Ranking Every Season Of American Horror Story From Worst To Best
5. Roanoke
Despite American Horror Story's unique ability to start fresh every season, the show can still grow repetitive, and by the time Season 6 rolled around, fans were ready for something different. Thankfully, Murphy delivered and we were given Roanoke.
Roanoke is a rather hard one to describe, but that's part of its charm. The first half of the season is presented as a fictional documentary entitled My Roanoke Nightmare. The series then reboots about halfway through, and becomes a fictional reality TV series called Return to Roanoke, featuring the 'actors' from the doc and their 'real-life' counterparts.
It's no secret that Roanoke divided audiences, but the truth of the matter is that its originality revitalised interest in the show, and once again made it unpredictable. The ratings rose, and the series became relevant again. Reality TV is a bit of a horror in itself, so it was only a matter of time before it showed up on AHS.
Murphy and Falchuk took a gamble with Roanoke and, unlike its successor (Cult), it paid off. For the first time in years, American Horror Story was scary again. Kathy Bates' performance as ghostly antagonist The Butcher was like something out of your nightmares.