Top 10 Monsters We Want to See on American Horror Story
For this list, we'll be looking at specters, monsters, and urban legends that we would like to be either included, mentioned, or even become a central theme on this terrifying TV horror anthology series.
#10: The Mothman
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The residents of Point Pleasant, West Virginia are all too familiar with this cryptid. While the folkloric monster was only brought to broader attention with the 2002 film “The Mothman Prophecies,” the first reports in this town were coming in as early as 1966. As, like many other creatures on this list, the Mothman is a completely American legend, it would be right at home on the series. Given that sightings occurred shortly before the collapse of the Silver Bridge, which resulted in the deaths of 46 people, some believe that Mothman is a sort of harbinger of death. American Horror Story: Omens? It’s got a ring to it.
#9: The Bunny Man
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It’s hard to pin down its origin, but this terrifying urban legend already sounds like something straight out of AHS. While the facts surrounding the encounters tend to vary, two details are consistent: On a dark night, by a certain bridge near Clifton, Virginia, a person or persons are approached and attacked by a weapon-wielding man in a bunny costume. First reported in 1970, there is just something so disturbing about the incongruity between the innocent bunny suit and the violent behavior, right? This story would fit right in with an urban legends-themed season, or 70s-set one; it was, after all, a decade that gave us some of history’s greatest horror stories.
#8: Killer Toys or Dolls
From Talking Tina to Annabelle, this is a classic scare. What is it that makes dolls so creepy? Is it their frozen smiles? The way kids talk to them? Of course, toys in general can be sort of creepy, not just dolls. What if that beloved teddy that you’ve had since childhood suddenly developed a real bear’s appetites? What if a favorite board game from childhood started playing you? One of the best scares a horror movie can deliver is when something that is supposed to be safe, innocent, or normal is corrupted in some way. Of course, American Horror Story could always maximize the terror by going the clown doll route.
#7: The Goatman
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While there is a Goatman who is said to be the result of a science experiment gone wrong in Maryland, we’re going with the more famous creature. Said to haunt the Old Alton Bridge in northern Texas, one story tells of a demonic half-man/half-goat who can be seen by anyone foolish enough to cross the bridge without a light in the dead of night. However, another story tells a darker tale of racism and human monsters that is in many ways is more terrifying than the supernatural lore. One way or another, the theme could serve as a very interesting vessel for exploring racism or bigotry in general.
#6: The Jersey Devil
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This creature is said to resemble a goat but with large bat wings and small, clawed hands. In one version of the story from the 1700s, the Jersey or Leeds Devil was the result of a witch’s curse. The brother of Napoleon, Joseph Bonaparte, apparently saw the creature around 1820. However, the most infamous case was in 1909, when, over the course of a week, there were over a hundred sightings, including people on a trolley who said they were attacked and local police who fired a barrage to bring it down, to no avail. What if there was a creature everyone knew of but could do nothing about? Get on it, AHS.
#5: Lovecraftian Monsters
Howard Phillips Lovecraft of Rhode Island is frequently cited as the Father of Cosmic Horror - that unknowable dread in a cruel and unfeeling universe. But it’s more than just a creeping feeling. Lovecraft also came up with the Necronomicon and was the creator of many monsters / elder gods like Cthulhu, Azathoth, and Dagon. Unfortunately, on a personal level, he wasn’t exactly a savory guy, either. While perhaps not using the named creations expressly, tapping into that otherworldly horror and madness, hinged on a creator whose racist ideals have severely complicated his legacy, is a storyline that basically writes itself.
#4: Bigfoot
Arguably the most famous of all American cryptids, the huge bi-pedal ape-man of the Pacific Northwest has never been known to be an aggressive beast, and is seemingly happy to saunter along his (or her) merry way. But what if it didn’t? What if the bigfoot hunters became the hunted? What about blending genres, with campers terrorized one fateful summer? Or, what if it’s not an ape at all, but an old forest god that needs a sacrifice! There could be lots of ways to make this work, making the American horror story in question one that you would tell around the campfire, deep in the woods, late at night.
#3: The Headless Horseman
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Stories of headless riders crop up all over the world, from Ireland to Germany to India, but perhaps the most well-known is the character from Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” While the ground has been pretty well-trodden for this one, there are lots of ways the tale of an avenging spirit could be updated. A restless, headless killer on campus? Maybe a show jumper loses a little off the top in a prank gone horribly wrong? Or maybe kick it old school and bring back the original Hessian artilleryman in real-life Sleepy Hollow, New York on a fateful Halloween night. Any way you spin it, it’s popcorn-worthy.
#2: Werewolves
It’s a notoriously difficult classic monster to nail down, but with the right plot, maybe the AHS showrunners can break this curse? To do a proper werewolf story justice, you really have to stick to the lore. The ability to change into a wolf on command sort of takes the pitiable terror away from it. A town terrorized every month by a savage beast, but wondering who in the neighborhood is responsible, however, works. As the moon turns full, so does the dread of everyone in town as they do their best to bar their doors and windows and survive the night. Panic, suspicion, and savage creatures of the night; what could be scarier? Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions: Trolls Furies [aka Erinyes]
#1: Shapeshifters
It sounds strange, but this one is timely as hell. What if you lived in a world where you didn’t even know your own neighbors anymore? The people you thought you knew looked the same but, on the inside, had changed horribly into a different person. Could you be next to change? While Skinwalkers have a more specific cryptid source (and we’re all for that) a general shapeshifting storyline could open-up so many subtle avenues for social commentary, layering the terrifying story of paranoia, invasion, loss of personhood, and takeover in so many ways.
