American Horror Story has become a staple during the Halloween season and an all-around iconic saga showcasing the many manifestations evil can take in our world. Murder House offered an atmospheric tale that intrigued viewers and went far deeper than your typical haunted house fare. From there, the anthology format offered an ideal vehicle to examine unique forms of terror and dig into its origins with the shows’ bizarre yet captivating style as its constant.
A large part of the show’s lasting appeal is the many deranged yet enticing villains it has given us over the years. They ignite the invasive horror that powers the story, but they also offer wonderful complexities, showcasing fragility and monstrosity in equal measure. Even among their sadistic nature and vile acts, most of these villains are mesmerizing to watch. Part of the initial draw is the cold, calculating nature and commanding presence they offer. It’s really the deeper examination of their tortured psyche and often tragic origin story that makes them as fascinating of subjects as they are.
9. Mr. March (Hotel)
“Greatness is about vision.” -Mr. March
Inspired by the infamous serial killer, H.H. Holmes, the depiction of Mr. March (Evan Peters) gives us a fascinating, creative madman. While underused, he offers a thrilling look at unapologetic evil. Initially only a means to hide his murderous activities and the gruesomely mangled bodies he left behind, he was the mastermind behind the labyrinthian hotel of horrors that concealed human suffering and ignited a dark, supernatural power few can ever escape from.
Mr. March’s refined, aristocratic demeanor combined with his murderous impulses, gives us a riveting look at the psychopath that hid in plain sight for so long. He truly comes alive when he is inflicting hopeless suffering on others, often trapping them inside the walls, their futile screams like music to his ears. The more of his layers that are peeled back, the more you are enticed and only want to dive deeper into the dark inner workings of his deranged mind. Unlike the other stand-out villains of the series, Mr. March isn’t a tortured, remotely sympathetic soul, but he is a magnetizing, inventive killer who truly thrives in his twisted form of art.
8. Michael Langdon (Apocalypse)
“You see, I have a talent, call it a kind of night vision of the soul. I can see into the dark places that people desperately try to keep hidden.” - Michael Langdon
Michael Langdon (Cody Fern) is the offspring of a devil-touched sociopath under the influence of a haunted murder house and a terrorized woman who would have to linger in the place she was raped by a mysterious, unknown force. He is the reason that such evil, murder, and depravity happened before he even existed because the devil needed this all to happen to bring the end of days. His very being oozes this evil influence in a tortured, conniving shell. Even in the womb, his predatory instincts kicked in, absorbing his twin and taking his first life before he breathed air. He was the result of both his mother’s torment and her death, keeping her in the murder house forever. Even as a seemingly happy child, he found his glee in slaying his nanny and cheerfully laughing among her suffering. Yet much of the evil he inflicted on others wasn’t truly of his making. There is a core part of him that simply acts on the devil’s sinister desires, almost like a catatonic passenger who later awakens to the wreckage of another. He had to cope with being the vehicle to hurt those he loved. Despite her determination to love and care for him, even his grandmother, Constance (Jessica Lange), was pushed to suicide due to the darkness within him.
When Michael finds an outlet for his darkness at the Hawthorne School for Exceptional Young Men, everything changes. He has a purpose and a calling. He also realizes the true reach of his power and abilities, a power the witches are resistant to, but ultimately can’t deny. The more resistance he is met with the more his antichrist mission is triggered. This becomes a role he grows into with willingness. Michael is an enigmatic entity in the body of a man, who pushes others to examine the darkest desires within them. He ignites panic and psychological upheaval. He is cold, eerily all-knowing, and has a certain dark poeticism that adds to his charm even if you loathe the evasive and personal turmoil he inflicts on everyone in his path.
7. Twisty the Clown (Freakshow)
“I’m a good clown.”- Twisty the Clown
Twisty is a tantalizing combination of the perverse, creepy, commanding killer and tortured soul you can’t help but empathize with. Initially we know nothing about the type of evil that is wreaking havoc on the town, but his silent carnage and commanding presence pull you in. Twisty’s intense stare and gleeful smile, covering up the gruesome wreck that lies underneath, opened the events of Freakshow with tenacious horror and biting mystery.
