Over its 12-season run,American Horror Storyhas featured lots of monsters for the heroes to face off against. Some of the monsters have been humans, such as serial killers, witch hunters or business people, butthe more interesting monsters are the supernatural entities. Whether they are ghosts, demons, witches, aliens or even the Devil himself, these monsters give the heroes a real challenge to try and defeat them. As these creatures aren’t human, they are a lot more difficult to defeat and have complex backstories, making them much more interesting to watch.
The heroes have faced countless supernatural beings throughout the run ofAmerican Horror Story, such as the typical horror ofghosts in a haunted house in “Murder House”, to theurban legend of the infamous Piggy Manin “Roanoke”.All of these creatures bring something fresh and new to the show, allowing it to run for as long as it has. Despite there being dozens of supernatural monsters that have appeared onAmerican Horror Story, there are a few that stand out above the rest.
10Ghosts
“Murder House”, “Hotel”, “Roanoke”, “Apocalypse”, “1984”
The main supernatural beings that have been present throughout most ofAmerican Horror Story’s timeline are ghosts.The show actually began with the ghosts in “Murder House,”and they have reappeared in multiple seasons since. Ghosts have been a great addition to theAmerican Horror Storyuniverse for many reasons. With the themes and nature of a show likeAmerican Horror Story,it’s likely fan-favorite characters will be killed off, so the inclusion of ghosts allows these characters to come back once they have passed on.
Ghosts have created quite a challenge for the heroes in the narrative across multiple seasons of the show.The ghosts are already dead, so they can be extremely dangerous, and they have nothing to lose. A great example of this comes from the show’s first season, where Hayden and the other ghosts in the Murder House hang Ben, killing him. Their being dead makes them difficult to defeat and an extremely interesting addition toAmerican Horror Story.
9Rubber Man
“Murder House”, “Apocalypse”
The Rubber Man wasa unique creaturefrom theAmerican Horror Storyuniverse. After the events of the show’s first season, The Rubber Man was just thought of as a ghost, as it was the ghost of Tate Langdon wearing the suit and committing the horrific acts of murder and assault that drove the whole narrative of the season.
However, all of this changed after The Rubber Man’s appearance in the show’s eighth season, subtitled “Apocalypse”. The Rubber Man re-emerged in outpost 3 in the second episode of season 8, titled “The Morning After”. The suit was with Michael Langdon’s belongings after he arrived at the outpost and was shown for a few graphic scenes throughout the episode.
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The many entries in the American Horror Story universe have featured some supporting characters that are just as fascinating as the main stars.
These scenes were strange, as the outpost wasn’t haunted by ghosts, so it couldn’t be one wearing the costume. This was clarified when Michael actor Cody Fern confirmed thatthe Rubber Man isn’t a ghost wearing the suit, but rather a dark entity that Michael can control, making it its own supernatural creature.
8Aliens
“Asylum”, “Death Valley”
Aliens first appeared inAmerican Horror Storyseason 2 when they abducted Alma, the wife of Kit Walker, leading to everyone speculating that Kit had murdered her. These creatures were truly terrifying in the series as not much was known about them. The only thing the audience knew about the aliens was that they were present in the universe and could abduct whoever they wanted whenever they wanted.
All this mystery surrounding the aliens just made them seem more threatening, sinister entities with no seeming weakness or logic to their actions.
The season didn’t explain where they came from, why they abducted the people around Kit, or what happened to the people when they were abducted. All this mystery surrounding the aliens just made them seem more threatening, sinister entities with no seeming weakness or logic to their actions.
Luckily, the aliens returned to the show’s tenth season, where they abducted and impregnated the people they kidnapped. It was revealed that they were attempting to create an alien-human hybrid species to take over the Earth. The season ended with the perfect hybrid child being born and the alien race about to succeed in their villainous plan. Hopefully, the aliens will return in the future to conclude their story.
7The Minotaur
“Coven”
The Minotaur is one of the few supernatural creatures inAmerican Horror Storythat deserves the sympathy of the audience. Before he became the mythical beast, he was a normal man named Bastien, the slave of Delphine LaLaurie. When Delphine’s daughter forced herself on Bastien, Delphine punished him by chaining him up in the attack and had a bull’s head placed over his own. His lover, Marie Laveau, saved him and gave him immortality, buthe was cursed forever to live with the head of a bull.
Nothing that happened in his life was his own fault; Bastien had no control when Delphine’s daughter assaulted him, or when Delphine punished him. Even hundreds of years later in 2013, he was still being used as a pawn by Marie Laveau. He had no free will in life, making the character pitiful as he only wanted to live happily and raise his child before all the terrible things happened to him.
6Witches
“Coven”, “Hotel”, “Roanoke”, “Apocalypse”
Within the narrative ofAmerican Horror Story, witches are shown to be exactly like regular humans, just with supernatural powers. Each witch inAmerican Horror Story: Covenhad different powers, making them unique in their own ways.The witches are some of the best characters on the show, with season 3 featuring an ensemble of strong, talented women and some of the best character dynamics the show has ever seen.
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“Coven” felt like the turning point for the show asit gave the women a strong chance to shine, and it seems to be the first season where the story of the women isn’t driven by the men in their lives. The witches were so popular that the characters and the lore continued to appear throughout the series. Queenie reappeared in one episode of the “Hotel” season. “Roanoke” starred Lady Gaga as Scathach, the coven’s first supreme. Almost every witch returned in the show’s eighth season, and the witches are expected to return toAHSagain in the future.
