American Horror Story: Coven - 12 Most WTF Moments

That attic...

You get asked a lot of questions as a fan of American Horror Story. "Why does she have a vagina that kills people?" is a fair one, as is the more general "why are you watching this stuff?", but as a fan you can at least take solace in the fact that you're not the only person who continues to tune in. Other people like to be freaked out too it seems and, as far as the third season Coven went, there were more are a few times where everyone felt pretty uneasy at what was going down. As with any season of American Horror Story, you expected to see blood and gore from the onset - par for the course with the grotesque nature of the show - but even by the already dramatic standards this was a season that shocked viewers in their droves. Nothing, it seemed, was taboo. Moving away from the previous themes of the paranormal, Coven brought in the ideas of the supernatural (a subtle, but important change), and showed that there was equally as much horror in the witch hunts of the Early Modern Period and the Slave Trade. Within these spine-chilling 13 episodes though, were some moments that still give fans nightmares...

12. The Burning Of Witches

Sentencing witches to burn at the stake is a tradition that the coven has continued into the modern day. Since the witch hunts were carried out all over the world, one of the most popular ways to kill a witch was to burn her at the stake. This was supposed to symbolise a cleansing process as the fire was believed to eradicate the evil within and purify the soul, cheerfully sending her up to Heaven in a cloud of ash. However, watching Lily Rabe being burned at the stake is scary enough without imagining what it was like to be a witch in that position or an onlooker. Imagine the smell of burning flesh and hearing the screams of those innocent men and women who were accused of pledging their alliance to the Devil... No thank you. It was hard to watch this without getting a heat rash.
Contributor

Lover of Tolkien's world, Harry Potter and baked goods. A camel once put his head on my shoulder and it was the best day ever. sara@whatculture.com