While that mystery creates suspense and intrigue, it’s really knowing his full story that makes him the oddly endearing, heartbreaking, and compelling villain he is. Previously unable to utter a word, Twisty bares his soul to Edward Mordrake. Twisty was happy and content bringing children entertainment and joy until two freaks, jealous of his demand as an entertainer, started a rumor that he had molested children. While untrue, this rumor took everything away from him. He raised a shotgun to his mouth, desperate to end his pain. This failed suicide attempt only left him in further anguish, blowing most of the flesh of his mouth off. With no other way out, he had to find some happiness again. Thus, Twisty the murderous clown was born.
There is a simple innocence to Twisty that makes him more of a tragic tale and thus his need for an outlet for all his pain more understandable. He was simply a man who found happiness and purpose in a dark, hateful world who was faced with slander and ruin. While it’s “freaks” who ruined his name in many ways he is one of them, just one that never found a home and community. His mother dropped him on his head as a baby and likely he suffered some mild level of brain damage from this event, resulting in his childlike personality and simple view of the world. Mordrake ultimately chooses to damn him and bring him back to the underworld, because he is the only freak who didn’t repent or have any concept of the darkness within and the dark, depraved deeds he exacted on the world. Twisty really doesn’t even understand his own darkness. It’s as if he has gotten to a point where he is only a reactionary creature of desperation. Being a clown was his last memory of happiness and purpose, he is incapable of letting go of that. He doesn’t even recognize right or wrong. If he can only be Twisty the sick, murderous clown, then that’s what he will be.
6. Sister Mary Eunice (Asylum)
“I know everything. I’m the devil.” - Sister Mary Eunice
Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) is an incredibly enticing villain, in part because she offers an oddly empowering transition from the meek, innocent nun to the unsuspecting devil that would demolish both the religious and Nazi extremism of man that previously thrived around her. She cleverly and subtly tampers with human evil around her. The devil himself has taken her over. There is a drowning, pained soul within, but the devilish version of her is such a captivating juxtaposition that you forget about the tragedy and lost soul fighting him. The devil-touched Sister Mary Eunice offers a certain satisfying power that both speaks to how the devil has so often easily appealed to man and offers an unrelenting force that threatens anyone who would demean or underestimate a kind, well-intentioned soul like Sister Mary Eunice. Like many of the best AHS villains, she is both an innocent, victimized soul and a dark, all-powerful force that is as memorable and chilling as she is. She is the epitome of the unsuspecting, ferocious evil that can send even the most depraved, hateful man falling to his knees.
5. Edward Mordrake (Freakshow)
“It is not in my heart to make you or anyone else a victim, my good woman. But the visage is unrelenting. I am its slave.” -Edward Mordrake
Based on the gothic legend dating back to Victorian England, American Horror Story: Freakshow brought forth a tantalizing depiction of this plagued man who became one with his demon. Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) was the man with two faces, one a deformed abortion who owned the man and forced him to obey his commands. The demonic face whispered to him, taunted him, and drove him to madness so suffocating he ended up in an asylum even more infamous and depraved than Briarcliff- Bedlam Asylum. There, he absorbed himself in his poetry, pouring this darkness and anguish into words that might fall from him and bleed into the pages, to no avail. Eventually, he escaped and joined a freakshow, the only place that would take him. But he wasn’t allowed to feel the sense of family and belonging many did. The demon had more power over him than he had over himself and destroyed any soul that might get in the way of its plans. He had no choice but to give in to the demon's demands and slew all of them; sick with remorse he then ended his life on a bloody crescendo, seeking to take away the demon’s vessel and end his suffering. But death wasn’t a release either. The demon head sought to take the most sadistic and unremorseful souls with him to the underworld, which brings Edward to the freakshow to find that corrupted soul.
