History Series / AmericanHorrorStory1984

** Ben/Mr. Jingles is perhaps the biggest example. [[spoiler:Was initially a CreepyGood type character, although he couldn't protect Margaret from the Camp Redwood bullies. Being tortured turned him into a killer who even killed those who weren't attached to his torment. He then paired up with Ramirez, but after a while, decided he didn't want to kill anymore and betrayed Ramirez. He ran away to Alaska to live a normal life as a family man, but when Ramirez [[CrusadingWidower kills his wife]] and [[PapaWolf threatens his son]], Ben sought vengeance on Ramirez and returned to killing, although this time as a protector of the innocent.]]

''1984'' marks a significant change in personnel for the ''American Horror Story'' franchise, as it's the first to not feature series mainstays Creator/EvanPeters and Creator/SarahPaulson. Nonetheless, returning cast members from past seasons include Creator/EmmaRoberts, Creator/BillieLourd, Cody Fern, Creator/LeslieGrossman, and Creator/JohnCarrollLynch, while past Murphy collaborators Creator/MatthewMorrison (''Series/{{Glee}}'') and Angelica Ross (''Series/{{Pose}}'') make their ''AHS'' debuts in this season. Creator/DeRonHoward (''Series/DearWhitePeople''), Creator/ZachVilla (''WesternAnimation/{{Bordertown}}''), and Olympian skier Gus Kenworthy (in his acting debut) round out the main cast.

* KnifeNut: A hunting knife is Mr. Jingles's weapon of choice, and Montana sleeps with a butterfly knife under her pillow.

* HistoricalInJoke: [[spoiler:Mr. Jingles points out Ramirez to some bystanders, which leads to them forming an angry mom that chases and beats him up. Apart from Jingles' presence, the scene is a beat-for-beat reenactment of how the real Ramirez got captured.]]

* WhoWearsShortShorts: Pretty much everybody does in this season — ''especially'' the men.

Set at the fictional Camp Redwood in [[TheEighties 1984]], this season [[{{Pun}} takes a stab]] at the {{slasher|movie}} genre, [[{{Homage}} picking up cues]] from hits of the genre like ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'', and ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' with a group of camp counselors being terrorized by a masked killer.

* AlternateHistory: The show veers into this in "Episode 100", when [[spoiler:the Night Stalker is helped and assisted by Ritcher before the latter turns him in 1985, and escapes prison five years later, which he never did in reality]]. It veers further in "The Lady in White" when [[spoiler:the Night Stalker kicks off the 1989 massacre by slaughtering all of the members of Kajagoogoo, who in real life were still alive in 2019]]. By the finale, [[spoiler:the Night Stalker himself is killed in '89 and by '19, he is still confined the campgrounds (and killed repeatedly); in reality, Ramirez died in 2013 from lymphoma.]]

** Montana assures Brooke that she's not a lesbian, and she is very obviously interested in Trevor, but she ''does'' seem very intent on having Brooke join her at Camp Redwood, to the point of writing her phone number on Brooke's hand. Apparently confirmed in the second episode, where Brooke and Montana share a heart to heart and the latter [[spoiler:kisses her]].
** [[spoiler:Xavier]] professes that he's not gay, but [[spoiler:is a prostitute for gay men]], doesn't shower with the other men, and still notes the size of Trevor's junk.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:As revealed in the season finale, Ramirez has spent a whopping ''30 years'' being constantly killed in gruesome ways to keep him from being able to use his satanic powers.]]
** [[spoiler: And it's implied, by Lavinia commanding "Take her" to sic the other ghosts on Margaret just as Donna said "Take him" to sic them on Ramirez, that the ghosts will be spending the ''next'' thirty years trying all the same gruesome means of killing out on ''Margaret'' in turn. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving pair of villains.]]

** With nearly a foot of height in difference between 6'3" Mr. Jingles and [[spoiler:5'5" Margaret]], it's difficult to believe the autopsies would match the story claimed.

** For that matter, [[spoiler:Margaret's frame up of Brooke for all the killings is ludicrously unbelievable.]] In addition to [[spoiler:five]] of the main cast, other fatalities that night include [[spoiler:Chef Bertie, the real Nurse Rita, the mechanic, the psychiatrist from the hospital, three Jingles impersonators, Blake the porn guy, and the orderly]] -- all of these at or just outside Camp Redwood. With [[spoiler:fourteen]] kills and [[spoiler:two additional attacks in the area]] in a single night, [[spoiler:and not including the time to build all the death traps, Brooke]] would have to be the most efficient serial killer in history -- despite half the kills being of people far healthier. Not to mention how a law officer was shot to death and his car stolen from the scene ''after'' [[spoiler:Brooke]] had been taken into custody, thus introducing a perfectly-viable, albeit unknown, suspect for the massacre.

