American Horror Story: 10 Things Freak Show Must Do Better Than Its Predecessors

6. Keep It Simple

Murder House kept it simple. Well... comparatively simple. There was a house that trapped the souls of anyone who died within its walls. Oh, and a devil baby. Asylum went completely overboard with the horror themes it attempted to cram into the season €“ there were multiple serial killers, Nazi doctors, human experimentation, alien abduction and death... and then the asylum setting itself. Two or three of these could have been removed and there still would have been enough to carry the season. Asylum learnt from this to some degree as it only introduced certain elements over time, but even then there were stories involving witchcraft, voodoo, witch hunters and the afterlife. At least with Coven they were tailored better to fit together, whereas it felt like the ideas for Asylum were chosen randomly with a bingo machine. So Freak Show needs to learn from Coven in this regard and make sure that where it employs multiple horror themes that they naturally fit together. Fortunately a 1950's setting should make this easier as there will be the after effects from the Second World War and of course the dawn of McCarthyism gripping the United States. In amongst this there are the obvious carnival links €“ you only need to see (or read) Something Wicked This Way Comes to see the potential.