5 reasons why American Horror Story: Roanoke is the scariest season of the horror series

Season 6 of Ryan Murphy’s horror series, titled American Horror Story: Roanoke, premiered in 2016 and is regarded as one of the most underrated seasons of the anthology horror series. The show is divided into two parts. The first one is themed as a documentary, and the second as found footage.

Roanoke follows the story of a married couple, Matt and Shelpby Miller, as they talk about their experiences while living in a haunted house with numerous reenactments of what happened to them. The second part follows the real and reenactors going back to the house, but this time they experience terrifying situations from which they find it difficult to get out.

American Horror Story: Roanoke is one of the best AHS seasons, not just because of the performance of the stellar ensemble cast but also due to the use of different horror styles such as slasher, folk, and supernatural, among others. The meta effect of the show also gave it an authentic look, which resulted in it appearing as a scary season.

Here are five reasons why American Horror Story: Roanoke is the scariest season of the anthology horror series.

Disclaimer: This entire article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

5 reasons why American Horror Story: Roanoke is the scariest season of the horror series

5) The horror elements

American Horror Story never shies away from depicting any kind of horror in the series. American Horror Story: Roanoke is no different. Other than the true crime documentary style theme, the show also introduces numerous scary characters and stories. It had witches, terrifying rituals where people were burned alive, or cannibals that eat their prey while they're still breathing.

Furthermore, the series also gets gory with violence that the characters begin to inflict upon themselves due to their warped sense of reality out of fear. Adding to all that are the unpredictable twists and jump scares that work perfectly well in this well-crafted horror series.

4) The meta show concept

The horror elements of American Horror Story: Roanoke were scary enough. However, giving it a feel of a true crime documentary with a show within a show titled My Roanoke Nightmare provided an entertaining concept. The Millers’ story became more terrifying with the addition of the found footage concept. It made it look like an authentic true crime documentary, which added to the scary elements of the show.

Furthermore, the concept was also a smart way of creating a horror show within a horror show. After the success of the documentary, the cast and crew went back to the haunted place with suspicions and less trust toward each other, in case of Matt, Shelby, and Lee, became the reason for their doom. The found footage displayed how reality and horror were twisted in the eyes of the characters, and they even harmed each other in fear.

3) Easter eggs and cameos

Who would have thought that a horror show would also use the elements of easter eggs and cameos of characters from one season of the show appear in another. American Horror Story: Roanoke proved that the AHS universe can also be connected.

In this season, it is revealed that the Roanoke haunted house was once owned by Edward Mott, who is part of the Mott family, which was introduced in Freak Show with the character of Dandy Mott, connecting the two seasons of AHS. Furthermore, at the end of the series, Adina Porter’s character Lee is revealed to be the sole survivor of the tragic event, and is being interviewed by none other than Sarah Paulson’s Lana Winters, from AHS: Asylum.

This cameo and easter egg made the season even more entertaining and connected multiple seasons of the anthology horror series in a surprising yet exciting way.

2) Performance of the ensemble cast

Other than the regular actors such as Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and Lily Rabe, several other popular actors also joined American Horror Story: Roanoke. Besides the scary narrative, the show also shines due to the performance of the stellar cast. With Kathy Bates playing the character of the Butcher and Agnes, while Paulson playing three different characters in the course of the show, made the show one of the best.

And who would forget Lady Gaga’s mysterious character of the Scáthach, which came out of nowhere and scared the characters, or the cannibalistic Polk family, with Finn Wittrock playing Jether Polk. These actors, irrespective of their screen time, added jump scares and horrific moments, and made the show the best AHS season among all.

1) Taking inspiration from a true story

A horror show becomes truly scary when there is an added element of truth in it. American Horror Story: Roanoke had just that. It is inspired by the 1th century true story of the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony during the three years when the leader of the colony, John White, went back to bring supplies.

As he came back to Roanoke, he did not find a trace of his community with just a word, Croatoan, carved into the fence. Over the years, there have been numerous conspiracy theories about the disappearance of a whole colony, which Murphy used as inspiration in his anthology horror series, and included elements of witch trials, ghosts, and numerous other terrifying concepts, carving out this brilliant horror show.