History YMMV / AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum

* MostAnnoyingSound: The music that plays in the common room (''"Dominique-inique-inique s'en allait tout simplement..."''). Kit has attacked the record player more than once, just to get it to stop. It finally dies when Jude shatters the record, and is replaced with a much more tolerable jukebox assortment.

* EarWorm: Dominique-inique-inique...

** In-universe, Alma and Grace argue over the nature of the aliens, Alma thinking them horrific and Grace looking to them as enlightened. [[spoiler:Alma feels [[AxCrazy more strongly]].]]

** Not to mention [[spoiler:the aliens]], a more extended example, who are [[GenreRefugee completely out of place]] in the story that this show was advertised as, have no real impact on the plot, only encounter a few of the characters, and [[TheChrisCarterEffect are never explained in any way.]]

* SceneryPorn: The last two episodes [[spoiler:after Lana and Kit get out of Briarcliff]] start to look more like a sweeping biopic rather than a horror finale.

* FanNickname:
** For the series itself, there's "American Horror Story: ''Ass''ylum", due to the many, many ass shots in the show between the canings and the clothing the prisoners wear, among other things.
** The show is also being called "American Whore Story", thanks to Dr. Arden's exclamation of "Whores get nothing!"
** Lana Banana for Lana, based on what Sister Jude said when they first met. Seeing as how Lana's TheWoobie, it works well.

** Not to mention [[spoiler:the aliens]], a more extended example, who are [[GenreShift completely out of place]] in the story that this show was advertised as, have no real impact on the plot, and [[TheChrisCarterEffect are never explained in any way.]]]]

** TheDevil itself is called up in a failed exorcism and possesses an innocent young nun, driving her to uninhibited and lewd behavior as a start. It begins murdering other inmates and sowing the seeds of chaos around the Briarcliff Asylum, solely ForTheEvulz. When it learns that the resident doctor is really a Nazi war criminal escapee, it's actually excited and murders a concentration camp survivor who might expose him. It later confronts the Monsignor about his rather un-priestly ambition and, to top it off, rapes him solely to debase him and mock his vows of celibacy.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The makeup people on this show took [[http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2855644928/nm1303594 Naomi Grossman]], and managed to turn her into ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pepper_1400.jpg Pepper]]''.

* CreepyAwesome: [[TheGrimReaper Shachath]] is everything you could possibly want out of someone called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Angel of Death"]] - both terrifying and awesome, but, in her comfort to the dying, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming oddly moving]] as well.

* MostWonderfulSound: The season ends with a flashback to Lana and Sister Jude speaking (rather civilly) as the former is about to leave the asylum (this is before she came back and ended up incarcerated for her trouble). The same song as above is playing, and after all the dreadful happenings the viewers have seen, it feels strangely peaceful.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Lana a corageous survivor or just a reckless reporter who's in way over her head?
** In-universe, Alma and Grace argue over the nature of the aliens, Alma thinking them horrific and Grace looking to them as enlightened. [[spoiler: Alma feels [[AxCrazy more strongly]].]]

* TheChrisCarterEffect: [[spoiler:Clearly Murphy has been researching the [[TropeNamer trope]] [[Series/TheXFiles namer,]] as he never comes up with any real explanation for those blasted aliens.]]

** TheDevil itself is called up in a failed exorcism and possesses an innocent young nun, driving her to uninhibited and lewd behavior as a start. The Devil begins murdering other inmates and sowing the seeds of chaos around the Briarcliff Asylum, solely ForTheEvulz. When it learns that the resident doctor is really a Nazi war criminal escapee, it's actually excited and murders a concentration camp survivor who might expose him. The Devil later confronts the Monsignor about his rather un-priestly ambition and to top it off, rapes him solely to debase him and mock his vows of celibacy.
** The [[spoiler:friendly-seeming Dr. Oliver Thredson]] is the true identity of the original [[SerialKiller Bloody Face]]. To deal with his own ParentalAbandonment, Bloody Face kidnaps women whose skin he thinks feel like his mother, killing and skinning those whose skin fails his macabre test to make [[GenuineHumanHide masks or furniture]]. As [[spoiler:Dr. Thredson]], he is tasked with evaluating a man accused of the Bloody Face murders, which he takes advantage of by convincing the man to confess. Tricking [[TheProtagonist Lana Winters]] into trusting him, Bloody Face lures her from the insane asylum to his house, where he reveals he has murdered and kept her girlfriend's corpse on ice. Tormenting Lana, Bloody Face tries to get her to become intimate with the corpse and then rapes her when she tries to flee. Willing to kill Lana even after she has become [[WouldHurtAChild pregnant with his child]], Bloody Face smugly states his intent to get away with his crimes using the insanity defense.

* EndingFatigue: Most of the plot is resolved in Spilt Milk, with most of the principal cast leaving Briarcliff. Two more episodes follow.

* FanNickname: For the series itself, there's "American Horror Story: ''Ass''ylum", due to the many, many ass shots in the show between the cane-ings and the clothing the prisoners wear, among other things.
** Lana Banana, for Lana based on what Sister Jude said when they first met. Seeing as how Lana's the {{Woobie}}, it works well.

