American Horror Story: 10 Most Insane Fan Theories

10. The Nine Circles Of Hell

If you’re a long-time fan of American Horror Story, it’s likely you’ve already heard of this fascinating fan theory.

Originally surfacing online in 2014, this theory proposes that each season of the show depicts one of the nine circles of hell from in Dante’s Inferno. Part 14th century epic poem by Dante Alighieri, it chronicles the titular Dante, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, as he traverses through each circle: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery.

While the series chronology doesn’t match with the order of the circles, series creator Ryan Murphy has nevertheless acknowledged the theory. In an Instagram post in 2017, he matched the following series to their corresponding version of hell: Murder House (Limbo), Asylum (Fraud), Coven (Treachery), Freak Show (Greed), Hotel (Gluttony), Roanoke (Anger), and Cult (Heresy).

Since then, two more seasons have been released, Apocalypse and 1984, and they too fit in with this theory. Though there’s still some debate about which circle each relates to, the consensus is Apocalypse equates to Violence whereas 1984 represents Lust.

With all nine circles accounted for, the question now is how will future seasons fit into this theory?