from over, however, as their new dream house turns out to be full of dark secrets.
Four more seasons were made, focusing of different setting and circumstances:
▲The series is known as a "movie buff's delight", as its plot, soundtrack and visual style thrive on numerous classic movies and horror stories (including, but not limited to, ''[[The Shining]]'', ''Frankenstein'', ''[[Bram Stokers Dracula]]'', ''[[The Sixth Sense]]'', ''[[Twisted Nerve]]'', ''[[Taxi Driver]]'') as well as pay homages to American urban legends and folklore.
* [[American Horror Story: Asylum|Asylum]], set in 1960s Massachusetts.
* [[American Horror Story: Coven|Coven]], set in contemporary New Orleans.
* [[American Horror Story: Freak Show|Freak Show]], set in 1950s Florida.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Abusive Parents]]: {{spoiler|Constance locks Adelaide in a closet full of mirrors after she interrupts Constance's "business meeting". She also chains her son Beau up in the attic because of a genetic deformity. It's further implied that she physically--and certainly emotionally--abused Tate.}}
* [[A Date
** Vivien enjoys herself while she has a [[Dream Sequence]] about Luke, Ben and the Rubber Man.
* [[A Day in
* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Violet walks around public areas of the school smoking and is never confronted by any authority figures about it, she is also repeatedly attacked in those same public places and no authority figure ever steps in. Given one of the writer's [[Glee|other show]], the high school's Darwinian approach to discipline isn't too surprising.
* [[Affably Evil]]: Larry Harvey plays this to disturbing effect. Every once in a while during his friendly chats with Ben, he says something to remind us how insane he is.
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* [[Artistic Title]]: The opening credits manage to be both creepy and fascinating.
* [[Ass Shove]]: {{spoiler|Tate shoved a fireplace poker up Patrick's ass before killing him.}}
* [[Ate His Gun]]: How {{spoiler|Nora Montgomery}} committed suicide {{spoiler|after killing her husband out of grief over her [[Came Back Wrong|mutated baby]].}}
* [[The Atoner]]: {{spoiler|Larry.}}
** {{spoiler|Tate as well, if his conversation with Ben in the finale was him being genuine about redemption.}}
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* [[Blondes Are Evil]]: Constance and Nora, although both of them seem to be driven this way by sheer desperation.
* [[Blonde Guys Are Evil]]: Tate
* [[Breather Episode]]: It's an odd show where an episode featuring multiple characters being shot and another attempting suicide is the breather episode, but "Piggy Piggy" was much less chaotic and downplayed following the big grand Halloween episodes, and had more answers than questions.
* [[Bury Your Gays]]: The last couple to die (that we know of) before the Harmons move in was a gay couple, in an apparent murder/suicide.
** {{spoiler|Revealed to have been the work of the rubber suit man.}}
** In the flashback in "Home Invasion," the nurse who is referred to as a "lezzie" is drowned in the bathtub later that same scene.
* [[Bury Your Disabled]]: {{spoiler|Adelaide, who has Down Syndrome, is fatally hit by a car in the fourth episode.}}
* [[Calling the Old Man Out]]: Violet does this to her parents, though it remains to be seen if they got the message. Tate also did this to his mom.
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** Chekhovs Cupcakes: the cupcakes Constance brought over for Violet. {{spoiler|One is eaten by one of the home invaders, which makes her ill and results in her not joining the other two in the basement.}}
** Chekhovs Crime: A subtle one, but the cop at the end of the second episode said that {{spoiler|Bianca was found blocks away from the murder house, cut in half.}} He said that it looked like her friends tried to do a Black Dahlia on her. {{spoiler|Which famous crime is said to have happened in the murder house in episode 9? And how do they carry Travis' corpse out of the house?}}
** The realtor had an actual gun {{spoiler|which Vivien later stole and accidentally shot her husband with}} In fact, quite a lot of the onscreen deaths are caused by guns.
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: The young woman Ben is counseling in the second episode. {{spoiler|Later one of the three people who invade the house, and is the only one who escapes alive. She is later found dead by the cops who believe she was murdered by her accomplices whose bodies haven't been found.}}
* [[Chick Magnet]]: Ben, bordering on [[Even the Guys Want Him]]. Ghosts in particular seem turned on by him.
* [[Christianity Is Catholic]]: The Anti Christ subplot is played out in definitely Catholic terms.
* [[Creepy Child]]/[[Man Child|Womanchild]]: Adelaide.
