American Horror Story: Every Season’s Connection Explained

This article contains mentions of sexual assault and violence.

Summary

• American Horror Story
  seasons connect, creating a shared world of intricate and terrifying narratives.
• Characters from Murder House and Coven come together in Apocalypse, revealing connections between the seasons.
• Characters like Billie Dean Howard and Lana Winters appear in multiple seasons, further linking the
  American Horror Story
  universe.

Despite being an anthology horror series, creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy has confirmed that there are many American Horror Story connections between the seasons. American Horror Story‘s seasons are famed for their intricate, terrifying narratives, with American Horror Story: Delicate (season 12) being the latest installment. Since airing on FX in 2011 with season 1, Murder House, American Horror Story has explored numerous elements of history and the horror genre, bringing numerous, terrifying stories to audiences. It has been confirmed that the AHS seasons connect and exist within a shared world.

Though subsequently becoming involved with different projects on Netflix, network television, and movies since Murder House first premiered in 2011, Murphy’s passion for the American Horror Story series continues to be apparent to this day. Whether through the care he takes to make clever season-to-season connections, or by keeping the universe richly developed, American Horror Story has become a trove of Easter eggs, callbacks, and AHS canon references for fans to unravel. The American Horror Story connections between seasons make for interesting crossovers and imply future connections between future installments.

Murder House Connects To Apocalypse Through A Child

Tate & Vivien’s Child Becomes The Antichrist

Ryan Murphy teased the American Horror Story connections between Murder House and Coven for a while before audiences saw them in AHS Season 8, Apocalypse. While it has its own plot line that doesn’t fixate on the characters from Coven and Murder House directly, the post-apocalyptic wasteland created by Michael Langdon perfectly brings everything together.

Michael Langdon, who comes into his powers as the Antichrist, is the son of Tate Langdon and Vivien Harmon. The Harmon family moved into the Murder House in season 1, and Tate, a ghostly resident, raped Vivien before becoming romantically involved with her daughter, Violet. Medium Billie Dean Howard teased the unnatural birth of such a child and discussed a prophecy that would bring about the End of Days. At the end of season 1, Michael’s murderous nature was seen when he was still just a child.

Coven & Murder House Cross Over In Season 8

Madison Traveled To The American Horror Story Season 1 Location

The American Horror Story seasons Murder House and Coven connected in other ways outside the inclusion of Michael Langdon. In Apocalypse, the witches’ purpose is to stop Michael Langdon and restore balance to the world in a match-up of ultimate good vs. ultimate evil. While there’s a lot involved within the season, there is a connection between the two installments that is more of a theory than a direct link.

Potential Supreme Madison Montgomery, one of the witches that dies in American Horror Story:Coven (but was then resurrected in Apocalypse) could be related to the original owners of the Murder House: Charles and Nora Montgomery, though this has never been confirmed. However, Madison did travel to Murder House with Behold during Season 8. This could be just a coincidence or another clever clue from Ryan Murphy about his various American Horror Story connections.

Billie Dean Howard Works With The Spirits In The Hotel Cortez

Sarah Paulson’s AHS Season 1 Character Is Well Travelled

Billie Dean Howard, a medium first introduced in Season 1, travels to the very haunted and connected Hotel Cortez in American Horror Story Season 5, Hotel. Her goal is to commune with the different spirits who inhabit the place as part of her TV show, which is similar to shows like Ghost Adventures, except Howard has a genuine gift. Billie Dean Howard isn’t a major character in either season, but as the Cortez and Murder House (possibly a portal to Hell) are both located in California, it raises questions.

She possibly travels around to numerous haunted locations in the state. Perhaps some of these haven’t been revealed yet, or perhaps they have been and just haven’t been revisited yet – such as Camp Redwood in 1984.Billie Dean even makes a return in Apocalypse, when she tries to stop Madison Montgomery from casting a spell in Murder House. It is here that she proves that the ghosts trust her, making her a very unique character in the AHS mythos.

Pepper & Sister Mary Eunice Travel From Asylum To Freak Show

One Of The Most Tragic AHS Characters Makes Multiple Appearances

Pepper is a tragic character in American Horror Story. She certainly endures a lot during her time at Briarcliff in AHS Season 2, Asylum, and the American Horror Story connections are revealed in season 4, Freak Show. Pepper was originally a part of Fräulein Elsa’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Pepper grew up in an orphanage and was adopted by Elsa to become a part of her troupe of performers. A kind, gentle soul, Pepper was wrongly blamed for the murder of her sister’s baby and ended up in Briarcliff as a result.

The story is infinitely more tragic following all the deaths in American Horror Story: Freak Show. In a scene that involves Sister Mary Eunice, during Pepper’s admission to Briarcliff, she is told that Pepper sliced off the baby’s ears and drowned it. In Freak Show, Pepper always showed a maternal and even domestic nature, referenced through her marriage to Salty, another “freak” with microcephaly, and her care for the tragic AHS character Ma Petite.

