Content Warning: This article contains mentions of graphic violence, murder, and death.
American Horror Story might be an anthology show but in recent years characters from previous seasons have begun to reappear. Characters like Lana Winters, Cordelia Goode, and Constance Langdon have become firm favorites over the show's run, so much so that Ryan Murphy couldn't resist bringing them back.
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One of the most exciting elements of the show is waiting to see which past characters will show up again. Even over one season, fans become attached to the different characters so it's always exciting when they show up again later. With season 10 having just begun, fans will be left wondering if any past characters might show up this time around.
Marcy (From Murder House To Hotel)
Marcy has a specialty for selling haunted locations as can be seen in both Murder House and Hotel. In season 1, Marcy sells The Murder House to the Harmon family and while she tells them about the recent tragedy that happened there, she neglects to tell them about the house's extensive history.
She shows up again in season 5, this time overseeing the sale of The Hotel Cortez. However, she is eventually killed at the hotel and becomes trapped there. Although her character doesn't develop or change much between the two seasons, it was still a nice nod to long-term fans of the show to have her appear again.
Billie Dean Howard (From Murder House To Hotel)
Billie Dean first shows up in season 1 as a psychic and friend of Constance Langdon. She plays a minor role in the season but she is still considered as one of Sarah Paulson's best characters on American Horror Story. Billie Dean appears again in Hotel where she has a touching seen with Iris and Liz and is later taunted at The Devil's Night dinner party.
While her appearance in series 8 seemed more for fan service, it's great to see how she's developed in season 5, having finally received the TV show she was longing for in series 1. Paulson certainly dialed up the flamboyancy for Billie Dean's later appearances, suggesting the fame may have gone to the character's head.
James Patrick March (From Hotel To Apocalypse)
James Patrick March is one of the main villains of season 5 and was responsible for the creation of The Cortez. March kills countless people during this season and takes joy in the pain of others. Evan Peters puts in a masterful performance as March and the character is a true stand-out for the season.
Although season 8 was a crossover season, March was a surprising addition. Amusingly, March is seen in a much more humorous and sympathetic light here than he was back in season 5.
Mary Eunice (from Asylum to Freak Show)
Often regarded as the best season of American Horror Story, season 2 featured many twists and turns and a whole host of villainous characters. Mary Eunice starts the season as sweet-natured and shy but she soon finds herself possessed by The Devil. The Devil has appeared in many seasons of the show, under many different guises but this one was arguably the most terrifying.
When Mary Eunice made a cameo in season 4, she was back to the sweet-natured girl fans first saw at the beginning of season 2. After seeing the character's many sadistic actions and her memorable death, it was quite a shock to see her again, especially pre-possession.
Arthur Arden (from Asylum to Freak Show)
Another American Horror Story villain known for his experiments was Arthur Arden. Arden used his position of power at Briarcliff to experiment on many of the patients. Although Arden met a fiery end by the time season 2 was over, the audience got to learn more about his backstory in season 4.
While fans knew about Arden's past as a Nazi doctor, they learned just how brutal he'd actually been here. Flashbacks show that Arden amputated Elsa's legs as part of a twisted snuff film, solidifying him as one of the show's most terrifying and horrific villains. His actions in season 4 were consistent with what viewers had already seen of the character and possibly made him even more despicable.
Lana Winters (from Asylum to Roanoke)
Lana Winters turned up at Briarcliff in search of a story but found herself getting sectioned instead. Lana goes through a lot during season 2, being subjected to an endless list of traumas. The scene where she is kidnapped and Thredson is revealed as Bloodyface is one of the scariest scenes from Asylum.
By the end of the season, Lana has become somewhat of a celebrity, which is picked up again in season 6 and also mentioned in season 7. While fans saw the character become colder by the end of season 2, she's even harder in season 6. Paulson perfectly portrays the older and much tougher Lana here.
Pepper (from Asylum to Freak Show)
Pepper was the first character to ever make a crossover on the show, with season 2 serving as an indirect prequel to season 4. Until this point, fans had been led to believe that each season of the show was unconnected but then Asylum's Pepper showed up in Freak Show.
Pepper was a minor character in season 2 but the audience soon took her into their hearts. Her backstory was explored through conversations in season 2 but season 4 revealed there was a lot more to the story. First, she loses her partner, Salty and then she is framed for murdering her nephew and sent to Briarcliff. Season 4 really adds to Pepper as a character, making her far more complex and well-rounded, which actually adds more meaning to her previous appearance.
Constance Langdon (from Murder House to Apocalypse)
Season 1 racked up quite a large body count but death didn't necessarily mean the end for the characters. Many characters became trapped as ghosts in The Murder House and were still trapped when the season came to an end. Season 8 returned to Murder House and revisited many of the show's original characters.
One of these characters was Jessica Lange's Constance, who had become a ghost at the house by this point. The viewers were elated to see her again after she had been missing from the previous three seasons. Lange's return to the show was a stand-out part of season 8 and really helped to develop Constance further as fans saw a much more sympathetic side to her here. It was also poetic to see how her parenting had actually led to her downfall.
The Coven Witches (from Coven to Apocalypse)
The Murder House ghosts weren't the only group of characters to return in season 8, The Coven witches also made a triumphant comeback. Despite many of the witches dying during season 3, most of them came back to unite against Michael Langdon. Season 8 gave fans their first in-depth look at Cordelia as Supreme and Madison was given some much-needed character development.
Queenie was also freed from the Cortez, Misty was rescued from hell and even Marie Laveau made a surprise return in the season finale. The witches' scenes may have been more suited to a full Coven spin-off rather than a season titled Apocalypse but many of the characters were developed further and in Madison and Zoe's case, they were more complex and likable this time around.