American Horror Story Double Feature Premier and American Horror Stories Review

Okay… so I’ve shared my feelings on American Horror Stories before… and it pretty much hasn’t changed. There were 2 episodes that weren’t bad… but other than that it was really disappointing and overall… I didn’t like it and I’m not sure if I’ll watch a second season of it. That being said… I feel the opposite about American Horror Story Double Feature so far… it feels like Old American Horror Story with complicated characters, a story that’s actually scary and suspenseful… and overall some nice mystery and horror.

Stories

The one thing that I think is most Frustrating about Stories is that... it isn’t really the anthology series I feel like we were promised. The thing that’s great about American Horror Story is that it does kind of take from different horror stories that happened in different parts and times in America. That aspect of it- to me makes it more real and more scary. There’s so much they could do with different horror stories based in America… but they kind of just told all Hollywood stories and one that takes place in the wilderness… there are so many different myths and crimes that would be great as it’s own one episode horror movie… but instead they just kind of put random ones together… and they focused 3 episodes on the Murder House… which is something we’ve seen the show do better several times… it just kind of sucked.

The 2 episodes that are decent are the fourth episode where Danny Trejo plays a killer Santa Clause that kills a group of influencers similar to the Paul Brothers… and an episode where Billy Lorde plays a mom with a baby she thinks is possessed by a demon. I think most people are saying the Billy Lorde episode is the best one… I personally thought the ending of it was a bit too much but Billy Lorde CARRIED it.

The Drive Thru episode didn’t make much sense in the end and the horror in it wasn’t that good. Ferrel was just boring… and they misused Cody Fern as a park ranger. The worst one by far though was the finale… which brought us back to the Murder House and… they ruined it. I don’t want to even talk about it… I was too frustrated all throughout… it was bad.

So my overall review of that is… it’s not really worth watching. I still would have watched it anyway but it was just disappointing!

Double Feature

Double Feature on the other hand is amazing! They aired the first two episodes last night which I thought was great. Finn Wintruck does a fantastic job playing someone who starts out so subdued and nice to being a total crazy person.

I feel l relate to this story on a personal level. So if you can't guess by the blog that I'd try to write on daily... I want to be a professional writer. It's always been my dream but... I haven't written anything, haven't published anything and I had to get a job and I like it and I'm good at it. I can't say that I've given up on my dreams as a writer... but I'm happy that I've been getting better at my regular job and... I like doing it so... idk. I'm happy with my life even if it isn't where I thought I was going to be at the age of 30. It's why I love the movie Soul so much too just fyi. The Barber's speech about why he does hair and that that wasn't always his goal in life... but he still loves being a barber... that speaks to me.

ANYWAY with that tangent... I can totally see the temptation of being able to just take a pill that would make you an amazing writer. Harry doesn't even really question the side effects... he just refuses it at first- and then he ends up taking it. He just knows he needs to write something... so he does what he has to in order to write it. And of corse it has side effects. 1) Irritability 2) All he can do is write 3) A THIRST FOR BLOOD. Also if you don't have talent- the pills don't work. They just turn you into a "Pale Creature" or a "Hack" which is why there are so many crazy pale creatures throughout the town.

So the theme of talent, and not having talent is big with these pills. I also feel like it shows addiction in an interesting way. We have those that are using the pill- Harry, Alma, Austin, Belle Noir and Lark. They're addicted to their talents and to the pills, and now to blood. We also have characters like Tuberculosis Karen and Mickey who are addicted to other drugs as well- Meth is the one that's kind of mentioned the most. Which is also in their blood and giving the vampires a high. I think more will be mentioned throughout the series but... it's interesting so far.

Also Doris... what an interesting character. Okay- so she's a former teacher trying a new career as a decorator but she hasn't been successful yet... and she's the whole reason why they're in Cape Cod. She won an instagram contest to redecorate a house and she's struggling trying to finish it... but she also wants to leave and go back to New York because of all the weird things that are happening.

She also keeps mentioning Lymes disease... and according to one youtube video I watched... she has some symptoms of lymes disease. Nausea, fatigue, craving for red meat... she could have it and that could be why the pale creatures are attracted to her or attacking her. Also not sure if that's why TB Karen is... protected? Or something. Idk it seems very odd that there are these 2 diseased characters that might be special.

Also Doris is getting grief from like EVERYONE! Harry and Alma are both taking the pills and their irritable and she loves them... but I don't think they can love her anymore and... it's just sad. And she's the one that is probably the most NATURALLY talented in the family- she won the damn instagram contest that brought them to Cape Cod in the first place- so the only reason THEY have their talent is because of HER.

I also don't see how these characters don't see that they aren't talented without the black pills... I think they just have big egos... which might be a side effect from the pills.

So those are my thoughts so far. I don't recommend American Horror Stories- especially if you don't have access to Hulu... it's not worth getting hulu for this show. BUT Double Feature is amazing. It's like Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck took some magical pills to give them a good season after the messy season of 1984 and American Horror Stories. Manny Coto- who is a producer on this season and a writer on Stories... might have turned into one of the pale creatures after taking the pills. Not going to lie- I feel like his episodes of American Horror Stories were unnecessarily complicated and predictable... I don't really want to call him a hack because as I've mentioned... writing is hard... but AH Stories was pretty crappy.

Bye!

-Shannon