Lana Winters From Asylum Appears In Multiple Seasons

A Recurring AHS Cast Member Plays A Recurring Character

Lana Winters, who is one of the most iconic characters in American Horror Story history, tends to pop up all over the series’ timeline just via her nature as a reporter. While most prominently featured in Season 2, Asylum, Lana makes an appearance in Roanoke — and her show does, too — when she interviews Lee Harris.

Another American Horror Story connection Lana Winters shares is a brief mention in season 7, Cult, when the journalist asks to interview Ally Mayfair-Richards, but is denied the opportunity. This moment underscores why Cult is among the best AHS seasons. Perhaps this has something to do with Sarah Paulson playing both Ally and Lana, but the actress has doubled up on roles and characters before, so it might have just been an Easter egg or a way to show Lana Winters is still going strong in modern years, as Cult takes place after the 2016 US Presidential Election.

Hotel Cortez’s Function Is Revealed In Apocalypse

The Deadly Guest House Is Important For Armageddon

The hard-to-escape Hotel Cortez has a bigger significance than just warranting a whole season, showing how the American Horror Story seasons connect. Not only is it one of several locations in the series — such as Camp Redwood and Murder House — where the dead don’t stay dead, but it is also revealed to be of integral importance by none other than Michael Langdon during Apocalypse. Apparently, the Hotel Cortez isn’t just a haunted hot spot. It’s also a sort of purgatory, just like American Horror Story: 1984‘s Camp Redwood.

It remains unclear if anything changed about the Hotel Cortez after the witch Mallory went back in time to prevent the Apocalypse, although it did change the fact that Queenie ever stayed there, changing the possible fate of Elizabeth. Billie Dean Howard also mentioned that it is very close to the Murder House from AHS season 1.

1984 Connects To Asylum’s Briarcliff Manor

A Serial Killer Turns The Terrifying Sanatorium Into A Tourist Spot

Though a relatively minor American Horror Story connection between seasons, it’s revealed in 1984 that serial killer Margaret Booth has taken to purchasing true crime locations and turning them into cash cows. 1984 and Asylum‘s American Horror Story timelines are directly connected through this new business venture of Margaret’s. She purchases Briarcliff because she sees it as a decent investment, just like Charles Manson’s ranch and the site of her own murders, Camp Redwood.

As true crime is very profitable, there’s no reason why something like this wouldn’t be a gainful business even outside the American Horror Story universe. With so many other locations, including the Hotel Cortez, there is no reason to think that this business venture won’t pop up again in a future American Horror Story season. While Margaret Booth is dead, that does not mean that someone else hasn’t carried on her business interests.

Roanoke Connects To Coven Through The First Supreme

The Supreme Concept Is Born There

Coven introduces the concept of a Supreme through Jessica Lange’s character, Fiona Goode. Fiona is a determined, powerful leader — albeit a selfish one — who will stop at nothing to keep her power and hold over the coven intact instead of being replaced by a younger model as her body starts to fail her. However, as witches are not immortal, throughout the American Horror Story timeline, there have been many Supremes. In Roanoke, audiences were introduced to Scáthach, who started the entire line of Supremes that led to Fiona and Cordelia sparring at Miss Robichaux’s Academy in Season 3.

While none of the witches who appeared in Coven were as bloodthirsty and purely evil as Scáthach, they all come from the same line of magic users. There is also a nod to Scáthach in Apocalypse when the Trial of the Seven Wonders was set to take place during the October Blood Moon, the time of the year that Scáthach demanded human sacrifices.

Asylum Connects To Freak Show Through Dr. Arthur Arden

American Horror Story Season 2 And Season 4 Have Another Huge Connection

One of the darker American Horror Story connections came in Dr. Arthur Arden from Asylum, who ended up having a significant role to play in Season 4, Freak Show, even though he only made a brief appearance. One of the biggest mysteries surrounding his character, who was a major player in Season 2, was whether he had connections to the Nazi Party. This was brought up when a woman who claimed to be Anne Frank was admitted to Briarcliff and said she knew him as Hans Gruper.

His experimentation on different patients at Briarcliff certainly revealed that Dr. Arden had a dark side, but Anne’s identity — and Arden’s — was left ambiguous after she was lobotomized. In American Horror Story‘s complete timeline, Elsa is revealed to have lost her legs in a snuff film, and it was confirmed that her legs were removed by none other than Dr. Arden, years before she ever arrived in Jupiter. Even more interesting was the confirmation that he was going by the name of Hans Gruper.

