AHS
Starting my nightmare series out with one of my favorite towns I've visited in the past,
AHS. It draws inspiration from the first four seasons of American Horror Story. Granted, I've only seen the first three seasons (clowns really freak me out so I stopped when season 4 came out), it was still really cool! Lots of flora, a really cool layout, and presents galore! So turn the lights off, snuggle up in a blanket, and prepare to explore the town of
AHS.
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Villagers
- Marcie
- Bettina
- Dotty
- Benjamin
- Wendy
- Del
- Mott
- Queenie (HAHAHA)
- Nan
- Walker
Town Plaza
Starting out in the town plaza, here were already presents for me to have! On either side were two plaques, one that said "Papa Legba" (the loa from the Haitian voodoo tradition that appeared in season 3) and the other that said "1919 Student Witch". This will come into play with the first house we'll visit later.
The presents by the Papa Legba plaque were a top hat, a spider umbrella, all black clothing, and a skeleton shirt. Basically, you get to cosplay as Papa Legba himself! I believe this was set out for masculine identifying dreamers. I, however, went with the "1919 Student Witch" outfit, which consisted of the witch dress and hat from Gracie Grace. Once I was all dressed up, I followed the path set out by the qr paths and bushes and ended up at our first house.
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Miss Robichaux's Academy For Exceptional Young Women
The theme of this house was season 3 of American Horror Story:
Coven! This is my favorite season of the show (not just because I am a Louisiana native!) and also my favorite house in the town!
The outside of the house had a face standee that said "Miss Robichaux's Academy" and featured the main villain-tagonist of the season, Fiona Goode. Naturally, the owner of this house was called Fiona and she was dressed very snazzily in oval shades and all black. There were presents strewn about which included a pair of oval shades for you, a sparkling cider (which I felt fabulous carrying all around the town), and an axe! The house itself was had the modern theme with a regal exterior reminiscent of the old plantations along the Mississippi River. Loved it!
Room 1--Main Floor
The main floor of this house was the sitting room/main room of Miss Robichaux's Academy of Witchcraft. There were fancy frames all over featuring pictures of past witch supremes, heavily featuring Fiona Goode herself. There were columns inside the house, recalling the antebellum style of the plantation home, and some jazzy music playing in the background. I couldn't get to the source to check out the title, but this jazzy theme played throughout the house. There was also a black umbrella here, bringing to mind a jazz funeral. It was very light and airy and pleasant. Good callbacks to the show! Loved it!
Room 2-- To the Left
This was one of my favorite rooms in all of the houses in this town! It was Marie Laveau's Hair Salon! KK Groove was playing in the background and a mannequin representing Marie herself was standing behind the counter near a bunch of wigs. In one corner there were hair styling stations and there was a zodiac snake statue representing the secret in the room. When you went past the exotic screens sectioning off a corner of the room, you entered Marie's Voodoo lair! There was a throne, some bones, and an African mask. Simple, but conveyed the message very well. This room was warm and earthy, a great contrast to the first room, and executed the idea of what it was supposed to be very well!
Room 3-- To the Back
Did not exist.
Room 4-- To the Right
This room represented the cottage Fiona shares with her lover, the resurrected Axeman of New Orleans later in the season. For those unfamiliar with the show or the actual legend, back in the 1920s, this anonymous Axeman terrorized New Orleans, going around to the houses at night and murdering any family that wasn't playing jazz music. Pretty dark, huh? Anyway, this room was simple with the ever-present jazzy tune playing while an axe and a saxophone lay on the floor. It was very simple and homey, but instantly recognizable. Not nearly as spooky as you would expect a murderer's lair to be, but come on, he's sharing it with his girlfriend!
Room 5-- Top Floor
This room, while not inherently scary out of context of the show, gave me the creeps! This is the attic apartment of Spalding, the mute butler. This dude is a greasy-haired old dude with talon-like fingernails and a love of dolls. The room was smaller than the other rooms in the house and COVERED with dolls and dollhouses. Almost every space that wasn't taken up by the mannequin representing Spalding was covered with dolls. IT WAS SO CREEPY I HATED IT. (But I loved it.)
