The Terrifying True Crimes That Inspired American Horror Story
#10: The Axeman of New Orleans “Coven”
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The third season of “American Horror Story” takes place in the lively city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Though the main story is set in 2013, AHS goes back to when the notorious Axeman was actively killing in the city. From May 1918 to October 1919, the Axeman killed 6 people and wounded another 6. On March 13, 1919, a letter he supposedly sent appeared in the newspaper, detailing his plan for the night of March 19, demanding that everyone play jazz music. And if they didn’t, they would “get the axe,” though he sometimes used razor blades as a weapon, too. There are plenty of theories out there as to who the mysterious Axeman could’ve been but ultimately, he was never identified.
#9: Antone “Tony” Costa [aka The Cape Cod Vampire] “Double Feature: Red Tide”
In the first part of this dual season, TV writer Harry Gardner and his family head to idyllic Provincetown, Massachusetts from NYC. He’s offered a “cure” for his writer’s block, but the catch is that he develops a taste for blood. This is likely inspired by serial killer Tony Costa, dubbed The Cape Cod Vampire for murdering as many as eight women in 1969, leaving teeth marks on their bodies. He also blamed his drug use for causing his violent behavior, much like the black pills. Keeping with the east coast vampire theme, the Pale People and the character of “Tuberculosis (TB) Karen” is a nod to the tuberculosis pandemic in New England in the 19th-century, which led to a “vampire panic”.
#8: Richard Speck “Murder House”
The second episode of AHS’ inaugural season sees a Manson family-esque trio, Bianca, Fiona, and Dallas, break into the Harmon’s new house planning to recreate a crime that happened there in 1968. A strange man used a ruse to get inside the home, acting as a dormitory for student nurses. He then attacks the two students who were home alone, drowning Gladys before assaulting and killing Maria. This is based on the mass murder of eight student nurses in Chicago in July 1966 committed by Richard Speck, who also inspired the name of the killer in the series R. Franklin. Speck was apprehended days later and the lone survivor of that night positively identified him during his trail. He remained incarcerated until his death in 1991.
#7: Josef Mengele “Asylum”
Season 2’s “Asylum” centers on the horrors of Briarcliff Manor, a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts. Chief physician Dr. Arthur Arden conducts twisted experiments on various patients, leaving them disfigured, dead, or inhuman. His true identity is Hans Grüper, a former Nazi scientist at Auschwitz. The evil character seems largely based on German SS officer/doctor Josef Mengele, known and detested for his own deadly experiments at both Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen concentration camps. There are also similarities to the extremely unethical hepatitis experiments conducted at NYC’s Willowbrook State School from the 1950s to 70s. Briarcliff itself is like Willowbrook, whose horrendous conditions were famously exposed by Geraldo Rivera, much like Lana Winters does in the series.
#6: Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie “Coven”
In the first episode of season 3, the witchy students of Miss Robichaux’s Academy take a trip to the French Quarter and tour the famous LaLaurie Mansion. Madame LaLaurie was a respected socialite in early 1800s New Orleans known for her lavish parties. But she later was more associated with cruelty toward slaves, some of whom she kept shackled and caged in her attic. Her crimes were only discovered when a fire broke out at the mansion on April 10, 1834, where fire marshals and police found several imprisoned slaves. The deaths of multiple slaves were also later uncovered. LaLaurie was a serial killer living in a house of horrors, and evaded capture by fleeing to France. However, AHS provides a different outcome.
#5: Elizabeth Short [aka The Black Dahlia] “Murder House”
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One of the most famous unsolved crimes in the world is the murder of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia. After her body was discovered on January 15, 1947, in an empty lot in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles, the case made headlines because of the gruesome scene. In the series, the aspiring actress visits the house to see Dr. David Curan, a dentist working out of his home. Before getting a filling, Short is sedated but when she doesn’t wake up, ghostly resident Dr. Charles Montgomery steps in to assist Curan with the post-mortem disposal. Montgomery is actually inspired by Dr. Walter Bayley, a surgeon whose family knew Ms. Short and was deemed a suspect by a Los Angeles Times copy editor in the mid-90s.
#4: Alpine Manor Nursing Home Killings [aka The Lethal Lovers] “Roanoke”
Two of the many spirits inhabiting the new home of Matt and Shelby Miller are sisters Miranda and Bridget Jane, nurses who once used the property to operate their own assisted living center. The nurses kill elderly patients, attempting to spell out the word “murder” using the names of their victims. Sadly, this is based on the real murders committed by Gwendolyn Graham and Catherine Wood in the late 1980s. The two nurse’s aides were in a romantic relationship, and allegedly also tried to spell out “murder” with the Alpine Manor Nursing Home Killings. Graham and Wood, called the Lethal Lovers, were both convicted in 1989. In 2020, Wood was released on good behavior before serving her full 20-to-40-year sentence.
#3: Richard Ramirez [aka The Night Stalker] “Hotel” & “1984”
From April 10, 1984, to August 24, 1985, Richard Ramirez assaulted and murdered over a dozen people in California, breaking into their homes at night, earning him the name the Night Stalker. A highly fictionalized version of the infamous serial killer appears in “Hotel” as one of the deceased Devil’s Night guests. But a younger Ramirez is prominently featured in “1984” during his active years. He ends up at Camp Redwood, the haunted summer camp littered with other killers trapped on the premises. The season leans heavily into Ramirez’s interest in Satanism, going as far as to depict him with supernatural powers and immortality. The real Richard Ramirez was convicted in 1989, eventually dying in 2013 of B-cell lymphoma-related complications while on death row.
#2: H. H. Holmes “Hotel”
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In season 5, Evan Peters takes on the role of James Patrick March, a rich businessman who built the Hotel Cortez…where he’d go on to murder several people. Mr. March is partially inspired by conman and the man often dubbed America’s first known serial killer H.H. Homes as well as his “Murder Castle” in Chicago. How many people he killed is uncertain but he was convicted of at least one and executed in 1896. While the real Holmes had at least four marriages, March marries Elizabeth Johnson, aka the Countess, who is very similar to Elizabeth Báthory. The Hungarian Countess is considered the most prolific female murderer, believed to have killed over 600 young women between 1590 and 1610, bathing in their virginal blood to preserve her youth. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Lizzie Borden, “Asylum” Grace Bertrand Took an Axe, Much Like Another Axe-Wielding Woman Who Allegedly Killed Her Family John Wayne Gacy, “Freak Show” & “Cult” Twisty the Clown Was Inspired by “The Killer Clown” Who Was Executed for Killing at Least 33 Young Men The Lindbergh Kidnapping, “Murder House” Charles & Nora Montgomery Lose Their Son in a Similarly Horrific Fashion as Charles & Anne Lindbergh The Wineville Chicken Coop murders, “Hotel” Miss Evers’ Son Was Kidnapped & Killed on Halloween 1925 by a Gordon Northcott-Like Killer Who Took Victims to His Farm in Wineville Infamous Religious/Cult-Like Leaders, “Cult” Evan Peters Played Andy Warhol, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, Jim Jones & Charles Manson
#1: The Cecil Hotel “Hotel”
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Like Mr. March’s Hotel Cortez, the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles is rife with tales of violence and death. But the most widely known is the disappearance and suspicious death of young tourist Elisa Lam. She was last seen alive in January 2013, captured in a bizarre surveillance video that went viral before her body was discovered in a water tank on the roof in February. On Devil’s Night, some of the most notorious serial killers come to the hotel, including Richard Ramirez, Aileen Wuornos, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, and the Zodiac Killer. Ramirez and Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger are said to have stayed at the Cecil Hotel. Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, has also been associated with the hotel.
