10 Years After Coven, American Horror Story Is Haunted by Its Best Season

After the long run of Nip/Tuck and the culture defining success of Glee, anyone would buy whatever Ryan Murphy was selling. After making their names with black absurd comedy, Murphy and his creative partner Brad Falchuk shifted directions and decided to take on the horror genre. “I wanted to do something challenging and dark,” Murphy said at the time. “The opposite of what I’ve just done.” American Horror Story, the anthology series that premiered on FX in 2011, was going to be that exact thing.

It’s easy to forget the fervor that once existed around American Horror Story. The series leaned heavily into viral marketing techniques that slowly teased the theme of the first season; a theme that would be a closely guarded secret during production. It kick-started the anthology series trend that turned every limited series into an ongoing exercise. Shows originally conceived as a miniseries now get to rebrand as anthologies when they become popular, from ABC’s American Crime to HBO’s The White Lotus. 

American Horror Story was also a rarity on television at the time: a true horror TV show. The purpose of the show was to truly terrify. “You want people to be a little off balance afterwards,” Falchuk said when promoting the first season. Season 1—Murder House—was a twisted and strange take on a haunted house setting. Asylum brought the show to one of the most classic terrifying horror locations with a supernatural and science fiction twist. But it wasn’t until the release of American Horror Story: Coven that the show truly found its place in the cultural zeitgeist. The New Orleans-set season about warring witch covens was funny, dark, and absolutely addictive TV.

10 years after Season 3 first aired, American Horror Story is a shell of its former self. There have been 12 seasons of this show that has gone through a constant identity crisis. That’s because only one season of American Horror Story ever understood what the show should be: Coven. 

Coven was the most viewed season of the series so far when it aired, the sign of a show only increasing in popularity. While the previous two seasons of American Horror Story could be gory and disturbing, Season 3 took a lighter approach. Coven is a dark comedy take on what modern witches would be like. It wasn’t afraid to be goofy (as its iconic witch-burning scene illustrates). It’s a show where a sadistic semi-immortal racist murderer becomes a maid to a black teenage girl. Characters are frequently killed and revived because in American Horror Story: Coven the true horror isn’t in life or death, it’s being a boring witch.

Throughout its run, the strongest element of this anthology has always been its returning cast. Coven showcases some of its best actors having as much fun as possible in the horror genre. Jessica Lange earned praise for every season she was on, and her depiction of Supreme witch Fiona Goode is no exception. Emma Roberts is pitch-perfect as spoiled movie star/proud mean girl witch Madison Montgomery. And Kathy Bates’ turn as the absolutely vile Delphine LaLaurie is despicable with just the right amount of dark comedy that comes out in her scenes with Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe). 

Diving into a new genre and form of television show gave Murphy and Falchuk an excellent chance to take on tropes in the horror sphere through their own style and social lens. Coven explores the intersections of sex and race in witchcraft with the two warring covens from different schools of magic. It’s not any revolutionary commentary, but Coven still feels fresh in its willingness to explore the darkest periods of American history, the ones that provide true horror stories.

No season of American Horror Story has ever worked perfectly, but Coven came the closest to revealing what the show should be. Murphy and Falchuk wanted to move away from black comedy, but it’s the genre they know best. When American Horror Story can’t find the humor in its premises, the show either devolves into prodigy or becomes so absurd the horror element feels cheap. Coven was clearly conceived with a lighter tone in mind, and the characters feel naturally grown from that inception. It’s a clarity of vision that could birth the “surprise bitch” meme and feature Stevie Nicks playing herself as a real witch. 

While the anthology has since moved from concept to concept with new players every season, Coven created everlasting characters. They were written to tackle a storyline Murphy and Falchuk had the talent to take on. AHS’ third outing was not about anything too grand or too vague, it was feuding multi-generational witches. It was mean girl vs. shy girl, overbearing mom vs. insecure daughter. The love interests were a serial killer and a teenage zombie boyfriend. Coven built its world to have fun.

When Apocalypse was announced as the 8th season, Ryan Murphy revealed it would be a crossover season with the Coven witches returning. But 5 years after Coven’s premiere, the audience had lost interest. Even a revival of the “surprise bitch” meme wasn’t enough to bring people back. American Horror Story peaked in viewership with Season 4’s Freak Show and has suffered a scattered decline ever since, but Coven was the last season with high viewer retention. People just can’t muster up the effort to see what Murphy and Falchuk are going to messily unravel next.

American Horror Story should have always had a lighter tone incorporated with horror tropes, taking on various Americana settings. Murphy wanted something challenging and he got it with this successful anthology, but it was a challenge he couldn’t tackle. He and Falchuk had a style and a point of view that they were hesitant to incorporate into this series because they wanted to do something “dark” and “different.” There’s no shame in writing what you’re good at. Murphy and Falchuk were good at absurd, black comedy. And even though they channeled their horror-comedy interests by making Scream Queens in 2015, even that was already a half-invested effort. Coven was the best of what American Horror Story and Scream Queens tried to be.

But now American Horror Story, like all Ryan Murphy productions, is running on autopilot. Every passing season seems less sincere. It’s the work of a man who just slaps his names to projects and let’s ill-planned chaos put them together. The flagship series feels beholden to each season’s concept, and the episodic spinoff American Horror Stories is the phoned-in version of an already phoned-in show. It’s almost sad to rewatch the early seasons and remember what made this show so exciting 10 years ago. American Horror Story is a ghost of a once-great idea, but Coven is the season that haunts it the most. 

Leila Jordan is a writer and former jigsaw puzzle world record holder. Her work has appeared in Paste Magazine, Gold Derby, TheWrap, FOX Digital, The Spool, and Awards Radar. To talk about all things movies, TV, and useless trivia you can find her @galaxyleila

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