The American Horror Story Moments That Made Fans Cry
If you feel like there's something in your eye and it's not just allergies, then you might be crying while watching American Horror Story. Each season of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's often outlandish anthology series tends to dwell in the realms of camp and the grotesque. Whether it's giving viewers axe-murdering jazz musicians, serial killer clowns, or the election of Donald Trump, the show doesn't shy away from delivering pure horror. The same can be said for its ability to bring a tear to its viewer's eyes.
It may seem strange to think about a show that regularly features its main characters having limbs violently amputated as also being a tearjerker, but the violence of the show is often rooted in trauma and tragedy. It's not that every season or storyline has the kind of pathos to make the audience weep. However, when the show strikes just the right balance of horror and heartbreak, it has viewers covering their eyes with one hand and reaching for a tissue with the other.
Fans of the series recently took to Reddit to commiserate on the moments that made them misty-eyed from throughout the series' nine seasons. Here are the scenes that make American Horror Story fans cry.
The surprisingly tender American Horror Story: 1984 finale
Spoilers for American Horror Story: 1984
It's not too hard to imagine a story about a haunted house or coven of witches reaching some heightened emotional peaks. But a slasher movie? From the synthy reimagining of the classic opening credits to the cast of randy camp counselors and aerobics enthusiasts, American Horror Story: 1984 looked like it was content to gleefully wallow in the superficial waters of 1980s nostalgia.
However, when fans were asked to sound off on a Reddit thread entitled "AHS Moments That Made You Cry," more than a few selected the ending of 1984 as the one that turned the old face faucets on for them. Redditor u/superbrady1224 summed up the sentiments with, "The whole ending of 1984 every rewatch I need a cookie to stop crying."
Mr. Jingles a.k.a. Benjamin Richter (John Carroll Lynch) first appears to be the big bad of the season, but as 1984's twisted story unravels, viewers realize he is actually more victim than villain. Viewers eventually learn that much of the darkness that permeates Camp Redwood can be traced back to the 1940s, when Benajmin's brother was killed in a horrible boating accident, leaving their mother devastated and seeking revenge on anyone and everyone. Thus begins a nightmarish cycle of violence that sees numerous ghosts tethered to the campground.
However, that cycle is broken in the last episode when Benjamin's son, Bobby (Finn Wittrock), returns to the camp in the present day. After taking care of some unfinished Richter family business, he's visited by the ghosts of his father, grandmother, and uncle, who have made peace with their painful pasts. They look on with pride as Bobby leaves Camp Redwood for good.
Moira's reunion with her mother on American Horror Story: Apocalypse
Spoilers for American Horror Story: Apocalypse and Murder House
Another supernatural reunion that brought fans to tears came courtesy of the all-stars season a.k.a. American Horror Story: Apocalypse. In addition to the fresh narrative focusing on life in a bunker after a nuclear war, Apocalypse also revisits stories that started in American Horror Story: Coven and the very first season, American Horror Story: Murder House.
One of the characters that viewers touched back in with during Apocalypse was the bitter ghost Moira O'Hara (Frances Conroy and Alexandra Breckenridge), who worked as a maid in the titular murder house. In that first season, Moira performs a mercy killing on her beloved and ailing mother (Irene Roseen) by unplugging the ventilator that is keeping her alive in her nursing home.
Because she's tethered to the house where she was murdered, Moira isn't able to join her mother in the afterlife, but in Apocalypse, she finally gets that opportunity. After her bones are exhumed from the backyard, she has them interred next to her mother's body in the cemetery. This releases Moira and she's finally able to go into the beyond with her mother, who tells Moira she's grateful that Moira freed her from the torments of the mortal world.
When asked in the Reddit thread to name their most tear-inducing moment, user tamrepublic replied simply, "When Moira was reunited with her mom," and added a weeping emoji for good measure.
Some character deaths really hit home
Spoilers for American Horror Story: Hotel and Asylum
It can be hard to properly mourn the deaths of characters on American Horror Story. A trope common in most of the seasons is that people rarely stay dead for long ... until they do. Sometimes characters get killed off on the show and don't come back as a ghost or vivid hallucination, and some of those perma-deaths hit fans especially hard.
User Wonton-Hussy shared a common expression of grief when they wrote, "Liz Taylor dying. That choked me right up." The death of the earthy, eccentric, and lovable bartender (Denis O'Hare) at the Cortez in American Horror Story: Hotel was noted as the biggest tearjerker moment for a number of fans on Reddit.
Another common choice was the passing of Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). The intimidating nurse had the tables turned on her in the final few episodes of American Horror Story: Asylum, when she was interred and had to join the inmates she had once watched over. By the time she passed away, the character had gone from menacing to sympathetic, and seeing her finally die got lots of fans wondering if someone was chopping onions.