Despite being an anthology horror series, creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy has confirmed that there are many American Horror Story connections between the seasons. American Horror Story's seasons are famed for their intricate, terrifying narratives, with American Horror Story: Delicate (season 12) being the latest installment. Since airing on FX in 2011 with season 1, Murder House, American Horror Story has explored numerous elements of history and the horror genre, bringing numerous, terrifying stories to audiences. It has been confirmed that the AHS seasons connect and exist within a shared world.

Though subsequently becoming involved with different projects on Netflix, network television, and movies since Murder House first premiered in 2011, Murphy's ion for the American Horror Story series continues to be apparent to this day. Whether through the care he takes to make clever season-to-season connections, or by keeping the universe richly developed, American Horror Story has become a trove of Easter eggs, callbacks, and AHS canon references for fans to unravel. The American Horror Story connections between seasons make for interesting crossovers and imply future connections between future installments.

Murder House Connects To Apocalypse Through A Child

Tate & Vivien's Child Becomes The Antichrist

Ryan Murphy teased the American Horror Story connections between Murder House and Coven for a while before audiences saw them in AHS Season 8, Apocalypse. While it has its own plot line that doesn't fixate on the characters from Coven and Murder House directly, the post-apocalyptic wasteland created by Michael Langdon perfectly brings everything together.

Michael Langdon, who comes into his powers as the Antichrist, is the son of Tate Langdon and Vivien Harmon. The Harmon family moved into the Murder House in season 1, and Tate, a ghostly resident, raped Vivien before becoming romantically involved with her daughter, Violet. Medium Billie Dean Howard teased the unnatural birth of such a child and discussed a prophecy that would bring about the End of Days. At the end of season 1, Michael's murderous nature was seen when he was still just a child.

Coven & Murder House Cross Over In Season 8

Madison Traveled To The American Horror Story Season 1 Location

The American Horror Story seasons Murder House and Coven connected in other ways outside the inclusion of Michael Langdon. In Apocalypse, the witches' purpose is to stop Michael Langdon and restore balance to the world in a match-up of ultimate good vs. ultimate evil. While there's a lot involved within the season, there is a connection between the two installments that is more of a theory than a direct link.

This could be just a coincidence or another clever clue from Ryan Murphy about his various American Horror Story connections.

Potential Supreme Madison Montgomery, one of the witches that dies in American Horror Story: Coven (but was then resurrected in Apocalypse) could be related to the original owners of the Murder House: Charles and Nora Montgomery, though this has never been confirmed. However, Madison did travel to Murder House with Behold during Season 8. This could be just a coincidence or another clever clue from Ryan Murphy about his various American Horror Story connections.

Billie Dean Howard Works With The Spirits In The Hotel Cortez

Sarah Paulson's AHS Season 1 Character Is Well Traveled

Billie Dean Howard, a medium first introduced in Season 1, travels to the very haunted and connected Hotel Cortez in American Horror Story Season 5, Hotel. Her goal is to commune with the different spirits who inhabit the place as part of her TV show, which is similar to shows like Ghost Adventures, except Howard has a genuine gift. Billie Dean Howard isn't a major character in either season, but as the Cortez and Murder House (possibly a portal to Hell) are both located in California, it raises questions.

She possibly travels around to numerous haunted locations in the state. Perhaps some of these haven't been revealed yet, or perhaps they have been and just haven't been revisited yet - such as Camp Redwood in 1984. Billie Dean even makes a return in Apocalypse, when she tries to stop Madison Montgomery from casting a spell in Murder House. It is here that she proves that the ghosts trust her, making her a very unique character in the AHS mythos.

Pepper & Sister Mary Eunice Travel From Asylum To Freak Show

One Of The Most Tragic AHS Characters Makes Multiple Appearances

Pepper (Naomi Grossman) is a tragic character in American Horror Story. She certainly endures a lot during her time at Briarcliff in AHS Season 2, Asylum, and the American Horror Story connections are revealed in season 4, Freak Show. Pepper was originally a part of Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities. Pepper grew up in an orphanage and was adopted by Elsa to become a part of her troupe of performers. A kind, gentle soul, Pepper was wrongly blamed for the murder of her sister's baby and ended up in Briarcliff as a result.

The story is infinitely more tragic following all the deaths in American Horror Story: Freak Show. In a scene that involves Sister Mary Eunice, during Pepper's ission to Briarcliff, she is told that Pepper sliced off the baby's ears and drowned it. In Freak Show, Pepper always showed a maternal and even domestic nature, referenced through her marriage to Salty, another "freak" with microcephaly, and her care for the tragic AHS character Ma Petite.

Lana Winters From Asylum Appears In Multiple Seasons

A Recurring AHS Cast Member Plays A Recurring Character

Lana Winters, who is one of the most iconic characters in American Horror Story history, tends to pop up all over the series' timeline just via her nature as a reporter. While most prominently featured in Season 2, Asylum, Lana makes an appearance in Roanoke — and her show does, too — when she interviews Lee Harris.

