For a decade, American Horror Story has offered ten startling scenarios to television. Ryan Murphy, the series creator, is no stranger to success with television, as he is responsible for beloved series like Glee, Scream Queens, Pose, Ratched, and many more. He has also recently concluded the first installment of the spin-off American Horror Stories. Murphy's ten seasons include Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, and Double Feature.

Unfortunately, not all seasons of American Horror Story have been subject to the same positive response. Early seasons like Murder House and Coven are amongst the fan favorites, while later seasons like Roanoke and Cult are among some of their least favorites. Of American Horror Story's ten seasons, there are a few that could earn the reputation as the series' best season. However, there is one season that manages to edge out the others.

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American Horror Story: Asylum is the second season of the horror franchise. It falls between the beloved seasons of Murder House and Coven and is often considered one of the scariest seasons of American Horror Story. The season stars infamous faces from the American Horror Story franchise including Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, and Chloë Sevigny. The characters that are born from this season of American Horror Story remain some of the most notorious from the franchise, partly because of the familiar faces that play them. What makes Asylum such a strong season of American Horror Story isn't only due to the performances from the cast and its horrifying and somewhat grotesque subject matter, but its ability to seamlessly weave the past with the present to create an authentic product.

Grace

Asylum isn't the only season of American Horror Story that tries to weave the past and present together or combine different genres and elements. Asylum just does the best job at it. The twists within Asylum don't feel rushed or seem difficult to follow like some have criticized Roanoke to be, nor does it go above and beyond to try and be scary. Asylum masterfully creates suspense within the asylum in which the story is set and through its music and usage of sound. It also combines elements of science fiction, history, and a dangerous, unidentified murderous threat.

Asylum operates with a three-ring structure that each divide off into their own respective storylines and sub-plots. While the three are seemingly unrelated, the unifying factors of each ring are found before the season ends, though it does leave a few ambiguous conclusions. Unlike the uncertainty that remains at the end of other seasons, Asylum's works well in its favor. The ambiguity stems from the first layer of Asylum, which is the mysterious inclusion of aliens. They abduct Alma (Britne Oldford) from the home she shares with her husband Kit (Peters). The aliens appear again for Grace (Lizzie Brocheré) after she forms a romantic connection with Kit inside the asylum. Grace suggests the aliens came for Kit because of his inclusivity but in a season that deals heavily with religion, Murphy has also mentioned that the aliens also serve as a sign of God or angels.

Religion is a huge part of the foundation of the mental asylum, Briarcliff. Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes) presides over Briarcliff while devoted nuns like Sister Jude (Lange) and Mary Eunice (Rabe) handle the direct contact with the asylum's patients. They are joined in the asylum by Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cronwell) and Oliver Thredson (Quinto). Everyone is harboring some sort of secret and they are all forced to confront their sins. The once holy and innocent Mary Eunice becomes possessed by Satan and begins terrorizing the asylum and its inhabitants. She teases Jude about her secret past, knows of Arden's past with the Nazi Party, and acknowledges Thredson as his murderous alias Bloody Face.

Oliver Thredson, Bloody Face, and Kit Walker

Bloody Face is the final layer of Asylum and it is also the layer that weaves the past and present together. Thredson is eventually revealed as the true Bloody Face, but originally, it is Kit that is arrested for the killings and sentenced to Briarcliff before his trial. Thredson was meant to assess Kit's mental state to see if he was fit to stand trial, but it is learned that his true motive was to get Kit to convince to the killings he is responsible for. Lana Winters (Paulson) becomes entangled in the Bloody Face saga as she tries to make a name for herself as an upcoming journalist. She ultimately finds herself wrongfully committed to Briarcliff because of her homosexuality. She makes an ally in Thredson and is horrified to find out that he is the killer responsible for the deaths of countless women including her lover Wendy. Lana also becomes pregnant with Thredson's child, who is revealed to be the modern Bloody Face who is actively killing in the present.

Unlike Murder House, Hotel, or Roanoke, Asylum doesn't rely on its setting to make it scary. The asylum setting lends itself to typical elements of horror but American Horror Story goes above and beyond with it by introducing the additional elements of Bloody Face, Arden's horrid past, and the aliens. Asylum successfully tells a cohesive and convincing story that maintains a revolving door of mystery and suspense. With the exception of Bloody Face, none of its characters are intentionally designed to be scary and appear incredibly ordinary. Even Thredson who is Bloody Face appears to be an ordinary citizen during his days at Briarcliff. The mundaneness is what makes asylum so effective because it reflects the ability for horror to come from anyone or anything. After all, there is nothing more frightening than reality.

American Horror Story is now streaming on Netflix.

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