5 ‘American Horror Story’ Characters That Didn’t Stick To One Season


When American Horror Story debuted, everybody praised the idea of a different story with each season. There were no continuity problems, and the same actors could have a go at diverse characters.

The use of diverse characters isn’t that surprising, either. According to The Hollywood Reporter, more than 50 percent of Ryan Murphy’s directors across his shows are women. He believes in diversity, considering he was a gay man in a straight world in the late 1990s. This diversity is shown on screen perfectly, even showing that a black woman can be the sole survivor in a horror story.

Not only have Murphy’s characters on American Horror Story been able to play someone different each season, but there are also times that they’ve been able to play multiple characters in a season. This is especially the case when it comes to Sarah Paulson. Their characters have also been able to show up in later seasons to tell a slightly different story.

With the American Horror Story Season 7 storyline not yet confirmed, it’s time to look back over recent years. Here’s a look at the characters that didn’t stick to just the one season.

#1. Lana Winters

Initially in American Horror Story: Asylum as a lesbian journalist in the 1960s, fans wondered if they would see Lana Winters again. Sure enough, she appeared in the Roanoke season finale when interviewing Lee Harris about the events that took place in both My Roanoke Nightmare and Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell.

This is one of the fandom’s most favorite characters. Not only was she diverse and a powerful role model for LGBT fans, but she proved that life is worth fighting for. It would have been so easy for Lana to surrender to the world that was the mental asylum in the 1960s, but she chose to push for freedom.

#2. Dr. Arden/Hans Gruber

Another American Horror Story: Asylum character, Dr. Arden’s storyline seemed somewhat unfinished and partially untold. There were so many questions surrounding him, but he burned himself alive after the death of Sister Mary Eunice before anybody could really find anything out.

That hasn’t stopped him from coming back. He appeared in American Horror Story: Freak Show when Elsa Mars told her story. As revealed in Season 2, Dr. Arden’s real name was Hans Gruber, and he was a sadistic Nazi doctor. That was shown when he chopped Elsa’s legs off for the sake of a snuff film!

It was the younger Dr. Arden who appeared in Freak Show. The older version was played by James Cromwell and the younger version by his son, John.

#3. Charles Montgomery

Blink and you may have missed this connection. It was really only mentioned in one episode of American Horror Story: Hotel.

The crazy doctor from American Horror Story’s pilot season Murder House was hired by Hotel’s The Countess (played by Lady Gaga) for an illegal abortion. The abortion went wrong, and Charles Montgomery delivers a monster baby. This baby is only supposed to be three weeks along, so there must be a deeper storyline to this that Murphy is waiting to tell.

The name Montgomery has shown up again in the show. Madison Montgomery was the witch in Coven, who fancied herself as the next supreme. Will Charles show up again and will they be somehow related?

#4. Billie Dean Howard

This is one of those characters that didn’t have the biggest storylines in either season that she appeared. Originally in Murder House, Billie Dean Howard was Constance’s psychic friend. In fact, this was the person who originally introduced the Roanoke storyline, when she told Violet about the Croatoan theory and ghost story.

Billie Dean Howard later appeared in American Horror Story: Hotel at the very end. She had moved into reality TV, sharing her psychic abilities with the world. It made sense bringing her into this storyline and was some foreshadowing to the next season with its reality TV style of filming.

#5. Pepper

The use of Pepper in American Horror Story: Freak Show was the first hint that the seasons were somehow connected. This was the first time a previous character had shown up again and would set up fans searching for other Easter eggs dropped in previous seasons to show that there were connections.

Pepper was one of the inmates in Asylum. She didn’t have the biggest of roles, but she quickly became a fan favorite. Freak Show was set before Asylum and told Pepper’s story of how her sister and brother-in-law killed their baby and framed poor Pepper. It also meant the return of Sister Mary Eunice, since she was the nun to fill out the paperwork for Pepper to go to Briarcliffe.

Who was your favorite character to appear in multiple seasons of American Horror Story? Who would you like to appear in Season 7?

[Featured Image by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images]

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