American Horror Story: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best (So Far)

4. Season Five: Hotel

Tv Tate American Horror Story
FX

Though this is the first season without the much-missed Jessica Lange, Hotel is a thrilling, constantly stylish, twisting and horrific season of TV which improves ten-fold on the show's previous outing. Hotel focuses on vampirism, a serial killer, a haunted room, and a number of big-name serial killers.

The season's strongest aspects are Lady Gaga's electrifying performance as The Countess, a sinister and complex vampire, and Denis O'Hare's role as transgender bartender Liz Taylor.

Alongside these two and their mesmerising performances, Evan Peters turns up as the ghost of an infamous serial killer, and we get to meet a few of history's most evil murderers, including Aileen Wuornos, John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer.

Despite all of this, the big let down is the sub-plot about the Ten Commandments Killer and the detective on its case, as played by an uneven and wooden Wes Bentley. The final twist in the mystery is weak and anti-climactic, with a reveal that's obvious and unsurprising.

The season's final episode, meanwhile, which focuses on the tragic and lovable Liz Taylor, is a brilliant climax to the story, beautifully filmed and acted and tying up the various plots of the season in one of the show's very best episodes.

Contributor

Aidan Whatman hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.