The Mott Family Is Connected To Roanoke

A Hidden Freakshow Connection Is In American Horror Story Season 6

The events of Roanoke primarily take place at a farmhouse purchased by Matt and Shelby Miller. That farmhouse is the focus of My Roanoke Nightmare, a docu-series about the terrors they endured and that are connected to the Roanoke colonists who mysteriously disappeared in North Carolina. The farmhouse was once occupied by Edward Philippe Mott, an ancestor of Dandy Mott and his mother, Gloria, who were trying to purchase Elsa’s show during Season 4.

There was a line in the docu-series from Roanoke that specifically mentioned the Mott family. In the dialogue, a woman says, “The house remained in the Mott trust for over a century but it was said that madness always ran in the Mott family. Their line ended in scandal when the last Mott died in South Florida in 1952.” Of course, the line referenced the moment that Dandy Mott went on a rampage and killed most of the members of the Freak Show before dying himself, ending his family line.

Twisty The Clown Appears In Cult (In Comic Form)

The Terrifying Killer Clown Has An In-Universe Legacy

One terrifying character who was already a major feature of American Horror Story is the killer clown, Twisty. Twisty premiered in Season 4 as a disgraced clown who uses terrifying methods to force his way back into the role of a children’s entertainer. He is also a villain who has no idea that he is actually hurting the children he wants so desperately to entertain. His story also resulted in him being one of the reasons that Dandy Mott went on to become a serial killer in Freak Show. However, his story wasn’t finished there.

Twisty’s murders became so famous that he was featured in a comic book series in American Horror Story season 7, Cult. Ally and Ivy’s son, Oz, was seen reading comics called Twisty: the Clown Chronicles, and he even has a Twisty action figure. His mother does not approve, as she has coulrophobia. Ally Mayfair-Richards’ fear of clowns remains a prominent feature in the seventh season, as does the clown cult that is headed by Kai Anderson. Her son idolizing Twisty just adds a dark edge to those fears.

Richard Ramirez Visits The Hotel Cortez & Stalks Camp Redwood

One Of Many Murderers Keeping The AHS Universe Connected

Richard Ramirez connects to two seasons: 1984 where he plays a major role, and Hotel, where he appears as a guest of hotel proprietor James March for his Devil’s Night celebrations alongside other prominent serial killers. Ramirez is a real-life serial killer, a man who was eventually convicted on 12 counts of first-degree murder and 11 counts of rape. He was sentenced to death in 1989 but died in prison in 2013. Adding this real-life serial killer to AHS was an interesting decision.

In Hotel, he is invited to the hotel with several other serial killers three years after he died in prison. While that was just a small appearance, in 1984, he is the actual killer in the throwback series, which bases its kills on his real-life rampage as the Night Stalker. While the history behind the character’s inclusion was a bit murky at times, Ramirez’s existence in both seasons is yet another connection that the 12 seasons of American Horror Story all share.

Double Feature’s Eisenhower Aliens Hold Links To The Asylum

Season 2’s Asylum included an extended plot thread about aliens that ended quite cryptically, with Evan Peter’s Kit Walker abducted for the final time on his 40th birthday to close the season’s extraterrestrial loop. While Murphy’s commentary in 2012 following Asylum‘s release suggested the alien presence in the series was an allegory for divine intervention, these same extraterrestrials have since been hinted at in American Horror Story: Double Feature.

The season’s seventh episode, “Take Me to Your Leader,” grants a first look at little gray aliens that appear identical to the ones featured in Asylum. In addition, the Asylum storyline happens concurrently with Double Feature‘s alien developments, with Asylum’s Kit narrative taking place in the 1960s parallel with American Horror Story: Double Features‘ Eisenhower alien plot, even down to the mirrored technology used by the aliens in both seasons.

American Horror Story: NYC Had Several Easter Eggs

Season 11 Contained Many Franchise Nods

American Horror Story: NYC saw several Easter eggs, including two actors who hadn’t been on the show for nearly a decade. Zachary Quinto returns as Sam, who finances and sells his boyfriend Theo Graves’ (Isaac Powell) controversial artwork. In addition, Broadway sensation Patti LuPone plays a singer named Kathy Pizazz who runs a bathhouse. However, one way the series shows how American Horror Story seasons connect is with the return of Asylum‘s Angel of Death.

While not played by Frances Conroy this time around, the Angel of Death shows up in AHS season 11, episode 5, “Bad Fortune”, which sees Gino getting a tarot card reading from Kathy Pizazz. The same 3 cards keep popping up (Judgement, The Devil, and Death), and in a jump scare moment, the Angel of Death pops up behind Kathy, threatening Gino.