When Edward arises, it’s judgment day. There is a dark, ethereal nature to him. Yet there is still a part of him that was a man, horrifically touched by darkness. He is not unsympathetic to those consumed by the horrors of their past, especially when that horror is bred from ostracization and the cruelty of how most humans treat those who are different. In the end, a larger part of him is an unfeeling grim reaper; there to seize the vilest soul and reflect a mirror on the human malice that may still have a chance to be redeemed. Once a tortured man, now the epitome of death and judgment itself, Edward Mordrake is an aloof, nightmarish vision.
4. Sister Jude (Asylum)
“All monsters are human.”- Sister Jude Martin
When watching Asylum for the first time, I was overwhelmed with a confusing mix of guarded horror and enticement. I found myself eagerly wanting to dive deeper into the entrapping torment inside the walls of Briarcliff while feeling anxious over the torment I had seen and knew was around the corner. I felt invaded, simply by experiencing these horrors second-hand. A massive part of that was the cruelty and righteous energy of Sister Jude Martin (Lange). She has no mercy, executing great horrors and, in her mind, fitting punishments to her patients. She believes she is doing God’s work.
There are many compelling villains in Asylum that showed great depth, but her growth and transition between sadistic darkness and finding the light is the most interesting and honest. In most cases, monstrosity comes from a misguided place, determined to right wrongs and allowing oneself to become the darkness they feared. Jude was an alcoholic singer in a past life who believed she killed a child and fled to the church for salvation. She condemns anything she perceives as evil. She has no empathy because a part of her believes she doesn’t deserve this empathy, either. She lashes out and makes others face the retribution she is too afraid to. Even at her most malicious, she still can recognize sadistic behavior around her, particularly in Doctor Arden (James Cromwell), and seeks to take him down at great personal risk.
Jude offers a powerful look at the terrors of extremism, hiding from one's past, and how both the truth and your vindictive actions will come back to haunt you in time. We should feel gratified upon Jude’s downfall, but the true lesson in her cruelty and her suffering are in showing the audience the need for human empathy. "All monsters are human," Sister Jude says, which means they were faced with cruelty that pushed them to become said monster.
3. Kai Anderson (Cult)
“Fear is currency. It has value.” - Kai Anderson
Kai (Peters) wonderfully represents one of the most dangerous types of evil in our world, the charming master manipulator who thrives off taking advantage of people’s fear. Cults are one of the most entrapping forms of human evil, creating dependence and re-wiring one’s mind from the inside out. Kai masterfully executes this, building an intricate web of subjects who cling to him. He recognizes the dark desires and most desperate needs in others. He uses that to make people think he is the answer to their overwhelming feelings of unhappiness and helplessness. Kai creates a deceptive illusion that he will be the one to cut his followers’ strings and free them. In reality, they are only giving total control to their new puppet master.
Despite his white male supremacist ideals and the damage he inflicts, there is something that is incredibly captivating about Kai. He is intelligent, well-spoken, and cunning. He can spin the most hateful objective and make it seem like a righteous, enlightened message. There is a commanding power to him. He’s a terrifying threat because of how convincing his mask is.
American Horror Story is often at its best when it mirrors the horrors of history and examines the very real human evil that flourishes time and time again. Kai offers a clear representation of others throughout history who have taken advantage of people’s fear and lack of something to believe in. Through the character, the show examines similarities to real-life master manipulators who invoked ghastly violence such as Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump, and Charles Manson. Kai gives us a haunting examination of the complex psychology surrounding the cult master persona. Through Kai, we see how someone who can captivate and control the masses so seamlessly and how so many can be taken in by him. Kai is one of the most terrifying villains of the series because he represents very real human evil whose influence and damage digs its claws in deep. His cult of personality serves as a powerful warning and a darkly enticing ride.