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** {{spoiler|Violet did not survive her overdose!}}
** This trope could possibly apply to almost anyone in the cast, there's a lot of ambiguity about who's alive and who's dead.
* {{spoiler|[[Death
* [[Death
** {{spoiler|Travis' death is also a callback to a previous episode, where she does the same to Constance's late husband. As he was dead, it didn't affect him.}}
** {{spoiler|Constance murders both her husband and Moira when she catches them in bed together.}}
* [[Defeat Means Friendship]]: After her encounter in the Harmons' basement, this seems to have happened with [[Alpha Bitch|Leah]] and Violet.
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: After being a large part of Violet's subplot for the first episode, Leah only makes sporadic appearances for several episodes afterward. {{spoiler|She's phased out entirely after Violet dies}}.
* [[Distracted
* [[Does Not Like Men]]: Older Moira is pretty convinced that all men are out to hurt women. She isn't ever impolite to men in general, but when alone with a sympathetic female, she tends to rant a bit.
* [[Dreaming of Things to Come]]: The girl in the second episode who kept dreaming that she got cut in half? {{spoiler|Can you guess how she dies?}}
* [[Dream Sequence]]: Vivien's prone to these. {{spoiler|In one episode, it was her baby's hand being visible through the skin of her stomach. In another, it was having sex with Luke the security guard, Ben, ''and'' the rubber suit man.}}
** [[A Date
* [[Dressed All in Rubber]]: The man in the rubber suit. {{spoiler|Thinking it's Ben, Vivien has sex with him and conceives one of her twins.}}
* [[Driven to Madness]]: Violet shows signs of this {{spoiler|after she discovers the truth of what Tate had done}}. It's further compounded when {{spoiler|she looks for Tate in the basement and instead finds one of the nurses, the two home invaders, and Charles, leading to her being [[Driven to Suicide]].}}
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* [[The Eighties]]: The beginning of the third episode takes place during this time period.
* [[Enfant Terrible]]: {{spoiler|The baby-thing in the basement that attacks [[Alpha Bitch|Leah]], nearly attacks Violet, and is responsible for the death of the twins. If Tate can be believed, this is Thaddeus, the son of Charles and Nora Montgomery, killed in revenge for an abortion and [[Came Back Wrong|resurrected using a ''still-beating heart'']] by Charles.}}
* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: [[Axe Crazy|All]] [[Stalker
* [[Evil-Detecting Dog]]: Hallie, Vivien's dog, which leads Violet to the basement the first time they visit the house and bites Adelaide.
* [[Evil Redhead]]: The twins, though they were more [[Jerkass]] than outright evil.
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* [[Glasgow Smile]]: Given to both Elizabeth Short and {{spoiler|Travis'}} corpses by {{spoiler|Charles Montgomory.}}
* [[Going in Circles]]: Violet flees the house but keeps ending back inside no matter how many times she tries {{spoiler|because she died and is now a ghost trapped in the house}}.
* [[Groin Attack]]: {{spoiler|Moira's part of the plan to kill the Armenian man. Under the pretense of fellatio, she ''bites his penis off''.}}
* [[Haunted House]]: [[All in The Manual|According to the show's website]], murders and suicides have been taking place in the house since at least the 1920's.
* [[Has Two Daddies]]: In a way. {{spoiler|Vivian's twins were fathered by Tate ''and'' Ben.}}
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* [[Mad Doctor]]: Charles Montgomery, {{spoiler|driven insane after his son is murdered}}.
* [[Malevolent Masked Men|Malevolent Masked People]]: The home invaders in the second episode, who are intent on reenacting one of the murders that had occurred in the house. {{spoiler|Two are lured to the basement and dispatched by the victims of said murder. The third, seriously injured by Tate, manages to get away and dies off-property.}}
* [[Madwoman in
* [[Major Injury Underreaction]]: Travis handles {{spoiler|being murdered}} rather well, only being bummed that he won't be famous now.
** He even asks if he was in the news {{spoiler|after his body is found}}, then requests newspaper clippings. He plans on starting a scrapbook.