5Twisty The Clown
“Freak Show”, “Cult”
Twisty the Clown is quite unique when it comes to supernatural monsters inAmerican Horror Story, because he is initially just a man who dresses up as a clown to torture and harass people. In life, Twisty had shot himself in the mouth and survived to tell the tale. He also seemed to have superhuman strength when he was attacking his victims, so he was arguably supernatural-adjacent.
However, season 4,American Horror Story: Freak Show, sees Twisty’s soul being taken by Edward Mordrakeso he can join his traveling circus in the afterlife, cementing him as an entity more than human. Twisty is one of the more frightening supernatural villains on the show.
DespiteTwisty having an origin story and history inAHS, he didn’t seem to interact much with the main ensemble cast. That said, Twisty returned for the show’s seventh season in the nightmares of a young child, a cheeky nod to how terrifying he is.What made Twisty so scary inAmerican Horror Story was that he couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong, so even though he was murdering and kidnapping people, he thought he was being a good clown.
4Vampires
“Hotel”
The vampires appeared in the fifth season ofAmerican Horror Story, residing in the Hotel Cortez. The hotel was filled with all kinds of ghosts, demons, and other supernatural creatures, but the vampire reigned supreme. The head vampire, also known asThe Countess (Lady Gaga) was the main one responsible for turning other people into vampires, increasing the population.
These vampires drank human blood, turned other people into vampires by scratching them, but avoided sunlight as it dampened their supernatural abilities. The Countess had a fixation with children and turned them into vampires as her child, Bartholomew, is half human and half vampire, cursed to be a baby forever as he cannot age.
So, the vampire children, especially Holden, played a huge part in the plot of “Hotel”. The vampires were very difficult to defeat; the only way John Lowe (Wes Bentley) bested and killed The Countess was by shooting her down and then decapitating her. In terms of being hard to kill, thanks to their powers and their cunning, vampires are some of the deadliest threats in theAHSuniverse.
3Piggy Man
“Roanoke”
Piggy Man was first mentioned as an urban legend in the first season ofAmerican Horror Storyby Derrick, a patient of Ben Harmon’s. The legend was that the Piggy Man would appear and kill someone if they stood in front of a mirror and said, “Here, piggy pig pig.” Piggy Man sounded terrifying just from that brief mention, but when the character appeared for the first time in the show’s sixth season, he became a lot more terrifying.
InAmerican Horror Storyseason 6, Piggy Man’s origins were revealed: he was a runaway from the ancient Roanoke colony. He was captured by The Butcher, had the head of a pig put over his own, and then was murdered. Because of this, he came back as a ghost which had the body of a man and the head of a pig.Throughout the season, he appears as violent, vicious, and has nothing to lose.His wild and feral nature made him one of the more unpredictable monsters in the show’s lore.
2The Devil
“Murder House”, “Asylum”, “Apocalypse”, “1984”
AlthoughThe Devil has never appeared on the show in his true form, he has appeared through the use of human vessels. The Devil is a terrifying supernatural entity withinAmerican Horror Storylore as he is always present and poses a threat to all the main characters throughout the show.
He has played a major role in the events of four seasons ofAHS, and, as every season has some kind of link to each other, it is safe to assume that he has been overlooking the whole plot of the show and possibly manipulating events from behind the scenes. In “Asylum”, he possessed Sister Mary Eunice and carried out several of his evil acts using her as a vessel.
Michael was almost impossible to defeat, but when he was finally defeated, a new Antichrist was born.
It was impossible to remove him from her body as he was such a strong force, so she had to be killed. Similarly,“Apocalypse” is all about Michael Langdon, the Antichrist. Michael was almost impossible to defeat, but when he was finally defeated, a new Antichrist was born. The Devil is arguably the most terrifying entity inAmerican Horror Storybecause he has the most widespread power and influence.
1Pale People
“Red Tide”
The Pale People didn’t have much screen time in the grand scheme ofAmerican Horror Story, but they played a leading role in the show’s tenth season, “Red Tide”. The Pale People were initially normal people who took the black pill to excel at their talents. However, they had no real talent in actuality, so instead of enhancing their gifts, instead,the pill turned them into horrific, vampire-like creatures.
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American Horror Story season 10’s Pale People are not the same vampires as the ones that appear in the show’s fifth season, despite some similarities.
The creatures were fascinating, as the Pale People weren’t the same as the Vampires from “Hotel.” Yet, they weren’t like stereotypical vampires, either, as they could still walk around in daylight but also couldn’t fly. They felt like an original, new concept, made specifically for theAmerican Horror Storyuniverse, a blend of old-school vampires and the crawlers/rake of Creepypasta and internet lore. Being an unknown entity to the audience made them all the more interesting, and extra dangerous due to the unpredictable rules that surrounded their existence.
American Horror Story
Cast
American Horror Story is a Horror Anthology series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. The franchise has seen stars like Connie Britton, Jessica Lange, Denis O’Hare, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, and Dylan McDermott. Each season follows a new premise and spans an array of horror genres like witches, ghosts, serial killers, and more.
