10 Best Single Horror TV Seasons Ever

8. American Horror Story - Murder House

Marianne Netflix
FOX

With a whopping ten seasons now under its belt - plus at least a further three seasons still to come - one could argue that American Horror Story has never been as good as it was in its debut year.

It's not as if it's been all dross since Murder House, but the mix bag of content dished out since then hasn't managed to match or top that first season. Sure, Asylum got close to the quality of its predecessor, yet the consensus amongst the majority of AHS fans is that Murder House is the best of the bunch.

One of the great things about this first AHS offering, is that none of us knew what to expect. This was a fresh, sleek show that wasn't afraid to shock in twisted, at times tragic ways, with the Harmon family moving into the eponymous house and slowly falling apart in their new surroundings. Throw in a subplot centred around a school shooting and the sobering imagery of that act, and Murder House had you constantly in awe - for ways both good and bad.

Regardless of the varying quality of subsequent seasons, American Horror Story is famed for its fantastic ensemble casts and stellar performances. In Murder House, that ensemble and those performances have never been bested. Of course, there has to be special praise for the marvellous Jessica Lange as sniping, sinister neighbour Constance Langdon.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.