** Brooke's ex-fiancé. A man who so was completely insecure in himself due to always coming in second to her that he essentially got Brooke so isolated and alone that she pretended to be stupid and idiotic so he would stop. Not only that, but he then dated and almost married her afterwards.

* BarredFromTheAfterlife: If you die on the camp grounds, you become a ghost doomed to haunt the lands. A plot point late in the season is that the ghosts there are trying to find out how to get off of the camp grounds. "Final Girl" sees this trope through to the end. Nobody breaks the curse on the camp grounds; and the ghosts no longer care; as they've built a small community among themselves and gave up murdering innocent people up there entirely.

** Xavier and Trevor rescue Chet from one of Mr. Jingles's Vietnam traps, then Trevor manages to rush Mr Jingles, saying only it's "his knife against my gun". [[spoiler:It isn't actually Mr. Jingles, but the thought was still there.]]

** Briarcliff is listed among the properties that Margaret owns.

** Montana openly confesses that she masturbated to a bootleg fitness tape featuring Trevor. Margaret also says that it's the only exception to her no sex rule at the camp because she'd never be able to enforce it.

* DeathIsCheap: The ghosts on the grounds can be killed; but they just come back. This allowed the writers to either allow a kill or just have some dark laughs about it. For example, in "Final Girl," Montana gets shot in the head while Trevor gets slashed across the neck. While [[spoiler: Bobby]] tries to run from it, the two re-emerge from the front door, almost expecting a studio applause.
* DeliberateVHSQuality: The opening theme employs this, with a lot of 1980s imagery, in keeping with the time period.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:Benjamin kills himself on the camp grounds to give himself an edge against Ramirez in order to protect his son. Unfortunately for Ben, Ramirez realized that he can just leave the camp grounds and Ben won't be able to protect his son.]]

** Brooke's fiancé. [[spoiler:Kills Brooke's father, his best man, several of their guests, and himself at their wedding... solely because he thinks Brooke cheated on him.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Brooke eventually gets this. After eight episodes of hell, she ends the series happily married with two children, a successful husband, and the ability to finally put the 80s behind her.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: The ghosts attempt to do this to Ramirez in "Final Girl" and are ultimately much more successful with [[spoiler:Margaret.]] [[spoiler:Knowing full well that the asshole will just get revived by Satan, they chose to take turns watching him, and each time he revives, they kill him again and again to keep him in the camp grounds. Margaret also suffers from this; but even worse than Ramirez if that was possible. Margaret technically died just before the chipper threw her on the other side of the fence, so she's stuck in the camp grounds with a bunch of people she killed to trap there, herself.]]

** Margaret and Brooke, both of the {{Deconstructed}}/{{Subverted}} variety.

** The title of the season finale is literally "Final Girl". [[spoiler:We learn there are two, Donna and Brooke. The former became the head of an asylum while the latter finally put the camp behind her and moved on to a happier life.]]

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: {{Inverted}} and {{Subverted}}. Montana, Margaret, and [[spoiler:Lavinia]] all have blonde hair, and are also the extremely deranged female villains of the season. The first two initially seem like straight examples of the trope, only for their ugly sides to be revealed as the episodes go on.
* HateSink: [[spoiler:Margaret. She is a a vicious mass murderer who orchestrated two spree killings at the camp, framing an innocent victim for each of them. She then used the infamy of being a "victim" to unethically grow her fortune. She is narcissistic and vain, treating others around her with barely a hint of empathy or understanding. She's probably one of the most vile villains in the history of the series.]]

** Xavier is the "circular" variant. [[spoiler:Started off as a heroic character who was actually killed after attempting to help save Margaret's life, then suddenly started helping Montana with killing innocent people on the camp grounds, then gets sick of it in the final episode and stops.]]
** Ray is also a circular version. He was a good, nice, heroic love interest for Brooke, [[spoiler:then revealed himself to be a selfish - albeit accidental - killer who ''left Montana to die'' so he could save himself. However, after being beheaded by Jingles, he then turned back into the sympathetic character, being the only ghost who really objected to killing.]]
** ''Mr. Jingles'' is perhaps the biggest example. [[spoiler:Was initially a CreepyGood type character, although he couldn't protect Margaret from the Camp Redwood bullies. Being tortured turned him into a killer who even killed those who weren't attached to his torment, he paired up with Ramirez, he decided actually he wasn't a killer and betrayed Ramirez, his family was killed, he sought vengeance on Ramirez and returned to killing, although as a protector of the innocent.]]

* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Benjamin's son Bobby becomes this after retreading the camp grounds in 2019. He's requested by Montana to tell the story of what happened up at the camp grounds and to hopefully share the stories of the ghosts and survivors of the incident, so that the ghosts are not forgotten.]]

* TimeSkip: [[spoiler:Episode 6 jumps forward to 1985, and subsequently to 1989, though there are still scenes set in 1984. The final episode takes place in the modern day.]]

** Brooke's husband. [[spoiler:Kills Brooke's father, his best man, and several of their guests at their wedding... solely because he thinks Brooke cheated on him.]]
** Montana [[spoiler:is in league with the Night Stalker because Brooke's ''husband'', not even Brooke herself, killed her brother, believing that Brooke had slept with him and set off the whole thing.]]

** The Night Stalker vs. Mr Jingles.
** [[spoiler:Margaret, the real summer camp killer,]] vs. Mr Jingles.

** [[spoiler:Margaret]] is an absolute expert, doing this multiple times throughout the season. Notably, she does it to [[spoiler:Xavier, who killed Mr Jingles in an attempt to "save" Margaret, only to get killed himself by her.]]

** ''Mr Jingles'' is perhaps the biggest example. [[spoiler:Was initially a CreepyGood type character, although he couldn't protect Margaret from the Camp Redwood bullies. Being tortured turned him into a killer who even killed those who weren't attached to his torment, he paired up with Ramirez, he decided actually he wasn't a killer and betrayed Ramirez, his family was killed, he sought vengeance on Ramirez and returned to killing, although as a protector of the innocent.]]

** Donna/Rita appeared to be a nice enough nurse. [[spoiler:Then was revealed to be a sadistic kidnapper and fake nurse who tried to kill Brooke and helping Mr Jingles. Then she felt bad for Brooke and saved her from being executed.]]

** "Whores": Montana, a DepravedBisexual who ReallyGetsAround, [[spoiler:including with Richard Ramirez, a serial killer, in order t o harm Brooke]]; Trevor, who hooks up with Montana in addition to his main "asset" being his penis [[spoiler:only to get in a very unlikely relationship with the "puritan" Margaret]]; and Xavier, who was raped/forced into doing porn by a DepravedHomosexual producer after becoming addicted to drugs.

* MurderIntoMalevolence: [[spoiler:Benjamin's mother massacring the 1948 staff inadvertently led to her spirit cursing the campgrounds. She still hates Benjamin with all of her unlife, to the point where any traces of the mother are no longer there.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: To the point where most of them couldn't even be considered "heroes". The medical professionals try to "help" Mr Jingles, but do so using 1970s-era abusive and at times torturous techniques, such as electroshock therapy. The breaking part comes in because [[spoiler:Jingles was never the killer; Margaret was. But they managed to turn him into a killer all on their own.]]

** "Wait, I don't die here!" Spoken by [[spoiler:Jonas]], it appears to confirm that [[spoiler:he is a ghost with at least ''some'' foreknowledge of what is going to happen, or at least what is meant to happen.]]

** Brooke's ex-husband. A man who so was completely insecure in himself due to always coming in second to her that he essentially got Brooke so isolated and alone that she pretended to be stupid and idiotic so he would stop. Not only that, but he then dated and married her afterwards.

''1984'' marks a significant change in personnel for the ''American Horror Story'' franchise, as it's the first to not feature series mainstays Creator/EvanPeters and Creator/SarahPaulson. Nonetheless, returning cast members from past seasons include Creator/EmmaRoberts, Creator/BillieLourd, Cody Fern, Creator/LeslieGrossman, and Creator/JohnCarrollLynch, while past Murphy collaborators Creator/MatthewMorrison (''Series/{{Glee}}'') and Angelica Ross (''Series/{{Pose}}'') make their ''AHS'' debuts in this season. [=DeRon Howard=] (''Series/DearWhitePeople''), Zach Villa (''WesternAnimation/{{Bordertown}}''), and Olympian skier Gus Kenworthy (in his acting debut) round out the main cast.

