Have you ever wondered what unites nature with humanity? Fear. Fear is one of the most basic emotions everyone feels at one time or another. What better way to demonstrate that murky, unpleasant and bizarre fear than the one presented to us by Ryan Murphy—director and producer of the anthology television series, American Horror Story? A series that despite the fact that its genre is not the most exploited within the scene, has managed to ascend within the television sphere. But we are not going to talk about the series itself, rather we will focus in-depth on the villains of this particular work of art.

Tate Langdon ( Murder House)

The series begins with a family moving into a house where its previous occupants had been murdered, and the spirit of a teenage boy named Tate now inhabits after being shot dead by police after his involvement in a high school shooting. Langdon is one of the most aggressive spirits of all the tenants—a murderer—who rapes Vivien (the current owner of the house) while dressed in latex. He is probably the most famous villain in the series and unfortunately loved by some adolescent women. As a curious fact, Tate’s character was inspired by the massacre that took place at Columbine High School in April 1999 and by satanic leaders like Charles Manson.

2. Ed Gein “Bloody Face” (Asylum)

Cinema is full of great works of art such as Psycho, or classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both films do not have much in common, except that they are classified within the horror genre, and that their respective villains are inspired by real historical people. In the episode Asylum the inspiration for the villain comes from real serial killer Ed Gein.

Murphy for this episode used a killer who left an unimaginable mark on the history of the United States during the last century, however with one distinct change—his villain went from being a farmer to a psychiatrist.

Played by Zachary Quinto, Ed has easy access to his victims via his connection to his psychiatry institution using them to complete his macabre collections, which range from designing and creating decorative objects through human anatomy to his main objective; to make a woman’s suit out of skin in order to become her mother. This is the sole reason why he kidnapped Lana Winters, played by the great Sarah Paulson.

3. Papa Legba (Coven)

You don’t have to be an expert to know that voodoo is one of the oldest religions in the world. Due to the slave trade, which took place during the 17th and 18th centuries, slaves introduced their religious practices to America, leading to human or animal sacrifices.

Voodoo has inspired the minds of writers and directors with their worst nightmares, and that is how Murphy wanted to capture it in the third season, with the God of voodoo—“Papa Legba”.

For those of you who don’t know Papa Legba, he is the guardian of the spiritual world, in charge of balancing the scales of life and death, and also the god of travel, opportunity and luck. However, the director is not exactly interested in presenting things as they are, since he wanted to give a much more macabre depiction of him. In the series, the witches who call him in a quest to obtain immortality, find that in return he wants innocent souls, such as babies or special people.

4. Twisty (Freak Show)

Inspiration comes in the form of circuses from the 20s and 30s, where people with unique bodies were shown. Along with these people, a man arrives in the hot Florida city, whose promising career as a circus clown came to an end when several people around him spread rumours that he was a sex offender. Twisty attempted to take his own life, which explains the loss of his lower jaw. It was then that the character adopts his murderous ways in a misguided attempt to continue his career as a clown and protect his parents and children.

5. Sr. James March (Hotel)

Inspired by a place where its reputation is not so pleasant, due to the innumerable crimes that were committed in that place, we are talking about the Cecil Hotel.

On this occasion, AHS introduces us to James March, a young businessman who needs to carry out his most intimate murderous games orders the construction of the perfect location—the Hotel Cortez, in which secret corridors are constructed, so that March can carry out his barbarous actions with the guests and hide them for more acts of depravity later. In time his evil activities are discovered, but before being arrested by the police, March slit his own throat.

It was normal to think that the Hotel would be free from the misdeeds of its deceased owner, but it was not like that, the ghost of James March continued to inhabit the Hotel, spending his days analyzing his guests, growing a strong attraction towards those who had evil and dark auras. This allowed a strong bond to be created, a channel through which communication between the two was possible, even manipulating them to continue killing.

6. Thomasin White “Butcher” (Roanoke)

We are located in the Roanoke colony, in where one day Thomasin White is placed in charge of the colony after her husband, Governor John White and a group of inhabitants, go out to look

for supplies. Soon settlers from outside Roanoke look to take advantage of the governor's absence and invade. However, they don’t count on Thomasin, who inside her flourished a strong impulse to control and protect his lands. A story containing pacts with witches, vengeful children and souls not yet laid to rest.

7. Kai (Cult)

The seventh instalment focuses on the US presidential elections and the danger of sects, showing how the most vulnerable people can become their own worst enemy.

And that’s where Kai, the season’s main antagonist, comes in. A local suburban

Michigan leader, practically living in his basement is tempted to seek political power and recruit disillusioned people in his neighbourhood to form a group with the aim to dominate the world, imposing fear in the community through violent acts while disguising themselves as clowns.

8. Michael Langdon ( Apocalypse)

Here we can see how many characters from previous seasons regain prominence again. As is the case of Michael Langdon, who has connections to the first season of Murder House, since he is the son of Vivien Harmon (the one who rents the “Murder House” and Tate Langdon. Well, as a result of that rape of Vivien, Michael was born, the real jewel in the crown.

He is the Antichrist, considered the bearer of the End of Day, and whose power exceeds many witches and of course as he grows up, he takes advantage of his powers to do evil.

9. Benjamin Richter “Mr. Jingles” (AHS 1984)

Unlike other villains, Benjamin starts out as a good man who worked as a janitor at a camp called Redwood and was later wrongly accused by one of his students of committing multiple murders inside the cabin. This event results in the mental collapse of Benjamin who after he escapes from prison, adopts the same characteristics for which he was falsely accused.

Soon Benjamin is known by the nickname Jingles because he always wears a belt with a large key chain that would emit a characteristic sound, accompanied by a chain that also encircles his waist adorned with human ears. He is violent and thirsty for revenge annihilating his victims with no mercy.

Here Murphy wanted to capture the classic horror movies of the 80s such as Halloween and Friday the 13th.

10. Belle Noir (Double Feature)

Belle Noir's story begins at its lowest point, her husband psychologically mistreats her and she feels a profound failure in her profession because she is not inspired by the erotic stories she writes. But her situation takes a turn when on a drunken night she meets a drug addict, who among the different substances offers her a mysterious black pill, which allows the person to develop their talent to its maximum potential however, there is a price to pay; the person would survive solely by drinking human blood. Soon Belle Noir becomes the best erotic novelist in history and an important figure in her town, having complete control over her inhabitants.

11. “Big Daddy” (NYC)

The last season of this anthology series takes place in New York in the 1980s and focuses on a series of murders involving gay men and the appearance of a virus.

Many fans speculate that the villain Big Daddy is not a real flesh and blood murderer, but rather a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic that kills many characters in the series, since he may have been the first victim of this disease. Big Daddy appears in a malevolent way, representing the fear, pain and aggression that unfortunately surrounds HIV/AIDS.

We may not openly recognize it, but the vast majority of us are drawn to the dark side that entertainment often shows us. In American Horror Story, it reflects how the source of evil has a justification for being so, exposing the difficult situation that its main villains are experiencing, helped by the real story that is often behind it. These characters reflect our greatest frustrations and insecurities that we can sometimes experience, contrary to our rational minds.