How Do Fans and Critics Rank the ‘American Horror Story’ Seasons? (PHOTOS)

Dan Clarendon January 18, 2020, 3:00 pm

4 Comments

American Horror Story Seasons, Hotel — Ray Mickshaw/FX

#9 *Hotel*—IMDb: 7.9, Rotten Tomatoes: 64%

**Best episode:** Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare) and Iris (Kathy Bates) ambush “The Countess” Elizabeth in her penthouse at the Hotel Cortez in “Battle Royale.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Cult — Frank Ockenfels/FX

#8 *Cult*—IMDb: 7.3, Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

**Best episode:** Cult leader Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) stages an assassination attempt against himself to raise his national profile in “Mid-Western Assassin.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Roanoke — Frank Ockenfels/FX

#7 *Roanoke*—IMDb: 7.8, Rotten Tomatoes: 74%

**Best episode:** The producer of “My Roanoke Nightmare” brings the dramatization’s actors back to the house for a follow-up reality show in “Chapter 6.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Murder House — FX

#6 *Murder House*—IMDb: 8.2, Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

**Best episode:** Violet Harmon (Taissa Farmiga) discovers she’s a ghost in “Smoldering Children.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Apocalypse — FX

#5 *Apocalypse*—IMDb: 8.2, Rotten Tomatoes: 75%

**Best episode:** Jessica Lange, Connie Britton, Taissa Farmiga, Dylan McDermott, and Evan Peters reprise their Season 1 roles in “Return to Murder House.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Freak Show — FX

#4 *Freak Show*—IMDb: 8.1, Rotten Tomatoes: 78%

**Best episode:** Desperate to raise money for his defense, murder suspect and “Lobster Boy” Jimmy Darling sells his own hands in “Orphans.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Coven — FX

#3 *Coven*—IMDb: 8.1, Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

**Best episode:** Voodoo queen Marie Leveau (Angela Bassett) forms an uneasy alliance with Supreme witch Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) in “Head.”

American Horror Story Seasons, Asylum — FX

**#1 (tie)** *Asylum*—IMDb: 8.5, Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

**Best episode:** Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) hallucinates a rousing round of “The Name Game” with the other Briarcliff patients.

American Horror Story Seasons, 1984 — FX

**#1 (tie)** *1984*—IMDb: 8.2, Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

**Best episode:** In the present day, Bobby Richter (Finn Wittrock) travels to the site of Camp Redwood to learn more about his father.

1 of

The recent renewal of American Horror Story through Season 13 means Ryan Murphy & Co.’s anthology will continue freaking fans out for years to come. So now’s a good chance to reflect on the anthology’s scary-good success so far.

To see how fans and critics have ranked the nine seasons that have aired so far, we’ve combined the average IMDb ratings and the Rotten Tomatoes scores for each season.

How Our Ranking of Jessica Lange's 'AHS' Seasons Differs From Hers (PHOTOS)

Some key findings? Fans felt the same way about Cult as critics did, fans liked Hotel far more than critics did, and both groups enjoyed 1984 more than you might think. Check out the full ranking in the slideshow above, along with the episodes IMDb voters liked the most.