American Horror Storyis one of themost captivating thriller TV shows of the 2010s, known for its gruesome scenes, its violent delights, and its shock factor. It is a show that has dared to push the boundaries of horror and has crossed over lines that have previously remained untouched. Long-running fans of the show have come to relish the gory battles andthe scariest villainsof the franchise.
But one thing that fans didn’t expect was the heartfelt emotion behind some of the storylines, especially when some of the most loved characters were lost along the way.
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Violet Harmon (Murder House)
The first series of the show got straight in with some shocking themes, making it clear that the program wanted to test the boundaries right from the offset. But one unfortunate character who got caught in the crossfire was Violet Harmon, the young girl who moved into the Murder House and became ensnared by the ghosts of people who had died there. It’s not often thatshows can kill off their protagonist and keep going, but after finding out that her boyfriend Tate was actually a ghost himself, and that he had committed terrible crimes, Violet overdoses on pills in the bathtub.
She doesn’t realize that she is dead until much later in the show, when Tate takes her to see her body, which is rotting in an alcove of the house. Her whole family ends up dead and trapped in the house together, which is a happy ending of sorts, but the actual scene in which she realizes she is dead and is seen running through the house in panic and desperation is a hard one to watch.
Addie Langdon (Murder House)
Another deeply sad death in Murder House, but for a very different reason, is that of Addie Langdon. Addie is a sweet character on the show, and one whom many fans came to like. So the tragedy of her death is that she gets hit by a car outside the lines of the Harmon property.
Her mother Constance tries to get her body over the threshold of the house in the hopes that Addie’s spirit will remain, and that she will be able to stay there with all of her friends and loved ones. Sadly, Addie dies on the lawn out front, which means that her soul is lost forever, and Constance’s mournful cries stayed with fans for long after the episode had finished.
Sister Jude (Asylum)
Another of Jessica Lange’s amazing performances as one ofthe best recurring cast members, she plays Sister Jude in season 2. Sister Jude has a very difficult life before, during, and after her posting as the head of Briarcliff. Growing up in a neglectful family, exposed to alcohol, drugs, and prostitution from a fairly young age, she finds her way into the Catholic church to attempt to seek redemption.
However, Briarcliff has the opposite effect on her and instead turns her into a cruel and abusive person. Once she escapes its hallowed halls, she returns to her true, kind-natures if slightly misguided self. She lives out the rest of her days with Kit Walker and his children, who call her nanna, and she gets a few years of peace and happiness because the angle of death, who she has met many times in her life through trying to kill herself, finally meets her and gives her the fatal kiss to leave this life. The scene is incredibly powerful and sadly poignant, but fans are left with a sense that the suffering is finally over.
Misty Day (Coven)
Every season of American Horror Storyhas at least one character that fans idolise, and Misty Day is exactly that in Coven. She one of the gentlest characters ever to cross the AHS screens. Her entire magical power is based on giving life, loving and nurturing all living things, and preventing suffering. As well as having one ofthe most iconic wardrobes of the franchise, she hates all violence and death, and is known in her coven as a pure soul. This is what makes her death truly awful, and often brings rage to the minds of fans who remember it.
Misty dies during one of the coven trials, where she becomes locked in an endless loop of hell, in which she is forced to kill and dissects a frog in a science class, over and over again for all eternity. She is deeply distraught as the teacher forces her to slice her scalpel into the living creature. She instantly brings it back to life, because she can’t bear the thought that it is lost forever, but then the loop begins again and she is forced to go straight back to killing it. Luckily she is rescued from this waking nightmare by Michael in Apocalypse.
Ma Petite (Freak Show)
Ma Petite is the symbol of innocence inAHS. She is in awe of the world around her, and full of love and kindness for anyone who crosses her path. She loves butterflies, and sees no faults in the people she is surrounded by. Unfortunately, her beautiful soul makes her too naive and trusting, a fact that eventually gets her killed.
She is attempted to be murdered before her actual death, when she is out in a glass jar in order to be drowned, but instead, she actually dies by being crushed to death in an embrace, before being preserved in formaldehyde. From this point onwards, the series takes a much darker turn, because it is clear that something awful has happened, and that innocence has been cruelly snubbed out.
