AsAmerican Horror Storyprepares for its 13th season and plot details are unknown, there are some horror subgenres I would love to see on the show soon. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk,American Horror Storyhas been quite popular for over a decade, even if its quality has declined in recent years.Each season ofAmerican Horror Storycovers a different horror theme, often mixing various, giving every season their own story and style, though all of them with the show’s signature narrative and visual style.
American Horror Storybegan withMurderHouse, which brought together a haunted house and ghosts. Since then, the show has covered asylums, witches, freak shows, haunted hotels, cults, vampires, aliens, and even real-life events but with a bigger touch of horror. The future ofAmerican Horror Storybeyond season 13 is currently unknown, and season 13 has been theorized to be the show’s last, but supposing it continues, there are some horror subgenres that the show hasn’t focused on and I would love to see.
7Giallo
Dario Argento Is The Most Famous Giallo Filmmaker
American Horror Storyhas paid homage to some classic horror subgenres, either briefly or for an entire season. The most notable example isAmerican Horror Story: 1984, which was inspired by the big slasher movies of the 1980s, such asFriday the 13thand John Carpenter’sHalloween. A subgenre that would be very interesting to watch in the style ofAmerican Horror Storyis Giallo, which developed in the mid-to-late 1960s.
Giallo influenced the slasher genre, hence their many similarities.
Giallo brings together slasher, psychological horror, sexploitation, and thriller, and its stories usually involve a killer whose identity isn’t revealed until the final minutes. Giallo influenced the slasher genre, hence their many similarities. The plot in a Giallo movie would involve a mysterious and psychopathic villain who stalks and kills its victims, usually women. The Giallo protagonist would be an outcast in some way and there’s a big mystery to solve.
Some of the most notable Giallo filmmakers are Dario Argento and Mario Brava. Giallo, then, would be perfect forAmerican Horror Storyand would give the show a much-needed twist in its narrative and visual style, which could be refreshing after over 10 seasons of pretty much the same style.
6Zombies
Zombies Have Been Widely Popular In Recent Years
American Horror Storyhas covered various horror themes for over a decade, but it’s still surprising that it hasn’t included some of the most popular ones. Such is the case of zombies, which haven’t been included in any capacity yet, thoughthere have been some characters who fall into “undead” category, but don’t fit the definition of a “zombie.”A zombie is a reanimated corpse, though the source for its rise varies depending on the story. What they all have in common, however, is that they are cannibalistic.
White Zombie(1932) is considered the first zombie movie, while George A. Romero’sNight of the Living Dead(1968) was key in creating the modern zombie.
Zombies have gained popularity in the last decade, with TV shows likeThe Walking Deadboosting this new wave.American Horror Storysurprisingly hasn’t seized the popularity of zombies, but it’s not too late (yet).American Horror Storyhas already made changes to vampires, so zombies could go through some modificationsto make them scarier and more believable while also bringing a tragic story, as these creatures are often quite tragic.
5Werewolves
Werewolves Are The Missing Classic Monster In American Horror Story
Another surprising creature and subgenre that hasn’t been covered inAmerican Horror Storyis the classic werewolf. As mentioned above,American Horror Storyhas already featured vampires(and more than once), so it would be fair that werewolves got their chance, too. In fiction, werewolves are a human and beast hybrid, and the classic concept of them is a human who has been infected, and so they transform into a wolf or a similar beast in specific circumstances. Along with Dracula, Frankenstein’s creature, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the werewolf became one of the classic monsters.
Just like zombies and vampires, the origins, symptoms, actions, and more of werewolves vary depending on the artist.American Horror Storycould give werewolves a more grounded origin and style without missing the elements that make them tragic but horrifying creatures.Usingwerewolves would also bringAmerican Horror Storycloser to body horror, which is another realm it hasn’t fully explored yet.
4Aquatic Horror
The Depths Of The Sea Surely Are Full Of Horrors
An underrated and often forgotten horror subgenre is aquatic horror. These are stories set in the water, either in the depths of the sea or on the surface, but with the horrors coming from the water.Aquatic horror can go full-on claustrophobic with underwater stories, following the characters in an underwater vessel with no way out as they are haunted by a horrifying threat. On the other hand,it can also explore the horrors that live underwater from the surface, as Steven Spielberg did withJaws.
Although some stories and moments throughoutAmerican Horror Storyhave been set near the water, the show hasn’t fully gone into them. There’s a lot of hope that, if not season 13, a future season will finally cover the theme of sirens, which fits perfectly with aquatic horror and, at the same time, features a mythological creature.
3Space Horror
Deep Space Can Be Terrifying
If not the depths of the sea, why not the mysteries and horrors of outer space?So far,American Horror Storyhasn’t really gone into sci-fi horror, with some hints here and there but never using it as a central theme. As such,American Horror Storyhas mostly taken place on Earth (except for some scenes at the lab of aliens), but it might be time to take things a bit higher… literally. Just like the depths of the sea, there are many mysteries in outer space and potential horrors, and it would make it very difficult for those up there to get help.
Space horror would giveAmerican Horror Storysome interesting and creative options, such as the classic one of the main characters coming across a horrifying alien creature, or something more suspenseful but still terrifying, such as being trapped in outer space with no way back to Earth. It would be a completely different territory forAmerican Horror Story, which is why I would love to see it.
2Christmas Horror
American Horror Story: Asylum Came Close To It
Holiday horror isn’t a subgenreAmerican Horror Storyhas properly explored, but it has had some episodes set on specific holidays – however, the one I would love to see as a central theme is Christmas horror. This branch has seen some classics likeBlack Christmasand more modern stories likeKrampus, showing that there’s versatility in it.The closestAmerican Horror Storyhas gotten to Christmas horror was one episode ofAsylum, with the character of Leigh Emerson.
Asylum’s Leigh Emerson episode shows how well Christmas horror would work for the show.
The spin-off/companion series,American Horror Stories, has a whole episode using Christmas horror, but the main show can use it as an example of how not to do it. While truly any other holiday that isn’t Halloween would be interesting to watch in the context and style ofAmerican Horror Story,Asylum’s Leigh Emerson episode shows how well Christmas horror would work for the show.
1AI Horror
A Current Issue In Real- Life & A Popular Topic In Fiction
As mentioned above,American Horror Storyhasn’t really gone into sci-fi horror, but if it does, I would love to see it going for AI horror.This branch of horror has gained a lot of force in recent years thanks to the rise of AI in the real world, which has sparked a lot of controversy in many areas. Movies likeEx-Machina,Upgrade,M3GANandSubservience, and TV shows likeBlack Mirrorhave used the topic of AI in different ways to show the potential risks of this technology, all with different outcomes.
American Horror Storygoing into AI horror would be fitting with what’s currently happening in the real world, would seize an ongoing horror trend, and would be something completely new for the series.American Horror Storycould do some interesting and terrifying things with AI horror, more so if it mixes it with other horror themes, as it usually does.
