The season 1 finale of American Horror Stories, “Game Over,” featured a possible fatal twist involving Murder House, begging the question of if the sinister home is really gone from the AHS universe. Murder House was the titular location of American Horror Story’s inaugural season, where the series explored the menacing nature of the home’s history and the spirits trapped inside. Over the course of American Horror Story’s 9 - soon to be 10 - seasons, Murder House is brought up multiple times, including Hotel’s Countess Elizabeth visiting the home for an abortion and Apocalypse officially returning with much of the season’s climax taking place at Murder House with its infamous residents.
American Horror Stories, the AHS spinoff series, then brought audiences back to Murder House again, with a new family moving in before being sucked in by the evil forces. In American Horror Stories’ two-part “Rubber Woman” episodes, several of AHS: Murder House’s old ghosts reappear, along with more spirits that have accumulated over the years. For American Horror Stories’ season 1 finale, a single mother, Michelle, researches Murder House as she uses it as the basis for her new video game, “Escape From Murder House,” due to her teenage son, Rory, being an avid American Horror Story fan. Within the video game, Michelle and Rory burn down Murder House, allowing its trapped spirits the freedom to remain on the property, move on to heaven and hell, or possibly escape into the rest of the world.
The American Horror Stories episode features an ambiguous ending that makes it unclear whether Murder House was only destroyed in the video game or if its virtual fate translated into real life. The episode’s reveal that the final few acts took place within the video game led audiences to believe none of the events at Murder House were real — that is, until Beau Langdon’s red ball is seen rolling under a chair in Michelle’s house, which is far from where his spirit is stuck in Murder House. Since Michelle and Rory physically burning down Murder House only happened within the video game, it’s more than likely that the house is still standing — especially since there was no real-world news of the home being destroyed and being turned into a condominium.
The only aspect of the American Horror Stories episode that suggests Murder House really could be gone is that Beau appeared in Michelle and Rory’s home afterward. Since Murder House’s spirits are trapped within the confine of the home’s property and it wasn’t Halloween, there isn’t a logical reason as to how Beau could have ended up there. With American Horror Stories’ “Game Over” ending on the cliffhanger of Beau’s red ball, it leaves the speculation of Murder House's fate up to fans. One reason for Beau being able to leave Murder House could be that what happened in the video game ended up translating into real life. It’s possible that when Rory and Michelle freed the spirits within the game, the universe also allowed them the freedom to roam in reality. If so, this could mean that the real-life Murder House was also physically destroyed. If not physically, Murder House would have also been destroyed by no longer holding the power to contain its spirits.
The possibility of Murder House being gone is also confounded by rumors of Evan Peters returning for American Horror Story season 10, Double Feature, to reprise his role as Murder House’s Tate Langdon. Peters was spotted wearing Tate’s classic green and black striped sweater and shaggy blonde hair outside of Los Angeles’s Murder House, apparently on set with the filming crew for Double Feature. Since Tate and Violet were never really reunited after Apocalypse’s Mallory reset the events of Murder House after the Antichrist, it appears creator Ryan Murphy may finally be showing what the afterlife is like for Tate today. If Tate does return for AHS season 10 in the modern-day timeline, this may confirm that Murder House was never actually destroyed in American Horror Stories.