Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story features at least one holiday themed episode per season, but how do they compare to each other? While there's always the guarantee of a Halloween episode, it is even rarer to get a Christmas inspired installment. No matter what holiday it is, Murphy ensures that his audiences are given a frightening story in every single season.
The horror anthology series premiered in 2011 with AHS: Murder House, which followed the Harmon family after their move to the infamous murder house in Los Angeles, California. This season in particular has one of the most controversial Halloween episodes, but it's also one of its most airtight in regard to its storyline and character arcs. From then on, Murphy continued to add holiday themed horrors inspired by some of the most iconic flicks including Silent Night, Deadly Night and Friday The 13th. Every season, fans wait in anticipation for the moment the one or two-part Halloween episode premieres, but the further the series has progressed, the more it has grown away from it. For the past several seasons, there has been a notable lack of overtly Halloween-inspired episodes that are detached from any mythos or folklore about that year's particular theme.
Murphy continues to branch off from American Horror Story's initial format that he established with AHS: Murder House. AHS: Cult and AHS: Roanoke opted out of having Halloween episodes or any holiday-themed episodes entirely. American Horror Story largely recognizes Halloween, but has delved into other holidays throughout the nine existing seasons. While it could be argued that AHS: Cult's episode 1 has a holiday theme - election night - it isn't technically a recognized holiday, which means that season doesn't have one in general, and the same goes for season 6. However, for the seasons that do feature holiday celebrations, there are good episodes and less good ones. Here's how they rank from worst to best.
8. AHS: Apocalypse "Sojourn" (8.8)
AHS: Apocalypse's episode 8, "Sojourn" is season 8's official Halloween episode. It covers a lot of content that can be lumped in with the holiday including Satanism, cults, and the Anti-Christ, but it could also be argued that the entire season is one big Halloween special. Its premise is the end of the world, which is horrifying in itself. When episode 8 uncovers the very beginnings of the apocalypse, it adds new depths to understanding the character of Michael Langdon (Cody Fern) from his introduction in AHS: Murder House. While the episode has its merits, it doesn't hold up in comparison to other holiday episodes of American Horror Story. It doesn't really serve to celebrate the holiday, but solely uses the day to further the storyline of Michael, which didn't make for the most exciting Halloween special.
7. AHS: 1984 "The Lady In White" (9.7)
Despite the fact that AHS: 1984 is considered the weakest season, its Halloween special is one of the many things that makes it one of the strongest. Murphy pays homage to classic slasher flicks in season 9, but especially in "The Lady In White." It tells the story of a single mother who works as Camp Redwood, which offers her two boys the opportunity to experience the fun and exciting camp experience. When the youngest goes for a swim in the lake, the lifeguards on duty take to the woods to hook up. As a result, he dies in the lake. If this sounds familiar, it is because it's the same basic premise of Friday The 13th. By utilizing a familiar and iconic slasher story, Murphy was able to amplify season 9's Halloween special well beyond that of season 8's even if it didn't directly address the holiday.
6. AHS: Freak Show "Edward Mordrake" Part 1 & 2 (4.3-4)
AHS: Freak Show's Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) was a 19th century man who was diagnosed with diprosopus, which means that he grew an additional face on the back of his head. After its voice led him to check himself into an asylum, he joined a side show troupe; he subsequently murdered the troupe's performers on Halloween. As Elsa Mars's (Jessica Lange) performers tell the tale of Mordrake like an urban legend, but they reveal that he comes back every year to take fellow freaks with him if they elect to perform on Halloween.
With two parts, episodes 3 and 4 feature the ghostly man taking some of Elsa's performers with him. One of his first victims was Twisty the Clown. Rather than suffering, he offers them relief from their life as spectacles to people who only come to side shows and circuses to make fun or mock them. While it is one of the better Halloween specials, it is fairly disjointed and doesn't follow a fluid storyline. It branches off several time periods, and makes for an incredibly confusing two-part arc.
