These "American Horror Stories" Theories Will Send You Down A Rabbit (Rabbit) Hole

Can we ever get tired of Murder House?

If you’ve been dealing with an American Horror Story–shaped hole in your heart, you may have been tuning in to its freaky and twisty spinoff, American Horror Stories.

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Consisting of self-contained episodes, the anthology horror series has covered the gamut with plots around everything from an ancient fertility god to feral mountain cannibals. 

With the American Horror Story fandom as devoted as it is, there have definitely been some pretty convincing theories about the spinoff and how it fits into the AHS universe as a whole. Read ahead for some of our favorite ones!

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1. All of the episodes are connected to the apocalypse.

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Reddit user u/GaladintheGrey noticed that many of the episodes were related to “potential apocalyptic events” — Murder House turning Scarlett into a monster who gets unleashed into the world, Rabbit Rabbit transforming people into zombies, Ba’al potentially conceiving a devil spawn with Liv, and the mountain cannibals attacking humanity. Cordelia Goode's coven may have been stuck undoing apocalyptic events from Season 8 of American Horror Story — it’s possible that every self-contained episode of American Horror Stories showcases those events in an alternate timeline. 

The wrench in this theory is “the Naughty List." Could Santa be an apocalyptic tool for the devil? In Asylum, the demonically possessed Mary Eunice does indeed release evil Santa, but Danny Trejo's Santa is different in that he's a bit of a pagan figure.  

2. One less flattering theory floating out there is that the episodes are bad on purpose.

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American Horror Stories has been met with mixed reactions from critics and fans alike. That said, what if the teen dialogue and Gen Z speak is supposed to be a little campy to usher us into American Horror Story Season 10? Ryan Murphy notoriously dislikes the word “camp,” but what if he’s deliberately leaning into it with this spinoff? The 10th season is called “Double Feature,” and back in the ‘30s, B-horror movies were part of double-feature viewings.  

3. American Horror Stories is a satire about conservative fears.

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Reddit user u/Sammay28 theorized that the spinoff is organized around conservative fears. For example, the first installation shows Scarlett being corrupted by pornography and queer parents, the second features Tipper Gore’s concerns over violent and sexual media, and the third follows how social media corrupts people. Running with this theory, we may see the show break the fourth wall at some point, with a Fox News–ish producer brainstorming all of these ideas around conservative talking points. 

But this may be reading too deep into it — some viewers have found certain episodes to be just problematic in a straightforward sense.  

4. In Episode 3, John Carroll Lynch’s character made a deal with the devil to distribute Rabbit Rabbit.

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Reddit user u/Punkypinkk theorizes that the film Rabbit Rabbit was one of the devil’s “attempts to end the world and bring about the apocalypse.” If you think about it, a film that turns people into vicious zombies is a pretty efficient way to ensure mass destruction. Ultimately, the film gets distributed by Netflix, which would definitely instigate worldwide chaos. 

5. Murder House will be destroyed by the time the final episode of American Horror Stories airs.

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Are y’all tired of Murder House popping up in this franchise yet? There’s a rumor out there that the finale will show the famous haunted house meeting its bitter end. According to spoilers at Instagram account @ahscrave, rumor has it that “the finale of American Horror Stories will see the destruction of the Murder House — by fire!” It kind of tracks because the synopsis for the seventh episode does sound as if it'll take place at Murder House again: "A couple dares to spend a night in one of the most infamous haunted houses."

 

6. But all’s fair game in the American Horror Story universe, so some viewers don’t think that Murder House will be gone for good.

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Eagle-eyed Reddit users have noticed clues about the episodes in a wrap gift for the cast and crew. On the bag, there’s a riddle that goes, “The house is open but do not go. Drive-ins playing — don’t watch the show. Santa walks in bloody snow. Babies come and husbands go. Creatures eat those they know. The house is gone…but is it tho? You, our friends, survived the show. Time to go.” 

Each sentence pretty much lines up with each episode in the series so far, and “The house is gone...but is it tho?” makes us suspect that Murder House will keep popping up like its unfortunate ghost residents. Reddit user u/cam_97 quipped, “Even if the Murder House goes up in flames, Murphy will have it back by the Season 14 pilot, AHS: Fire Department.” Sounds legit.

7. We could see Roanoke House one more time.

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While there have been pictures of cast members like Noah Cyrus and Dylan McDermott shooting at Murder House, what if Episode 7 is actually focused on Roanoke House? If we’re going by the riddle above, Murder House was never really gone in the series, but we did see the Roanoke House go down in flames in American Horror Story: Roanoke, as Reddit user u/lisasimpsonfan points out. It’s supposedly gone...but is it, though?  

However you feel about the new American Horror Stories, you have to admit that there’s a whole compelling rabbit (rabbit) hole of theories out there! What are your predictions for the spinoff? Drop them down in the comments below!

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