Another disturbing Easter egg is Zachary Quinto’s Sam having a similar untoward proclivity as his Dr. Thredson/Bloody Face character in Asylum: necrophilia. In Asylum, Dr. Thredson reveals that after he killed Lana’s partner Wendy (Clea DuVall), he sexually assaulted her corpse. American Horror Story: NYC episode 6, “Fire Island”, sees a flashback of Sam during a threesome, in which Billy dies after being suffocated during a sex act. Both Sam and Patrick continued the act, not realizing Billy was dead. It’s disturbing, but this is just one more of the American Horror Story connections.

Delicate Lacks Notable American Horror Story Connections

American Horror Story Season 12 Hasn’t Connected To The Wider Franchise

2023’s American Horror Story: Delicate is the 12th season of the show, and was split into two batches of episodes. However, it didn’t haved any major connections to previous seasons — something that felt like an oversight according to many viewers. There were hints before Delicate arrived that it could cross over with season 3, Coven, though these didn’t come to fruition. A key character in Delicate was Siobhan Cobyne (Kim Kardashian) a publicist who, it transpires, is a member of a coven of witches.

Unfortunately though, Siobhan’s status as a witch didn’t lead to any links to the beloved previous
AHS
installment by the time
Delicate
concluded.

The reasons that many believed this could hint at a connection to the third season of American Horror Story are obvious. Unfortunately though, Siobhan’s status as a witch didn’t lead to any links to the beloved previous AHS installment by the time Delicate concluded. While this is likely because Delicate was an adaptation of a book, Danielle Valentine’s Delicate Condition, several fans felt this was an oversight on the part of the show, as it would have been an easy way to connect the story to other chapters of American Horror Story.

American Horror Story season 13 has already been confirmed as part of a multi-season order made back in 2020. However, there have not been any hints about what the theme will be, or whether it will be an original story or an adaptation of an existing one like Delicate. Hopefully — especially since the number 13 is a number synonymous with spooky goings-on — the next season of American Horror Story will serve as something of a celebration of the show so far, and will feature more connections to previous seasons than the incredibly isolated AHS: Delicate.

How Does American Horror Stories Connect To The Original Show?

The Anthology Spinoff Has A Few American Horror Story Connections

The AHS spinoff American Horror Stories also connects to many of the original show’s previous seasons, though not as implicitly as they connect. American Horror Stories Season 1, episode 1, “Rubber(wo)Man Part One” — the pilot episode — is actually a return to AHS season 1’s Murder House. Things also go down similarly to the first season of the original show, complete with a new family moving into the Murder House, and that family hoping to turn the creepy mansion into a bed and breakfast.

The Murder House’s legacy of consuming new families is maintained in American Horror Stories‘ two-part Rubber Woman pilot, as the family’s 16-year-old daughter dons the infamous latex suit and gets possessed by its properties. Moreover, a version of Roanoke’s knife-wielding Piggy Man also appears in the spinoff. A serial killer Santa Claus similar to season 2’s Leigh Emerson, is featured in American Horror Stories season 1, episode 4, “The Naughty List,” while episode 5 “BA’AL” heavily features witchcraft.

While these American Horror Stories and AHS connections are creepy enough, perhaps the weirdest connection the spinoff makes to the original series is that American Horror Story is a television show that exists within the universe of American Horror Stories. With American Horror Stories featuring episodic horror instead of season-long story arcs, it’s easy to see why AHS creator Ryan Murphy followed through with a second season. As the spinoff continues, considering how American Horror Stories already connects to AHS, more connections are bound to be established with the show’s future installments.

Smaller Connections Between American Horror Story Seasons

There Are Dozens Of Minor Easter Eggs Throughout American Horror Story

Small American Horror Story connections exist between seasons as well. Those connections can be something as simple as a single character making multiple cameo appearances or a similar item appearing across multiple seasons. For example, the Campfire Gold coffee brand makes multiple appearances in the franchise with Elsa Mars filming a commercial for the brand in Freak Show and another’s ashes being placed in a coffee can of the same brand in Hotel.

There are also recurring lines in the franchise and surnames that pop up again and again. Jessica Lange’s characters often ask, “Cat got your tongue?” to characters they might be taunting. Repeated lines have begun to hold significance for fans. Last names like Howard, Goodman, Drake, and Snow all appear in multiple seasons, suggesting characters might be related just like fans theorize about the Montgomery family and Madison. Viewers who love spotting the Easter eggs and connections have learned to be on the lookout for even the smallest of American Horror Story connections.

Over the years, Ryan Murphy has tried hard to show how the American Horror Story seasons connect. However, the crossovers have become more subtle in later seasons. American Horror Story: Apocalypse by far saw the biggest crossovers, outright bringing many characters from other seasons into the fold. Other installments, like Roanoke, were a little more demure in their Easter eggs. Either way, it doesn’t seem likely that a crossover like Apocalypse is going to happen again. As American Horror Story goes on, there will assuredly be more connections made to previous seasons.