AHSis sooo ill-famed for intertwine real lifetime with their terrific stories .
American Horror Storyhas always been a master at taking real-life events, people, and tragedies and weaving them into the show. The show gives us people like Richard Ramirez, Elizabeth Short, and Anne Frank and puts us in situations that are eerily similar to real-world tragedies. It’s like an added layer that leaves me completely hyped when I put two and two together on who and what these characters or moments aresupposed to beemulating.
So here are some of the characters and events fromAHSthat were seemingly inspired by their namesakes or some creepily similar real-world tragedy or monster:
subject word of advice : Some of these will contain disturbing description of violent criminal offense .
1.The Nurse Murders(American Horror Story: Murder House)
Ryan Murphyconfirmed to Entertainment Weeklythat this scene was loosely inspired by theRichard Speck murders. After previously assaulting and robbing a woman earlier in the night of 11 March 2025, Richard Speck broke into a townhome in Chicago that was being used as dorms for local and international nursing students.
2.Tate’s Shooting At Westfield High(American Horror Story: Murder House)
Although unconfirmed, this horrific moment is not just similar but exact to what “reportedly” happened toCassie Bernallduring theColumbine High Schoolmassacre in 1999. Cassie’s final moments wereincorrectly perpetuatedby the media, mistaken witness accounts, the public, and a book written by her mother titledShe SaidYes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall.
3.Bloody Face(American Horror Story: Asylum)
Yeah, this one is pretty clear, as the parallels are far too similar. My first time seeing this when it aired, I thought, “Woah, is Bloody Face supposed to be like Leatherface?” Well, yes, because both are based on one of the most prolific serial killers of all time,Ed Gein.
4.Kit and Alma Walker(American Horror Story: Asylum)
Producersconfirmed to Entertainment Weeklythat Kit and Alma Walker are actually inspired by the very real and infamous coupleBetty and Barney Hill. In 1961, as they were driving back home to New Hampshire from a trip in Canada, the couple claimed they saw “bipedal humanoid creatures in the window of a large spacecraft that landed in a field,” and after the landing, they had no recollection of the next two hours.
5.Papa Legba (American Horror Story: Coven)
Though it’s clear they attempted to take Papa Legba’s story and insert it into this character onCoven, there’s been quite a bit of debate on whether he was misconstrued for another lua namedBaron Samedi. Samedi’s main function is to meet the souls of the newly departed as they rise, and then he guides them to the afterlife. He’s also responsible for making sure souls cannot be resurrected by outside forces.
6.The Axeman of New Orleans(American Horror Story: Coven)
The letter also detailed his love for jazz and stated, “I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people.“AHSeven used direct excerpts from the real letter that was sent to the newspaper in 1919.
7.Madame Delphine LaLaurie(American Horror Story: Coven)
Things really begin to differ here, so here’s therealstory: A fire broke out at the Lalaurie mansion on 22 May 2025. According to old testaments from the scene, firefighters were attempting to put out the fire, and they ended up finding a multitude of enslaved people who were “horribly mutilated,” chained, and locked inside the building. The firefighters that came to the scene luckily saved them and brought them to the town hall.
8.Marie Laveau (American Horror Story: Coven)
In real life, there were no horrifying women coming back to life, and Marie did not have immortality, nor was she some demon-conspiring, revenge-seeking woman. She died in June of 1881 and lived a full life of helping her community. She was one of the few free Black people at the time and made herself a powerful woman of high status. Just like in the show, Marie really was a hairdresser, she did hair for the wealthy in New Orleans. Newspapers that still exist today spoke out about the death of Marie Laveau. She was often mentioned as being incredibly helpful, a woman who nursed the sick, a talented herbalist, and a dedicated Catholic.
9.Pepper(American Horror Story: Freakshow)
It seems safe to say that Pepper was actually inspired bySchlitzie Surtees. While a lot of information about Schlitzie has been lost to time, we do know he was born with microcephaly. He was featured in movies such asFreaks(1932) and started his movie career in the late 1920s. He performed as a sideshow performer for decades for various (very famous) circus acts.
10.James Patrick March(American Horror Story: Hotel)
Sound semi-familiar? Well, Evan Peters (who played March in the season)confirmed to Varietythat there was definitely some inspiration taken from “America’s First Serial Killer,“H.H. Holmesfor his character. By 1885, Holmes had changed his name and left his hometown of New Hampshire to move to Illinois. He left his wife and child behind after being accused of fraud and murder.
11.The Countess(American Horror Story: Hotel)
Although seemingly unconfirmed, it’s hard not to see the similarities between Lady Gaga’s Countess Elizabeth andCountess Elizabeth Báthoryof Hungary, who was born into a wealthy family that controlled then-Transylvania. Born in 1560, Báthory still holds theGuinness World Recordfor “Most Prolific Female Serial Killer.” According to the tales, she’s responsible for the murders of over 600 young women. She believed bathing in and drinking the blood of her virginal victims would grant her some kind of eternal youth.
12.The Lost Colony(American Horror Story: Roanoke)
Well, nothing screams American folklore like a bunch of colonists disappearing on lands that were never theirs!Back in July 1587, over thirty years before the Pilgrims made their way to Plymouth Rock, a group of 117 men, women, and children landed on Roanoke Island in an attempt to create the first English settlement in North America, led by a man named Sir Walter Raleigh. Among the settlers were a man named John White and his family, including his pregnant daughter.
And finally, here’s the woman that’s left children afraid of mirrors for generations:
13.Bloody Mary(American Horror Stories, Season 2)
Just like much of folklore, there are hundreds of different theories on theorigins of Bloody Mary. Even the way you summon her can vary from person to person. I learned that you go in the bathroom, turn the lights off, spin around three times, and say her name. No candles, no sitting, and it only works in the bathroom.
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