Room 6-- Basement
This is the "greenhouse" and potion brewing room of Fiona's daughter, Cordelia Foxx. The room was very dark and lush with greenery. the room also had a Taurus bathtub hidden in the back, which I loved, because I think it was a subtle reference to the minotaur that appears later in the season. Spoo-ky. The mannequin in this room was not representing Cordelia, however. It was representing Myrtle Snow, another witch in the show and rival to Fiona Goode. Loved the crazy wig and the cat-eyed glasses here. Made the character instantly recognizable.
House Exterior Revisited
Back outside the house, I explored a little more. There was a bonfire surrounded by dead trees, reminiscent of the witch burnings from back in the day. There was also a wetsuit that let you jump over the cliff to get to the beach nearby where you find a buried skeleton and a torch with tiles that said "Balenciaga". Clearly this town is hacked, but I didn't care, because of awesome little touches like this! Which now brings us to our next house.
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Briar Cliff Manor
This is based on Season 2, AHS: Asylum. Briar Cliff was surrounded by dead trees and weeds on a cliff. It was on its own section of land, separated from the other houses and PWPs in town. Very isolating. There was also a forest of trees next to it and a shovel. Buried throughout the very claustrophobic forest were skeletons everywhere. Already pretty spooky! The standee in front of the house was of a nun, as the Asylum itself was run by the church. Excellent Exterior. The inhabitant of this house was Lana aka, Miss Lana Banana. I was really impressed with her green dress.
Room 1--Main Floor
It's Christmas in the asylum! This is the common room for the patients at Briar Cliff. KK Parade was playing to lift up spirits and the room was very nice... Or as nice as an underfunded asylum with mismatched furniture could be. There was a piano in the corner and some games to keep the residents occupied. Very clinical and clean. I really felt like this was a working lobby.
Room 2-- To the Left
This room was a lot more Spartan than the first room. It was either a bathroom or hydrotherapy room. There were bathtubs and showers and sinks everywhere, and the room was very leaky. It was silent except for the fans circulating the moist air in the room and there was a rather foreboding looking crucifix framed on the wall. The walls and floor were dingy and looked like they could be growing mold. This room made me feel very uncomfortable and I wanted to get back to the gaiety of the first room ASAP.
Room 3-- To the Back
This was a surgery auditorium or some kind of examination room. There was seating for an audience and the main focus was on the bed where patients would have treatments done to them. There was a mannequin representing a doctor and a medical skeleton on display. In the back, hidden behind some medical curtains, was what looked like a brain in a jar. I could definitely imagine being forced onto that examination table and it creeped me out! Did not want to be in this room! Did not want my brain in a jar!!!!
Room 4-- To the Right
This was an office/punishment room. The austere crucifix was back again, this time paired with a headless angel statue, and there was a table and desk for an administrator to sit at. There was an odd device in the center of the room that looked like it could be used for torture. I could see them sending "uncontrollable" patients here for reform. I high-tailed it out of this room as fast as I could before some scary nun came to strap me down and hurt me.
Room 5-- Top Floor
This was the administrative office of the Monsignor who runs the Asylum. It was very clean and welcoming, a far cry from most of the other rooms here. There was a mannequin representing the Monsignor himself and KK Aria was playing in the background. Everything was nice, neat, and classical. It was smaller than the other rooms in the house, but an office doesn't need to be as big as a torture chamber, now does it?
Room 6-- Basement
I didn't quite get this room at first, but when I did.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! This is an apartment. Half of it was nice and neat with 1960s style wood and furniture with wine and fruit out for guests. But something about the lamps and pillows seem kind of off. Then you notice the mannequin wearing a the big red lion dance mask and some weird stuff in the workshop area and HOLY CRUD THIS IS BLOODY FACE THE SERIAL KILLER'S LAIR AND HE'S SKINNING PEOPLE TO MAKE FURNITURE OUT OF!!!! NNNNOOOOOOPPPPPEEEEEE.
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Murder House
I didn't stay much longer at Briar Cliff once I figured out what that last room was. I did not want to become a lampshade, okay?! The next house had a "For Sale" sign in front of it, which could only mean it was house from Season 1, AHS: Murder House. The standee in front of the house advertised for the Eternal Darkness Tour and the inhabitant of this house was Miss Violet.
