20 Easter Eggs You Didn't Notice In American Horror Story
9. Dr Arden's Cane Is From Dark Shadows
When he was a child, Brad Falchuk's grandmother had a very unusual punishment to mete out when he misbehaved. She made him watch the cheesy old gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. I would sit there and be very afraid, and then the next day I would say, 'Nana, I want to watch the program again.' I just loved feeling scared, he remembers. The cult show recently got new life thanks to a Tim Burton-directed movie, but before that it was mainly remembered as being a singularly odd series that followed the bad acting, melodrama and cliffhangers of regular soap operas, but with a cast that included vampires, ghosts, and all manner of other ghouls. Originally Falchuck wanted American Horror Story to be his version of Dark Shadows, where there are creatures and a soap opera and sex. In the end, he settled for Dr Aden in season two carrying a replica of the silver wolf's head cane carried by Barnabas Collins, the lead character of Dark Shadows, during his time at the Asylum.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
