The stereotypical black girl during a horror movie, yup…that’s me. I talk throughout and have no clue why the guys can’t run fast enough and the girls skinny dip at midnight. And the incessant staring people do in those “suspense” films send me to dream world. It’s safe to say there are no horror movies in my Netflix que, so it’s a wonder why and how I became involved with FX’s latest, American Horror Story. Associated with a creator of Glee and already believing everything horror was cheesy, I went in doubting this show, but I am eating my words…buffet style.
Not so much terrified, but intrigued. There’s no boredom in the plot cast upon the audience with silent stares. It fails to play on what’s a hot, no sparkly vampires and undead on repeat with “brains…brains.” The story of a cheating husband, miscarriages, and angst ridden teens makes for a soap opera, but add a house that appears possessed, a bitch of a neighbor and a basement with more secrets than a 14 year olds diary, and you’ve got one a show that falls under the “must see” category.
But is this basic cable show giving box office horror a run for its money? You have to look at why we tune into horror. For some they think it makes them appear like 1990’s goth kids; so different from the status quo. For others, they like to face fear. Then you have some who just like it for the mere entertainment value. And for either of those, you want it in an instant and with movies, you go one time, know the plot…It never changes. It’s another DVD for your collection. But with American Horror Story, it’s fresh every week. Another character, storyline, scare tactic is placed in front of the viewers and they eat it up because no matter why they’re watching in, they’re instantly satisfied.
Content by a newish take on a genre, it may seem as if fans are getting their fill on the small screen because in the past couple years we’ve had an abundance of vampires and zombies, remakes and sequels preying on wallets everywhere. Could it be that theater spooks aren’t what they used to be? The Exorcist still makes me tinkle a little, but stuff like Paranormal Activity? Come on, it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus (shout out to Bette Midler & Co.) we’re too used to.
Despite Paranormal’s franchise success, American Horror Story takes what is important to its genre; terrors, oddities, the unknown and adds humanistic normalcy’s of fear like divorce and misunderstood youth. But one huge question remains, why the hell doesn’t the Harmon family stay in a hotel or go back east and bunk with a family member? Seriously, any sane human would know to leave the house that turns a wonky-eyed maid into a hottie, or has a Columbine-like ghost in denial. But alas, they stay and continue to be harassed by its home’s past, and all for our sick entertainment. So the only thing that can kill this show from here on out? How it plays out. Of course this family isn’t going to stay for years, but to get a new family would be repetitive and to label it a mini-series would give away the end, so Mr. Murphy, you have us all on the edge of our seats until all the walls secrets are revealed.