Another American Horror Story connection Lana Winters shares is a brief mention in season 7, Cult, when the journalist asks to interview Ally Mayfair-Richards, but is denied the opportunity. This moment underscores why Cult is among the best AHS seasons. Perhaps this has something to do with Sarah Paulson playing both Ally and Lana, but the actress has doubled up on roles and characters before, so it might have just been an Easter egg or a way to show Lana Winters is still going strong in modern years, as Cult takes place after the 2016 US Presidential Election.

Hotel Cortez's Function Is Revealed In Apocalypse

The Deadly Guest House Is Important For Armageddon

The hard-to-escape Hotel Cortez has a bigger significance than just warranting a whole season, showing how the American Horror Story seasons connect. Not only is it one of several locations in the series — such as Camp Redwood and Murder House — where the dead don't stay dead, but it is also revealed to be of integral importance by none other than Michael Langdon during Apocalypse. Apparently, the Hotel Cortez isn't just a haunted hot spot. It's also a sort of purgatory, just like American Horror Story: 1984's Camp Redwood.

It remains unclear if anything changed about the Hotel Cortez after the witch Mallory went back in time to prevent the Apocalypse, although it did change the fact that Queenie ever stayed there, changing the possible fate of Elizabeth. Billie Dean Howard also mentioned that it is very close to the Murder House from AHS season 1.

1984 Connects To Asylum's Briarcliff Manor

A Serial Killer Turns The Terrifying Sanatorium Into A Tourist Spot

Though a relatively minor American Horror Story connection between seasons, it's revealed in 1984 that serial killer Margaret Booth has taken to purchasing true crime locations and turning them into cash cows. 1984 and Asylum's American Horror Story timelines are directly connected through this new business venture of Margaret's. She purchases Briarcliff because she sees it as a decent investment, just like Charles Manson's ranch and the site of her own murders, Camp Redwood.

As true crime is very profitable, there's no reason why something like this wouldn't be a gainful business even outside the American Horror Story universe. With so many other locations, including the Hotel Cortez, there is no reason to think that this business venture won't pop up again in a future American Horror Story season. While Margaret Booth is dead, that does not mean that someone else hasn't carried on her business interests.

Roanoke Connects To Coven Through The First Supreme

The Supreme Concept Is Born There

Coven introduces the concept of a Supreme through Jessica Lange's character, Fiona Goode. Fiona is a determined, powerful leader — albeit a selfish one — who will stop at nothing to keep her power and hold over the coven intact instead of being replaced by a younger model as her body starts to fail her. However, as witches are not immortal, throughout the American Horror Story timeline, there have been many Supremes. In Roanoke, audiences were introduced to Scáthach, who started the entire line of Supremes that led to Fiona and Cordelia sparring at Miss Robichaux's Academy in Season 3.

While none of the witches who appeared in Coven were as bloodthirsty and purely evil as Scáthach, they all come from the same line of magic s. There is also a nod to Scáthach in Apocalypse when the Trial of the Seven Wonders was set to take place during the October Blood Moon, the time of the year that Scáthach demanded human sacrifices.

Asylum Connects To Freak Show Through Dr. Arthur Arden

American Horror Story Season 2 And Season 4 Have Another Huge Connection

One of the darker American Horror Story connections came in Dr. Arthur Arden from Asylum, who ended up having a significant role to play in Season 4, Freak Show, even though he only made a brief appearance. One of the biggest mysteries surrounding his character, who was a major player in Season 2, was whether he had connections to the Nazi Party. This was brought up when a woman who claimed to be Anne Frank was itted to Briarcliff and said she knew him as Hans Gruper.

His experimentation on different patients at Briarcliff certainly revealed that Dr. Arden had a dark side, but Anne's identity — and Arden's — was left ambiguous after she was lobotomized. In American Horror Story's complete timeline, Elsa is revealed to have lost her legs in a snuff film, and it was confirmed that her legs were removed by none other than Dr. Arden, years before she ever arrived in Jupiter. Even more interesting was the confirmation that he was going by the name of Hans Gruper.

The Mott Family Is Connected To Roanoke

A Hidden Freakshow Connection Is In American Horror Story Season 6

The events of Roanoke primarily take place at a farmhouse purchased by Matt and Shelby Miller. That farmhouse is the focus of My Roanoke Nightmare, a docu-series about the terrors they endured and that are connected to the Roanoke colonists who mysteriously disappeared in North Carolina. The farmhouse was once occupied by Edward Philippe Mott, an ancestor of Dandy Mott and his mother, Gloria, who were trying to purchase Elsa's show during Season 4.

There was a line in the docu-series from Roanoke that specifically mentioned the Mott family. In the dialogue, a woman says, "The house remained in the Mott trust for over a century but it was said that madness always ran in the Mott family. Their line ended in scandal when the last Mott died in South Florida in 1952." Of course, the line referenced the moment that Dandy Mott went on a rampage and killed most of the of the Freak Show before dying himself, ending his family line.