American Horror Story: 10 Scariest Villains Ranked

Now on its tenth season at time of writing, American Horror Story has been thrilling audiences for a decade. Featuring everything from an upmarket haunted house to an '80s summer camp, the multi award-winning show embraces all things horror and distils them into tantalisingly pulpy and dramatically gripping tales that keep fans coming back.

There’s more than enough violence, drama, sex, and star-power present throughout each of the various seasons to merit AHS being high on anyone’s watchlist, with each subsequent season putting its own terrifying twist on the show’s distinct style.

However, like all great horror content, one of this show’s biggest selling points is its ever-growing rogue’s gallery of sadistic and murderous villains. Ranging from the supernatural to the simply deranged, the series’ villains have represented numerous subgenres and subsequently embodied everything which makes the show great. They’re charismatically hypnotic and often ruthless in their cruelty. They’re frequently the stuff of nightmares, and fans can't get enough of them.

Every AHS villain, no matter how big or small their roles, has been a memorable addition to each season. With far too many to choose from, here are the scariest of the bunch to appear on the show.

Beware of spoilers ahead.

Taking place just after the 2016 American election, the seventh season of American Horror Story shone a satirical light on both sides of American politics. Though the topical setting was more on-the-nose than the series has been previously, Cult nevertheless turned into a chilling, clown-infested nightmare.

At the centre of it all was Kai Anderson, played by series veteran Evan Peters.

A charismatic, blue-haired ego maniac, Kai is the mastermind behind the clown cult which terrorises Ally (Sarah Paulson) and her family at the start of the season. Emboldened by the result of the election, Kai strives to use his accumulated influence to infiltrate the political system to invoke his own dangerous ideas.

Kai is an exaggerated caricature of cult fanaticism. He's intelligent enough to know how to manipulate his followers and knows how to use the media to get his message across. The timely political parallels are hard to ignore, but they're all part of what makes this villain a dangerous threat throughout the season.

While sadistic cruelty, creepy rituals, and a gang of murderous clowns instantly highlight Kai as a frightening presence, it's his connections to the real world that the real terror comes from.