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* [[Nice Guy]]: Travis. {{spoiler|Yes, he cheated on Constance with Hayden, but he genuinely seemed to care about her and wanted to adopt a child with her. He was also one of the few to treat Adelaide with dignity, and after he dies, he even spends time playing with Larry's daughters.}}
** {{spoiler|Even in death, he cares about Constance. He asks Larry about her, and in "Afterbirth" forcibly takes Vivien and Tate's son away from Hayden so that Constance can have him.}}
* [[Nightmare Fetishist]]:
** Violet only wants to move in the house after the real estate ladies tells the family about the murders.
** Tate, who has many macabre fantasies and interests. {{spoiler|Some of which he has acted on.}}
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* [[Hall of Mirrors|Room Of Mirrors]]: The "Bad Girl Room".
* [[Police Are Useless]]: The dozens of murders and disappearances over the years certainly don't seem to have inspired the police to do anything like thorough investigations.
* [[The Rabbit Died]]: Invoked in the episode "The Coat Hanger" when Sister Mary Eunice says "The bad news is, the rabbit died" to Lana.
* [[Racist Grandma]]: YMMV on whether or not the realtor is old enough to be considered a grandma, but she is apologetically racist and a bit homophobic. As of "Birth" {{spoiler|Constance}} also counts.
* [[Resigned to
* [[The Reveal]]: The opening for "Rubber Man". {{spoiler|The Rubber Suit Man who fathered one of Vivien's twins and killed Chad and Patrick is Tate!}}
* [[Rich Bitch]]: Billie Dean, the medium who Constance contacts after {{spoiler|Violet discovers that Tate's dead}}.
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** [[Fridge Logic|Why don't they make the effort to tell someone where the bodies are for proper burying so they could go to rest?]]
** This seems to only be the case with Moira, we don't know why everyone else is stuck there and it's not possible that all of their bodies are buried on the grounds since there are records of their deaths, meaning that someone would have had to have found their bodies following said deaths (or else the records would have just said that they disappeared.) The only condition for someone becoming a ghost in the house is that they die on the grounds, not that their bodies remain there.
*** It's explained that the only reason Moira wants her body found is so that Constance will finally be caught and face retribution for what she did. It won't get her out of the house, but it would probably make it easier on her mind frame if she didn't have her murderer mocking her at every turn.
* [[The Seventies]]: The beginning of the pilot takes place in this time period.
* {{spoiler|[[Ship Sinking]]: Tate and Violet, torpedoed near the end of the season once Violet learns that Tate killed Chad and Patrick and raped her mother.}}
* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: Ben's patient Derek from "Piggy Piggy" definitely falls under this.
* [[Shout-Out]]: The man who has half of his face burnt has the surname of Harvey... as in [[Batman|Harvey Dent]].
** Larry Harvey says that when he murdered his family under the influence of voices, he felt like an obedient child. The character played by Laurence Harvey in [[The Manchurian Candidate (novel)||''The Manchurian Candidate'']] murdered people under the influence of {{spoiler|his mother.}}
** Larry Harvey is also the name of one of the founders of Burning Man. And what happened to the show's Larry Harvey?
** The second episode uses the score from ''Psycho'' and is reminiscent of ''[[The Strangers]]''.
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** Tate axes a serial killer groupie named Bianca. Anyone familiar with the Manson case will recognize those names.
** Hayden in "Halloween, Part 2" subverts a [[Fatal Attraction]] shout-out.
** Tate gives a Shout-Out to ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' {{spoiler|right before he commits [[Suicide
** The show uses the score from ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'', particularly in the scene where Nora opens the door to see her "baby" in his room.
** The show also gives a couple of subtle shout-outs to ''[[The Shining]]''. Tate's practically an homage to ''[[Twisted Nerve]]'', whistling the theme tune and everything. Then there are all of the ''Rosemary's Baby'' references...
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** In "Afterbirth" we learn why, {{spoiler|It's Loraine waking them up and leading them down to the stove. She wants them to burn themselves and feel her pain. Pretty creepy. It was one of the examples of how the ghosts in the house work, trying to get others to feel their pain. She's been the one doing it.}}
* [[Sole Survivor]]: {{spoiler|Hallie, the dog. Adopted by Marcy after Ben is killed.}}
* [[Stalker
** Larry is a platonic version of this to Ben. He keeps appearing out of nowhere and talking to him. Though Ben is repulsed by him, he apparently just wants to be buds. In episode three, he even helps Ben out by {{spoiler|killing Hayden.}}
*** Took a turn for the worst in episode 4. {{spoiler|He really wants his thousand dollars. In episode 5, he willingly teams with [[Psycho Ex-Girlfriend|Hayden]] to get revenge on Ben.}}
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*** And other people's houses as well.
