7 Chilling Real-Life Crime Cases American Horror Story is Based On
These will chill you to the bone.
American Horror Story: Delicate Part One is coming to FX in a few days. For the first time in the show's history, the season will be based on a book, Danielle Valentine's Delicate Condition, and written by someone other than Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Halley Feiffer will be the sole showrunner this time around.
All of the previous blood-freezing stories came from the imaginations of the iconic writers, often fueled by real-life events. After all, true crimes are often more shocking than fictional tales.
Here are seven real-life crimes that have inspired American Horror Story plots:
1966 Nurse Killings
Remember the disturbing dead nurse character from the first season of the show, Murder House? That storyline was inspired by a true crime that happened in Chicago in 1966. Richard Speck broke into a nursing school dormitory and attacked and stabbed eight young women. He was convicted of the mass murder a year later and died in prison.
The Columbine High School Shooting
In the same season, we see the hair-curling story of Evan Peters' Tate Langdon. It is widely considered to be inspired by one of the first mass school shootings in America, when two students shot and killed 12 schoolmates and a teacher at Columbine High School. The students then killed themselves.
The Willowbrook State School
The gruesome mental institution from Season 2, Asylum, is based on the very real Willowbrook State School, which sent shockwaves across the country when details of the horrors within its walls were revealed.
The school operated from 1947 to 1987 and took in children with mental disabilities, which made it easy for the staff to experiment on, torture and murder them.
Madame LaLaurie
The character of Delphine LaLaurie, played by Kathy Bates in Season 3, Coven, is based on the true story of Marie Delphine LaLaurie, an early 19th-century New Orleans socialite and serial killer who tortured and murdered many slaves.
The Cecil Hotel
In 2013, Canadian tourist Elisa Lam, who was staying at the Cecil Hotel in LA, went missing and was later found dead in a water tank on the hotel's roof. This mysterious story still intrigues many true crime aficionados, and while unconfirmed, could inspire Season 5, Hotel.
The Lost Colony
Season 6, Roanoke, is based on an extremely mysterious true story that happened in the 1580s when 117 colonists disappeared without a trace from Roanoke Island. To this day, investigators are trying to find out what really happened to the settlers.
The Night Stalker
The character of the killer in Season 9, 1984, is undoubtedly based on the crimes of serial killer, sex offender and burglar Richard Ramirez, who preferred to commit his crimes in the dark of night. Ramirez was convicted of 43 crimes in 1989 and died in prison in 2013.