5. AHS: Asylum "Tricks and Treats" (2.2)
American Horror Story season 2 is one of the best out of the entire series. In fact, in most rankings, it's situated in the number one position, and for good reason. AHS: Asylum features two holiday specials, which was an all-new component that Murphy utilized in season 2 that was inexplicably never used again. Episode 2, "Tricks And Treats," did not premiere on October 31st, episode 3 did. Regardless of this fact, it's common that "Tricks And Treats" is treated as the Halloween special in season 2. This is due to the influences of The Exorcist on it as well as the unsettling behavior of Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) towards Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe). It brought on the young nun's possession, unraveled the doctor's human experiments, and exposed Sister Jude's (Lange) dark past. It is one of the best Halloween specials by far, but still doesn't hold a candle to season 2's other holiday special.
4. AHS: Asylum "Unholy Night" (2.8)
AHS: Asylum is the only season with a Christmas special. While the holiday is featured in AHS: Murder House's finale "Afterbirth," it's not used as the source of a horrifying story, but merely the precursor to what could become of the the Harmon family. In season 2, "Unholy Night" features a murderous Santa Claus who was inspired by the killer in Silent Night, Deadly Night, a Christmas slasher movie. Sister Mary Eunice, under the possession of the devil, frees the patient and gives him a Santa costume in order to torture Sister Jude. He is a dark figure from her past who has the power to tear her down emotionally and mentally. This episode was the first peek into Murphy's ability to create a character based on a classic slasher, and showed how haunting he could make the Christmas season. While there's never been another episode like it, "Unholy Night" set the precedent for any and all winter holiday-themed specials that the showrunner could create in future seasons.
3. AHS: Coven "Fearful Pranks Ensue" (3.4)
AHS: Coven was the first season to break away from the two-part Halloween special structure established in season 1 and 2. While a portion of it does carry over to the following episode, most of the scares take place during season 3, episode 4, "Fearful Pranks Ensue." It begins on a rather somber and shocking tone with the lynching of an innocent Black boy in New Orleans, which is witnessed by Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett). She goes on to enact revenge on the white men who killed the boy by setting a legion of the undead to kill them.
As it switches to the modern day, then being 2013, it shows Laveau doing the same to the witches of the coven as they've been housing the racist murderer, Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates). This character made season 3 one of the most controversial due to the truth behind her actions. The living dead that rise are none other than LaLaurie's children, who were abused and tormented by their mother in nearly every flashback of the episode. What makes "Fearful Pranks Ensue" such an incredible Halloween special is how it fits into the season in one fluid motion. It isn't disjointed or detached from the larger storyline, and it still encapsulates the horrors that can take place when the veil is at its thinnest.
2. AHS: Hotel "Devil's Night" (5.4)
Season 5, episode 4, "Devil's Night" brought out some of history's most nefarious characters. As James March (Evan Peters), the original owner of the Hotel Cortez, sends out invites to his annual Halloween dinner, John Lowe (Bentley) discovers that those in attendance are John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, Aileen Wuornos, Richard Ramirez, and the Zodiac Killer. They all have one thing in common: they are all serial killers. "Devil's Night" is one of the most haunting specials that Murphy has ever created due to the bizarre sense of humor each killer exhibits along with other behavior traits, such as short fuses. As they celebrate their killings, viewers witness the true nature of America's most despicable: they are proud of what they did. It brings together fact and fiction for one of the greatest Halloween special in American Horror Story history.
1. AHS: Murder House "Halloween" Part 1 & 2 (1.4-5)
While it is now considered one of the most controversial Halloween episodes to date, AHS: Murder House's two-part special reveals the truth behind Tate Langdon's (Peters) mysterious past. As the dead are free to walk among the living, a group of teenagers show up to a date Tate is on with Violet Harmon (Taissa Farmiga). It's revealed that they were victims in a school shooting orchestrated by the teenager prior to his death in the notorious murder house. The episode paints Tate as the victim of a group of tormenting teens on Halloween night, when in all actuality, he's the one that killed them and stopped them from being able to go on to grow into adulthood.
On a technical level, this episode is good because it addresses a common belief about the Halloween season — the veil that separates the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and the dead can walk among the living. This episode hits the nail on the head by tackling this concept directly. However, season 1's Halloween special also single-handedly showcases the importance of bettering mental healthcare access, the need for stricter gun control, as well as the reality that the United States has the highest number of school shootings than any other country. It's just as important as it is integral to the plot of AHS: Murder House, which makes it the best holiday special in American Horror Story to date.