* [[Stock Unsolved Mysteries]]: Elizabeth Short, AKA The Black Dahlia, {{spoiler|was accidentally killed during an operation, and her body was dismembered by a ghost for easier transport. She is now one of the ghosts haunting the house.}}
* [[
* [[Straw Misogynist]]: The Armenian man who plans on buying the house displays this behavior, especially towards Constance and Moira. {{spoiler|However, this isn't the reason why Constance, Moira, and Larry team up to do away with him. He planned on tearing the house down.}}
* [[Suicide
* [[Supernatural
** When Vivien starts seeing the ghosts, he thinks she's gone crazy.
** He only believes Vivien's story about the Rubber Man ''after'' speaking to Luke. {{spoiler|And even then they both think it's someone who broke in!}}
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* [[Surreal Horror]]: Bondage monster. That is all.
* [[Swiss Cheese Security]]: Even discounting the ghosts, it seems there is always at least one person in the house who shouldn't be there. The only thing missing is the [[The Calls Are Coming From Inside the House|creepy phone calls]], which show up in the Halloween episode.
* [[Tangled Family Tree]]: {{spoiler|Tate causes all sorts of tangles when it's revealed that he is the Rubber Man and the one who had sex with Vivien}}.
* [[Teacher-Student Romance]]: One of the reasons for the tension between Ben and Vivien.
* [[Teens Are Monsters]]: [[Up to Eleven]]. Her first day at school, Violet is confronted by a group of girls who give her an insane rant for smoking on campus. [[Alpha Bitch|Leah]] tries to make her ''eat'' her cigarette and promptly screams "YOU ARE SO DEAD!" in a high-pitched wail once Violet manages to get away.
** Minor subversion in the fact that even Leah's friends thought she was going too far in trying to make Violet eat the cigarette.
** Tate, who {{spoiler|may very well be a literal monster. His backstory has not been revealed, but he just appears at times, has a history with Constance, and from what he said at the end of "Home Invasion," he seems to have an ulterior motive at the house other than receiving therapy.}}
*** {{spoiler|Some of his backstory is revealed in episode 5: he's Constance's son. Episode 6 reveals that he did shoot several of his fellow students, including the ones who had hunted him down in the episode before, to the point where a full-on ''SWAT team'' was sent to apprehend him. This led to a [[Suicide
** Violet, as well. She can be exceptionally cruel to her parents, and was willing to go along with Tate's basement plan without asking too many questions.
*** Though to be fair, she was horrified when she found out what he was doing and never thought he'd go that far.
*** She also lied to her father and the police about what she and her mother saw, allowing them to conclude that her mother is insane.
* [[There Are No Therapists]]: Averted, as Ben ''is'' one. It doesn't help a whole lot.
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** {{spoiler|Ben, Vivien, Violet, and the deceased twin.}}
** Chad and Patrick. However, this is not a happy ending for them. {{spoiler|They were about to split up when Tate murdered them.}}
* [[Tomato in
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Probably literally. It's not like Violet can't guess that continuing to stay in that house will likely lead to the deaths of her and her family, but she really doesn't seem to want to leave.
** {{spoiler|It's not ''wanting'' to leave. [[Dead All Along|She ''can't'' leave.]]}}
*** That's only after turning down several opportunities to leave and even threatening to run away if she can't live in Murder House.
* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: "The procedure", for abortion. Justified in that, during the timeframe Charles and Nora Montgomery lived in, one did not discuss such things openly.
* [[Urban Legends]]: One of Ben's patients, Derek, recounts one of these, about a man with a pig's head. {{spoiler|Ben has him enact the legend. Instead of the pig man, he sees one of the nurses from the second episode. Later on, he does it again. This time, he surprises a burglar in the act and is shot.}}
* [[Viral Marketing]]: Several videos, referred to as clues to the show's content, have been released on the show's [[YouTube]] channel. {{spoiler|These directly hint towards Vivien's miscarriage, her later pregnancy, and the rubber suit man's involvement, among other things.}} There was also a chance to sign up for a "house call" to come face-to-face with one of the show's characters.
* [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot]]: Episode 3, Ben after {{spoiler|Hayden gets whacked.}}
** Episode 6, when Tate {{spoiler|shoves his fingers down Violet's throat to try to keep her from dying. Thank goodness, too. Who knows what would have happened if she had died in that house.}}
*** {{spoiler|Episode 10 reveals what would've - and did - happen. Tate wasn't able to save her, and she became one of the house's ghosts.}}
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[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:Horror Series]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
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