American Horror Story: Murder House vs. Asylum vs. Coven

[ChronoGrl]

I want to hear how you guys rank the American Horror Story seasons... This topic has come up on and off as we watched Seasons 2 and 3 but with Season 4 approaching, I wanted to bring it up again... SO - What do you think...

How would you rank them for pure enjoyment? How would you rank them for overall content? What do you love/hate about them? Favorite moments? Least favorite moments?


American Horror Story: Murder House


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/Chronogrl/Americanhorrorstory1_zps22f88cd1.jpg


vs.


American Horror Story: Asylum

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/Chronogrl/Americanhorrorstory2_zpsa699f8c6.jpg


vs.


American Horror Story: Coven

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/Chronogrl/AHSCovenPostercoven_zps2bf50111.png

[hammerfan]

1. Season 2 - Asylum
2. Season 1 - Murder House
3. Season 3 - Coven

Season 2 was so dark and creepy, I loved it. There wasn't anything I didn't like. Favorite moments.....hmm, I'd have to say (like neverending) "The Name Game". Yes, I know, not dark and creepy, more like a music video, but I thought it was great. That, and the exorcism. As for season 1, I can't think of any moments I loved or hated. Season 3, was ok.....you're right, Chrono, I think the cast was too big to care about any one character. No favorite moments and nothing I hated.

[ChronoGrl]

Yeah, I totally agree with you - For me, in terms of personal preference, I would rank:

1. Asylum
2. Murder House
3. Coven


I really loved Asylum - I went into it expecting a good, solid creepy asylum haunting but was pleasantly surprised that it celebrated so many horror sub-genres - In fact, if I recall, while there is the possession/Satanic theme, there wasn't a ghost/supernatural theme... That caught me off-guard but in a good way - I thought it was infinitely clever how the creators decided to completely deviate from the supernatural themes of the first show and pack in so many other horror themes - Satanic possession, medical experimentation, Nazi horror, aliens, and of course the Human Monster (Bloody Face, racism, torture/sadism) -

High points for me:

The brilliant mix of sub-genres, as mentioned above
The incredible cast, especially Jessica Lange as Sister Jude - She was able to capture both a believable threat and also garner sympathy. James Cromwell as Dr. Arthur Arden was a fantastic Monster and I loved his threads with both Chloë Sevigny and Lily Rabe. Oh, and of course Zachary Quinto. I grinned with every scene he was in.
I LOVED "The Name Game" - Oh how fantastic
Lana Winters' entire storyline from her entering the asylum, her lover, imprisonment, and her later life as an author.


The lowest point may have been what seemed to be a very fast, expository ending - At the time I wasn't a huge fan but, then again, it did wrap up everything neatly. Sister Jude's departing was oddly touching.

Coven was a bit disorganized for me, tbh - I do think there were too many characters in it to get a real grip on any of them - I liked them all at surface value. Queenie, for example, I thought was under-served and made some questionable decisions in my mind. Emma Roberts was definitely a high point for me, though. There were a lot of elements that I liked about the series, but it didn't always come together. Kathy Bates was great, for example, but I didn't think she was given enough to do. I loved Francis Conroy but her demise seemed odd and unnecessary.

Not a bad season, per se, just really uneven and definitely not as good as I thought the first two seasons were.

[The Villain]

I enjoyed Murder House the best but Asylum is the better season by far. Much better story, atmosphere, characters and ending.

I was bored out of my mind during Coven.

[Kandarian Demon]

As I'm in Denmark, I've only had access to the first two seasons so far, and out of those two, I liked the second season much more than the first one. It's killing me that it will be years before I catch up with the rest of you ::big grin::

[neverending]

I'm pretty much in line with everyone else. Asylum touched on so many things that were going on or still deeply felt by people when I was growing up- UFOs, Nazi experiments, demonic possession, and... damn... what was that one plot line that I can't recall now... it dealt with an unsolved mystery in history...

Still love Murder House even though Asylum was more off the wall and hyper-everything... but Murder House really took everyone by surprise. There had never been anything quite like it before. And Jessica Lange was a revelation.

Coven tried too hard to do too much, though I love that it used some of my favorite actresses like Mare Winningham, Patty LuPone and Kathy Bates, even though they didn't get enough to do.

I hope that Brad Falchuk and company will listen to criticisms of the 3rd season and come back with all barrels blazing for FREAK SHOW.

[newb]

I'm pretty much in line with everyone else. Asylum touched on so many things that were going on or still deeply felt by people when I was growing up- UFOs, Nazi experiments, demonic possession, and... damn... what was that one plot line that I can't recall now... it dealt with an unsolved mystery in history...

Still love Murder House even though Asylum was more off the wall and hyper-everything... but Murder House really took everyone by surprise. There had never been anything quite like it before. And Jessica Lange was a revelation.

Coven tried too hard to do too much, though I love that it used some of my favorite actresses like Mare Winningham, Patty LuPone and Kathy Bates, even though they didn't get enough to do.

I hope that Brad Falchuk and company will listen to criticisms of the 3rd season and come back with all barrels blazing for FREAK SHOW.

totally agree with this whole statement. My only problem with Murder House was the Beetlejuice type ending.

[ChronoGrl]

I actually liked the ending of Murder House - I thought that it wrapped things up well with a good little Tales from the Crypt-esque "cliffhanger" (not sure what else you'd call it).

This is interesting to hear - I always thought that the second season was fantastic (and favorited) but what prompted this thread was a Friend posting on Facebook about how "everyone" HATED the second season - Turns out, she had polled her other Facebook friends and the consensus there was that they hated Asylum.

Which made me wonder - Maybe Asylum was just too much for the casual TV viewer - Too disturbing, too absurd, too many horror sub-genres - Whereas horror fans (us) loved it.

What do you guys think? I wonder if the second season was designed more for horror fans than casual TV viewers and the casual viewer didn't like or get it... Maybe that's how we ended up with Coven; something a bit more tame, neutered, and scattered...

[hammerfan]

I believe Asylum catered to the horror fan, and not the average Joe TV watcher.

[tfantasy]

Now that I finally have seen the Coven, I will post my order of liking:

1 - Coven
2 - Asylum
3 - Murder House

I think it improves with each season.

[horcrux2007]

Murder House is my favorite.

[NightOfTheLiving_Sam]

~Murder House will probably always be my favorite! :)
~Than comes Asylum.

I didn't really care for the Coven all that much.

[Manimal]

"Murder House" was a brilliant introduction to the cast and a strong start to the series. LOVE Jessica Lange. I personally enjoyed "Asylum" the best though, because of the controversial religious themes and the possessed-nun character. The set was also super creepy.

Have you seen "Freakshow" yet? It's off to an amazing start and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far! I think it will end up being my favourite by the end. I am eager to hear your reviews!

[neverending]

Have you seen "Freakshow" yet? It's off to an amazing start and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far! I think it will end up being my favourite by the end. I am eager to hear your reviews!


http://horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64358

[Manimal]

http://horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64358

Hey, thanks! Sorry, I must have missed that thread.

[tfantasy]

I have to say that I loved Kathy Bates in the Coven, especially when she was just 'a head'!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roiffalo]

Asylum
Murder House
Coven

And it would seem I'm not the only one. I couldn't even finish Coven I was so bored. I intend to eventually so I can watch the next season but I haven't felt like making it a priority yet.