Room 1--Main Floor
KK Ballad was playing as I entered the main floor. There were cardboard boxes out mixed with furniture. Clearly the family hadn't finished moving in. This room had the creepy wallpaper and flooring, but the furniture that was out was from the classic set. There were a few violets in pots here and there, which I enjoyed because Violet lived there! Since the family hadn't finished unpacking, there wasn't much else in here, so I moved on to the next area.
Room 2-- To the Left
This was the home office/library. Two Days Ago was playing as the saucy maid mannequin was doing some dusting. There were also some moving boxes in here, but this room was more unpacked than the previous one. It was kind of dark in here, just as it was in the first room. Oddly, a place called "The Murder House" isn't very bright and welcoming.
Room 3-- To the Back
This was a small bathroom. It was pretty cut and dry with not much weirdness in it. A bathtub, a sink, a toilet, and... A pig? I couldn't remember anything about the season as to why there would be a pig in there. It was cute, though. I do believe this is the bathroom where Violet... Well, I won't spoil it. Watch the show to find out!
Room 4-- To the Right
This was the very large and spacious kitchen. There was a gimp in there! A gimp! Leather suit and mask and everything! Get out of there, gimp, I'm trying to make spaghetti! This was a really nice room apart from him and there was also a dog in there. Fat lot of good he did protecting us from a home intruder, though.
Room 5-- Top Floor
This was Violet's room. I could tell by the fact that it looked like my room when I was a teenager: cute, but messy. There were potted violets here and furniture with clothes sticking out of the drawers. The clothes had a skeleton pattern on it, which I liked. Steep Hill was playing and there was an open laptop on the desk as well as a pet fish. Violet is a pretty lucky teen to have a cool room like this.
Room 6-- Basement
I did not like this room. It was dark, dank, and dirty. There were weird people in there and KK Dirge was playing softly. There was also a skeleton in there. This is the room where all the people who were murdered were buried. There wasn't much else to it, but it was very effective in creeping me out and getting me to run right out of there to the last house.
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Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities
This was from the fourth season, AHS: Freakshow. There were alternating rows of red and white roses on the front lawn and the walkway had two balloon arches! It was very well landscaped and I said hello to my buddy Pepper, the "Pinhead" who lived there. Keep in mind, this is the house I'll know the least about because I did not watch this season. I have a thing with clowns.
Room 1--Main Floor
This room had tent walls and dirt floor and was very colorful. KK Milonga was playing and there was popcorn and games and spotlights and lanterns everywhere. Very much a circus and very lively. There was a crystal ball in the corner for psychic readings and microphones for the ringleader of the circus to announce the different shows to the crowd! This room was very exciting and really executed the theme of circus.
Room 2-- To the Left
This appeared to be a cake room? There were dolls and thrones and balloons and sweets everywhere. I don't know what it was for, but it seemed pleasant enough. Unless the dolls were secretly creepy like the doll room in the first house
Room 3-- To the Back
This room did not exist.
Room 4-- To the Right
This appeared to be a wedding. Two mannequins in a bridal gown and a fancy suit were standing in front of a big wedding cake. Only Me was playing and both of the mannequins had the same hair as Pepper, which made me think they were both supposed to be "Pinheads". This room would have been perfectly fine except for the weird skeleton hidden in the back. It made me think this room was a lot more sinister than it appeared.
Room 5-- Top Floor
This appeared to be someone's bedroom. KK Sonata was playing and there was a little area set up for glamour shots. There was a mannequin there dressed as a fancy lady and a bird in a cage singing contentedly. There was also an old TV there and a vanity. Perhaps it was the ringmaster's bedroom. Don't know who else it could have belonged to.
Room 6-- Basement
This room was meant to represent the outside, perhaps the midway itself. There were lots of games there and some picnic tables and a jack in the box. There was also that creepy clown with the mask on and a skeleton. I didn't stay in this room very long when I realized who was there. I. DON'T. LIKE. CLOWNS.
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Final Verdict
This was an extraordinarily well done town. The horror was more subtle rather than in your face, and you definitely need to be familiar with the show American Horror Story in order to fully appreciate it. The creator of this town put so much work into it and I think it's definitely worth a visit. I've personally visited this one about 3-4 times just to play around. I love it!
I really love hearing how people interpret things, and how certain details make them feel.
