By MORGAN KING – STAFF WRITER
On Wed., Oct. 8, the Centre College community sat down by their TVs to watch one of the most talked about shows of the fall: American Horror Story, which has returned for its wildly anticipated fourth season.
American Horror Story is a cultural phenomenon that has swept across the television docket. Part of its appeal comes from each season immersing the same talented cast in a new and terrifying world.
The first season, subtitled “Murder House,” focused on the dark hauntings of a particular family’s new home. Some fans of the show comment that “Murder House” is their favorite season.
“I like aspects of the other seasons, but ‘Murder House’ is definitely the most put together,” senior Jayd Collins said.
The success of “Murder House” led American Horror Story to continue with season two, “Asylum,” which centers on the inhabitants of an institution for the insane, and then season three of “Coven,” which focuses on a group of witches living in New Orleans.
Each season delivers a haunting and gory portrayal of reality that plays on darker human thought.
The fourth and current season continues to terrify, this time in the horror of the circus world. The premiere of “Freak Show” was filled with everything you could find in this type of nightmare: a raging, murderous clown, sexually frustrated housewives, carnies with a variety of mutations, and a woman with two heads.
In just the premiere episode alone, five people have been brutally murdered on screen in graphic detail and two have been taken hostage.
The show is also back with all of the familiar actors. Kathy Bates appears as the show’s “Bearded Lady,” already setting up to be the voice of wisdom for the carnies. Talents including Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, and Angela Basset returned to set up the circus show.
The show’s main protagonist, two-time Emmy winner Jessica Lange, appears as the leader of circus. Her performance in this season’s premiere included her rendition of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” that had dedicated fans of the show reaffirming her as what they call “Queen.”
Throughout campus, conversations buzzed the day of the premiere about who was going to tune in for the night’s freak show.
The night also brought a lot of first -time viewers itching to discover what it is that makes American Horror Story so addicting. First time viewer senior Liz Brant shares this excitement.
“I’m excited to see this combination of humor and horror that everyone has been talking about. What is that even like?” Brant said.
This combination that Brant alludes to is one of the attractions of the show, but also this season brings in new concepts to the American Horror Story universe. A new attention to detail that created an additional layer of horror to the show is the realistic casting of this season’s circus characters.
Instead of completely relying on computer effects to create these “carnies,” extraordinary actors were cast, including Jyoti Amge, the world’s smallest woman, and Mat Fraser, a man with a congenital disorder called phocomelia which is a malformation of the limbs.
This season is the first which features recurring characters. Previously, each season begins with a new cast of characters. However, in “Freak Show,” Pepper from season two’s “Asylum” will be brought back. The idea is to give more to Pepper’s back-story than what was seen in “Asylum.”
Regardless if you were a first-time viewer or one of the show’s regulars, American Horror Story “Freak Show” has already has people talking on Centre’s campus. You can watch American Horror Story “Freak Show” on Wed. at 10 p.m. on FX.