American Horror Story and Cult Television: Narratives, Histories and Discourses

Over the course of ten seasons since 2011, the television series American Horror Story (AHS), created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, has continued to push the boundaries of the televisual form in new and exciting ways. Emerging in a context which has seen a boom in popularity for horror series on television, AHS has distinguished itself from its ‘rivals’ such as The Walking Dead, Bates Motel or Penny Dreadful through its diverse strategies and storylines, which have seen it explore archetypal narratives of horror culture as well as engage with real historical events. Utilising a repertory company model for its casting, the show has challenged issues around contemporary politics, heteronormativity, violence on the screen and disability, to name but a few. This new collection of essays approaches the AHS anthology series from a variety of critical perspectives within the broader field of television studies and its transections with other disciplines.