Although American Horror Story has already addressed various horror themes, creatures, and legends, there are many others it would be perfect for.

Each season of American Horror Story has covered one or more horror themes, but there are still many that the series hasn’t picked but are perfect for it. Since its premiere in 2011, American Horror Story has become one of the biggest TV shows in the genre thanks to its quality, the performances of its cast, and the different stories it has told, picking a main horror theme for each season and adding more horror and sci-fi elements to each one in order to better create the desired effect on the audience.

Although each season is conceived to be a self-contained miniseries, the references to other seasons and the appearance of characters in different seasons have made way for an American Horror Story connected universe, which has also led to the repetition of a couple of themes. Vampires (though different types of them), killer clowns, and aliens are some of the themes that have been used in more than one season of American Horror Story, but there are many other themes that the series would be perfect for – and here are seven disturbing themes that American Horror Story can use.

7Werewolves

American Horror Story has covered classic horror themes and creatures like haunted houses, witchcraft, vampires, and aliens, but it’s still missing one classic horror theme: werewolves. These mythological creatures are humans who can shapeshift into wolves either purposely or as the result of a curse of affliction, and this transformation happens on the night of a full moon. Werewolves have become classic creatures in the horror genre and their different origins and more give artists the freedom to create different stories for them, which makes them even more fitting for American Horror Story. Surely, werewolves are more fantasy-oriented than vampires, but if AHS has given different origins and characteristics to vampires it can do the same with werewolves, making them the result of experiments gone wrong or a virus, and as werewolves are also seen as tragic figures, they can add a layer of tragedy to American Horror Story.

6Zombies

A horror theme that has surprisingly not been used in American Horror Story yet is zombies, though that might be understandable as there was a rise in the popularity of zombies thanks to various movies, TV shows, and videogames. Zombies are reanimated corpses, and they are brought back to life through various methods, most commonly magical practices. In modern depictions, they are often reanimated through scientific accidents, parasites, carriers, radiation, and more, so just like werewolves, zombies give a lot of creative freedom. Zombies can actually be used in conjunction with the theme of the plague, which has been heavily theorized to be an upcoming theme, so these creatures could be the result of a plague.

5Urban Legends & CreepyPastas

Urban legends and creepypastas give American Horror Story plenty of options to choose from, as there are some truly disturbing stories that the series can bring to life. One urban legend that viewers have campaigned for is Bloody Mary, though that one has already been used in American Horror Stories, but others like black-eyed children (kids between ages six and 16 with pale skin and black eyes seen hitchhiking or begging, or found on doorsteps of residential homes) and the stranger calling from inside the house (which has been adapted into movies like Black Christmas and When a Stranger Calls) are also fitting.

Various creepypastas have become viral to the point where they have inspired movies and more and some have even been believed to be real stories, so there are plenty of stories to choose from. The most famous creepypasta is Slender Man, which could be adapted to the universe of American Horror Story as a mysterious creature that stalks and abducts children (as AHS: NYC had its version of an entity stalking and killing people in Big Daddy), but other stories like Candle Cove (about a disturbing children’s TV show that many people recall watching, yet their parents tell them that when they claimed the show was on, they were staring at static on the screen) and Jeff the Killer (about a teenager who after being attacked and burned by bullies, who he kills, realizes he enjoys harming people and goes insane, slicing his face in the shape of a smile and cutting off his eyelids, and becoming a serial killer) can easily be adapted to the universe of American Horror Story.

4Artificial Intelligence

A theme that would also be a reflection of the real world is artificial intelligence and how this can go rogue and take full control. This theme has been used in films various times, most notably in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with HAL 9000 and James Cameron’s The Terminator, so there’s a lot of inspiration that American Horror Story can use to its favor. Most seasons of AHS have also reflected current social issues and more, and with artificial intelligence gaining force and sparking debate over how it can be used for humanity’s benefit and how far it has already gone, it’s one of the best and most disturbing options for an American Horror Story season.

3Cannibals

One disturbing horror theme that, strangely, hasn’t been used in American Horror Story yet is human cannibalism, the practice of humans eating the flesh and/or internal organs of other humans. Cannibalism has also been used in various movies and TV shows and is often the subject of controversy, especially for how graphic some artists can be when using this theme. Cannibalism is also a real-life horror, as this is still practiced in different parts of the world and there have been various serial killers who have eaten their victims (such as Jeffrey Dahmer, the subject of Murphy’s TV series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), making it even more disturbing and also giving the writers a lot of creative freedom to build a story around this horrifying practice.

2Cabin Fever

Cabin fever is the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness that a person or group can experience when stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. Cabin fever was famously used in The Shining and many other movies and TV shows, and it can trigger a series of horrors, making it a perfect theme for American Horror Story. A Reddit user suggested a cabin fever theme split into two parts: set in the winter, in the mountains, the first part would see a group of people trying to escape after being trapped in a situation similar to Saw or Zero Escape (though that would add another theme to the mix), and the second part would focus on those who escaped doing their best to survive the cold and make their way back to civilization. Like many other themes on this list, cabin fever gives plenty of options to the writers of American Horror Story to build engaging and terrifying stories.

1Sirens

The big winner in Ryan Murphy’s Twitter poll of potential themes for American Horror Story was sirens, and it was even theorized to be the theme for season 10 given the posters and teasers for Double Feature. Sirens ended up not being used in season 10 nor in season 11, but it’s still a big favorite. Sirens are creatures from Greek mythology said to lure nearby sailors with their music and singing voices to shipwreck on the coast of their island. Sirens are believed to be a combination of women and birds in different forms, but what makes them so dangerous and horrifying are their mesmerizing voices, believed to charm the winds, which makes escaping from them nearly impossible. Sirens influenced the figure of mermaids, which are also linked to disasters and accidents in the water but are often depicted in more benevolent ways, so sirens would be more fitting with American Horror Story, which hasn’t really given aquatic horror a chance.