2. Tate Langdon/ The Rubber Man (Murder House)
“The world is a filthy place. It’s a filthy goddamn horror show. There’s so much pain, you know? There’s so much. There is something about all that blood. I drown in it.”- Tate Langdon
Tate (Peters) is without a doubt the fan-favorite unhinged killer of the series. The key to his appeal lies in how much he embodies opposites. He’s cold, unfeeling, and homicidal while simultaneously being so fueled by sincere, overwhelming emotion. It just depends what side has been triggered and how present that looming darkness is to him. He has unquestionably done horrible things that showed his sadistic inner nature. He mercilessly murdered 15 of his classmates, killed many more people in the murder house as a ghost, and repeatedly tormented and raped Vivian while he was in love with her daughter—which resulted in fathering the antichrist, potentially unleashing a fatal bomb on all of humanity.
There is a certain tragic innocence in Tate that manages to make him far more complicated and interesting than your average murderous madman. When he is visited by the last 5 victims he murdered in human life, he genuinely seems to have no knowledge of bringing a gun to school and coldly executing his classmates that day. He believes it to be a horrible dream, showing an acute fear and confusion in him. His mother, Constance, says she believes the house’s dark energy infected him, pushing him to his rage and murderous outbursts. Violet (Zoe Benson) can’t help but believe there is a tortured, but kind, loving soul in Tate until she finds out his identity as the Rubber Man.
There’s no question that there’s a vile presence in Tate, but in time it’s revealed this may not be solely be of his own doing. In Apocalypse, it's revealed the darkness in the murder house was the influence of the devil himself. He pushed Tate towards the predator he became, using him for his own means. Tate was manipulated and condemned to eternal purgatory in the murder house so that the antichrist could be born. Essentially, Tate is a victim, in the sense he didn’t have free will. Even when unknowingly tarnished by the devil, Tate held on to his innocent nature, making him an enigmatic and intoxicating mix of darkness and light.
1. Dr. Oliver Thredson/ Bloody Face (Asylum)
“We're going to continue our therapy now, Lana. You can begin... by kissing her cold lips. Don't worry. She won't bite. I took her teeth.” - Oliver Thredson
Asylum is an incredibly disturbing and bleak chapter of horror. Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto) not only stands out as the most intriguing villain of the season, but the strongest of the series to date. He initially seems to be the only glimmer of hope among this cruel house of horrors where patients are condemned to torment and degradation until they wither away, forgotten by the rest of society. Thredson believes in treating the disturbed mind with science over religiously fueled scare tactics. He seems to be compassionate and a voice of reason, not afraid to challenge extremism and merciless authority. As things escalate, the facade cracks, revealing the illusion of light to only be hiding the most depraved darkness of all.
Oliver Thredson is the self-aware killer. He is a man of science and understands human psychology, no stranger to the haunting of one’s own mind and what breeds those dark, consuming impulses. He recognizes his own demons and even understands his life- long issues that led him down this savage path. He has agonizing abandonment issues and never truly felt acceptance or belonging. He became obsessed with finding the motherly touch in women before inevitably deciding they aren’t a suitable fix and beheading and skinning them alive. Thredson is the knowing psychopath, but the damage he inflicts on others is of no concern to him. He doesn’t truly even fault himself or see any reason to change. Thredson is too consumed with his overwhelming desire to feel loved and whole. In his eyes, he isn’t the problem, every 33-year-old woman he sees his mother in who ultimately doesn’t live up to his expectations is the problem.
In many ways, the deformed mask of Thredson’s alter ego, Bloody Face, is truer to the man who lies within. To the rest of the world he appears to be empathetic, but in truth, he is equally a broken soul who never found a healthy way to cope. At his core, he is a predatory monster with a narcissistic victim complex wrapped in a calm, rational shell. After toying with his mind and initially giving him a glimmer of hope, he ultimately frames an innocent man, Kit Walker (Peters), for his Bloody Face exploits. He feels genuine compassion and connection to Lana, but turns on her for his own sick perversions and desperation for her to be “the one” who can fill the void his mother left and give him purpose both through telling his story and fathering his son. If he can be there for a child, he can at least save him from experiencing the abandonment that plagued him. Thredson indulges in necrophilia and kidnaps, rapes, mutilates, and skins women, ultimately surrounding himself in their flesh, which he describes as “his hobby”. He is an intriguing mix of an intense, intellectually charged man and perverse, primal being who is consumed by his trauma.