''1984'' marks a significant change in personnel for the ''American Horror Story'' franchise, as it's the first to not feature series mainstays Creator/EvanPeters and Creator/SarahPaulson. Nonetheless, returning cast members from past seasons include Creator/EmmaRoberts, Creator/BillieLourd, Cody Fern, Leslie Grossman, and Creator/JohnCarrollLynch, while past Murphy collaborators Creator/MatthewMorrison (''Series/{{Glee}}'') and Angelica Ross (''Series/{{Pose}}'') make their ''AHS'' debuts in this season. [=DeRon Howard=] (''Series/DearWhitePeople''), Zach Villa (''WesternAnimation/{{Bordertown}}''), and Olympian skier Gus Kenworthy (in his acting debut) round out the main cast.

Set at the fictional Camp Redwood in [[TheEighties 1984]], this season [[{{Homage}} takes a]] [[{{Pun}} stab]] at the {{slasher|movie}} genre, picking up cues from hits of the genre like ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'', and ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' with a group of camp counselors being terrorized by a masked killer.

Set at the fictional Camp Redwood in [[TheEighties 1984]], this season [[{{Homage}} takes a [[{{Pun}} stab]] at the {{slasher|movie}} genre, picking up cues from hits of the genre like ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'', and ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' with a group of camp counselors being terrorized by a masked killer.

Set at the fictional Camp Redwood in [[TheEighties 1984]], this season [[RimShot takes a stab]] at the {{slasher|movie}} genre, picking up cues from hits of the genre like ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'', and ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' with a group of camp counselors being terrorized by a masked killer.

* {{Homage}}: The series carries its references and inspiration from the classics of the Slasher genre in its sleeve. The entire first half of the season (from episode 1 to 5) heavily references the original ''Film/FridayThe13th'' plot, with a more mysterious killer and less fantastical elements.

* {{Homage}}: The series carries its references and inspiration from the classics of the Slasher genre in its sleeve. The entire first half of the season (from episode 1 to 5) heavily references the original ''Film/FridayTheThirteenth'' plot, with a more mysterious killer and less fantastical elements.

** The murderer Mr. Jingles escapes from a mental institution in the middle of the night, just like [[Film/Halloween1978 Michael Myers]].

* FateWorseThanDeath: The ghosts attempt to do this to Ramirez in "Final Girl". [[spoiler:Knowing full well that the asshole will just get revived by Satan, they chose to take turns watching him, and each time he revives, they kill him again and again to keep him in the camp grounds. Margaret also suffers from this; but even worse than Ramirez if that was possible. Margaret technically died just before the chipper threw her on the other side of the fence, so she's stuck in the camp grounds with a bunch of people she killed to trap there, herself.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In "Red Dawn," Xavier manages to wound Mr. Jingles with a bow and arrows just as he's about to kill Margaret, thus saving her. [[spoiler:She wastes no time gutting him for his troubles]].

* MythologyGag: Xavier and Montana having "met in traffic and dated for a hot second" is a reference to Billie Lourd's character Mallory from Apocalypse [[spoiler:hitting Cody Fern's Michael with a car]], and possibly also the fact that Michael and Mallory were a fan-favorite pairing considered to have a shot at being canon at the time the show aired ([[Jossed they weren't]]).

''1984'' marks a significant change in personnel for the ''American Horror Story'' franchise, as it's the first to not feature series mainstay Creator/EvanPeters, while fellow veteran Creator/SarahPaulson will only appear in a limited capacity. Nonetheless, returning cast members from past seasons include Creator/EmmaRoberts, Creator/BillieLourd, Cody Fern, Leslie Grossman, and Creator/JohnCarrollLynch, while past Murphy collaborators Creator/MatthewMorrison (''Series/{{Glee}}'') and Angelica Ross (''Series/{{Pose}}'') make their ''AHS'' debuts in this season. [=DeRon Howard=] (''Series/DearWhitePeople''), Zach Villa (''WesternAnimation/{{Bordertown}}''), and Olympian skier Gus Kenworthy (in his acting debut) round out the main cast.

* DeathIsCheap: The ghosts on the grounds can be killed; but they just come back. This allowed the writers to either allow a kill or just have some dark laughs about it. For example, in Final Girl, Montana gets shot in the head while Trevor gets slashed across the neck. While [[spoiler: Bobby]] tries to run from it, the two re-emerge from the front door, almost expecting a studio applause.

** [[spoiler: And it's implied, by Lavinia commanding "Take her" to sic the other ghosts on Margaret just as Donna said "Take him" to sic them on Ramirez, that the ghosts will be spending the ''next'' thirty years trying out all the same gruesome means of killing out on ''Margaret'' in turn. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving pair of villains.]]