American Horror Story: Ranking Every Season Premiere From Worst To Best
5. Chapter 1
While anticipation for every season of American Horror Story is high, there was something quite different about Roanoke. Why? Because we had no idea what the season was going to be about. Murphy and Falchuk refused to reveal the theme or the subtitle to viewers, meaning that fans had no choice but to tune in and see for themselves.
Even with that in mind, Roanoke was not what anybody was expecting. Within the first few minutes, Chapter 1 established a mock-documentary focus, detailing the horrors that Matt and Shelby Miller endured during their time in the Roanoke farmhouse. AHS regulars were used to portray both the 'real' Matt and Shelby, while other key cast members played the fictionalised versions of them for the 're-enacted' scenes.
Chapter 1 lived up to expectations, and perhaps the best thing it did was to return American Horror Story to its roots, by bringing back the fear of the unknown. For the first time since the first season, the FX series was terrifying, and this time there was no campy humour to balance out the horror. The premiere episode was scary from start to finish, and the most terrifying thing was that we had no idea what would await us in future episodes.