Hi all!

With Season 2 of American Horror Stories set to premiere July 21st, I decided to rank all the episodes from Season 1. If you want to see my ranking for the entire American Horror Story franchise, click here. Just to be clear, AHS and American Horror Stories are not the same thing. They are set in the same universe (created by same director, Ryan Murphy) but stand on their own as separate television shows. One is a continuing story, the other is made up of individual stories. Also, each episode has its own unique intro credits. I’m thrilled they included that. Without further ado let’s get into it!

Spoilers Ahead

1.) Rubber(wo)man Part 1 

Rubber(wo)man Part 1 & 2 is either at the top or bottom of people’s lists, depending on how they feel about Murder House (the setting for Season 1 of AHS). I cannot get enough of Murder House, hence the episodes landing in first and second place. This story follows a teenager, Scarlett Winslow, who moves into the infamous evil dwelling, with her two gay fathers. It isn’t long before she finds the cursed Rubber Man suit. When a group of girls play a humiliating prank on her, Scarlett slips into the dominatrix costume, murdering them all. It’s sexy, violent and dangerous. I love a good revenge trope. Not only that, there are plenty of nods to the original series. This episode was the perfect way to kick of American Horror Stories.

2.) Rubber(wo)man Part 2

In Part 2, Scarlett forms a relationship with Ruby – a young girl who snuck into Murder House to commit suicide and who returned as a ghost. In order to keep Scarlett forever, Ruby arranges for her girlfriend’s fathers to be killed, so they are eternally trapped within the walls of their own home. Unfortunately, Scarlett decides to leave and live her own life, but not before promising to visit Ruby every Halloween, when the ghosts are most active. This episode was not as exciting as Part 1, but it still provided a twisted love story, we couldn’t help but root for. We see Scarlett and Ruby reprise their roles in Game Over (see below).

3.) Drive In 

In third place, we have Drive In. This one was so much fun. It’s about a cursed film called Rabbit Rabbit, that causes its viewers to violently turn on each other. When the banned movie is played at a drive-in, a couple are forced to survive the slaughter, from the rest of the audience. It has plenty of gore, a great premise and a chilling ending, that hits very close to home. If you’re tired of Murder House, skip the first two episodes and go straight to this one. You won’t be disappointed.

4.) BA’AL 

In fourth place, we have BA’AL, which stars AHS regular: Billie Lourd. After several failed attempts to get pregnant, Liv receives a mysterious totem from a receptionist at her fertility clinic. She is instructed to place it underneath her bed, before having sex. The ritual works and she gives birth to a son, but with it, comes crippling postpartum depression and hallucinations of a demon named BA’AL, haunting her child. Liv returns to the receptionist for answers, who shares a banishment ritual with her. It backfires, causing Liv to accidentally stab her husband. She’s admitted to an asylum, where it’s revealed her husband had been gas-lighting her all along, as well as having an affair with the receptionist. Whilst he celebrates, the real BA’AL arises, slaughtering him and his lover in an act of revenge. Liv welcomes the demon into her bed, so they can make another baby. I know it sounds bizarre, but it’s a great and creepy episode. The ending is so satisfying.

5.) The Naughty List 

This story follows a group of YouTube influencers, obsessed with views and online popularity. When their channel begins losing subscribers, they decide to film a prank video at the shopping centre’s Santa Village, by publicly humiliating the mall’s Santa (played by the iconic, Danny Trejo). On Christmas Eve, they upload the video, reaching five million subscribers. However, the celebrations are short-lived as Santa drops in to get his bloody revenge. It’s a quick slasher, poking fun at social media vloggers. The boys were so intentionally annoying, making their deaths super satisfying. I liked this one, just not as much as the others.

6.) Game Over 

The last two episodes I could have done without, but I’ll discuss them anyway. Game Over follows mum, Michelle, who creates a virtual reality simulation called: Escape From Murder House, in order to impress her son. After his negative critiques, she decides to enter the house herself on Halloween, to make the game as realistic as possible. As mentioned above, Ruby and Scarlett reappear, stabbing her to death. Her son arrives at the house, burning it down in a grieving rage. The twist ending reveals Michelle was actually alive and that the events beforehand, were just part of her game. As much as I love Murder House, this final episode was quite confusing. It didn’t add anything. It would have been better to end with Rubber(wo)man Part 2.

7.) Feral 

In last place, we have Feral. I didn’t enjoy this episode at all. It follows a boy named Jacob, who disappears on a camping trip with his father. Ten years later, his dad encounters a hunter, who presents evidence that Jacob is still alive, after being kidnapped by a drug cartel. They enter the woods to seek his whereabouts, only to find themselves hunted by wild humanoid creatures. A park ranger named Stan, divulges that the National Park Service was created by the government, to protect the public from the “Feral Nation”, a sub-population of cannibalistic inbred humans, with an unknown origin. As Stan tries to radio his superiors about the situation, the ranger station is attacked by the Feral’s. The father recognises their leader as an older Jacob, who proceeds to eat his estranged parents alive. The worst part of this episode was Cody Fern’s (Stan’s) awful fake Australian accent. It grated on me the entire time. The story itself was a very lame version of Wrong Turn.

Thank you so much for reading! How would you rank the episodes?  

Peace & Love xoxo