* NauseaFuel: The Show
* OneTrueThreesome: Horribly subverted with [[spoiler: Kit, Alma and Grace]]
* SceneryPorn: The last two episodes [[spoiler: After Lana and Kit get out of Briarcliff]] start to look more like a sweeping Biopic rather than a Horror Finale.
* SpoiledByTheFormat: The second season was announced to be running for 13 episodes even before the first had aired; however, this effectively spoils that a good amount of plot has yet to go, despite several story arcs being tied up by [[spoiler:Episode 11/Spilt Milk]].
* {{Squick}}: [[spoiler: Doctor Arden cuts into Kit's neck. An alien chip ''crawls'' out.]]
** [[spoiler: Sister Eunice stabs a patient to death with a pair of scissors.]]
** [[spoiler: And then Doctor Arden cuts off Shelley's legs. We thankful don't see this operation (our wonderful imaginations get to paint that picture for us), but we do see the aftermath and it... well, it's not pretty to say the least. Are we starting to see a pattern here concerning Doctor Arden?]]

** [[spoiler: Dr. Thredson's furniture.]]
** [[spoiler: Dr. Thredson and the medical cadaver.]]
** [[spoiler: Thredson: "Baby needs some colostrum." Doubles as {{Narm}}.]]

** The flashback where [[spoiler: Sister Eunice stabs Sam Goodman with a mirror shard]].
** [[spoiler: A patient cutting his wrists open on a slicer, then picking the stitches out.]]
** [[spoiler: The fantasy sequence where Sister Jude slices her wrists open with a straight razor.]]
** [[spoiler: Lana's attempt at an abortion via coat hanger.]]
** [[spoiler: Thredson and Wendy's corpse. Most, if not all, the professional reviewers and recappers found themselves extremely nauseated by that scene.]]
** For some, [[spoiler: Johnny breastfeeding from a prostitute]].
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Better received critically than Murder House and generally regarded as the best season by the fandom.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Early on, Dr. Arden uses a drug to stop Kit's heart, as part of his BatmanGambit to draw the aliens in. [[spoiler: Later on, after Alma is committed to Briarcliff, there's a quick cut to her dead body. The explanation is that her heart stopped working with no explanation, and Kit is present for this explanation. Considering Alma's death took place in the vicinity of Dr. Arden's lab and the scene occurs soon after Kit visits Alma in Briarcliff, it seems safe to assume he snagged some of Dr. Arden's fake-death drugs from the lab he was already familiar with and used it to get Alma out of Briarcliff. But no, she just dies, and Kit goes on to marry another, anonymous character in the future.]]
* ToughActToFollow: Is widely considered the best season of the show to the point it is held as the gold standard for the others to live up to.
* ValuesDissonance: Lana [[spoiler: smoking while visibly in a late-term pregnancy.]]
** [[spoiler: Though considering her feelings towards the baby and his father, she may not have cared anyway.]]

** Shelley. [[spoiler:Being turned into a horrific monster after a failed attempted rape]].
** Kit. Being in an interracial relationship only for his wife to get kidnapped by aliens while he himself being framed as Bloody Face. And that is just from the first two episodes.
** Sister Mary Eunice [[spoiler: when she is not possessed]].
** Monsignor Howard after being [[spoiler: crucified and raped within the space of ''two episodes'', then being forced to MercyKill Mary Eunice]].

** Lana. Committed for her sexuality by her own girlfriend. And that is just the beginning of her trouble.

** Sister Mary Eunice when [[spoiler: she is not possessed]].

* SceneryPorn: The last two episodes [[spoiler: After Lana and KIt get out of Briarcliff]] start to look more like a sweeping Biopic rather than a Horror Finale.

** Shelley. [[spoiler:Being turned into a horrific monster after an failed attempt rape]].

** The [[spoiler:friendly-seeming Dr. Oliver Thredson]] is the true identity of the original [[SerialKiller Bloody Face]]. To deal with his own ParentalAbandonment, Bloody Face kidnaps women whose skin he thinks feel like his mother, killing and skinning those whose skin fails his macabre test to make [[GenuineHumanHide masks or furniture]]. As [[spoiler:Dr. Thredson]], he is tasked with evaluating a man accused of the Bloody Face murders, which he takes advantage of by convincing the man to confess. Tricking [[TheProtagonist Lana Winters]] into trusting him, Bloody Face lures her from the insane asylum to his house, where he reveals he has murdered and kept her girlfriend's corpse on ice. Tormenting Lana, Bloody Face tries to get her to become intimate with the corpse and then rapes her when she tries to flee. Willing to kill Lana even after she has become pregnant with his child, Bloody Face smugly states his intent to get away with his crimes using the insanity defense.

** [[spoiler:Dr. Oliver Thredson]] initially appears to be the sole reasonable person at Briarcliff. However, it is later revealed that he is in fact the original Bloody Face, a SerialKiller who preys on women. An [[PsychopathicManchild emotionally immature psychopath]] with ParentalAbandonment issues, he kidnaps women with skin he believes feels like that of a mother's. Those whose skin he judges to be inadequate get skinned and beheaded, and their skin is used to make [[GenuineHumanHide furniture]] or [[MalevolentMaskedMen masks]]. Tasked with evaluating the sanity of Kit Walker, the man accused of committing the Bloody Face murders, he persuades Kit into admitting to the killings and records him in order to brand him as the perpetrator. Gaining the trust of [[TheProtagonist Lana Winters]], he lures her to his home after helping her escape Briarcliff. Revealing to her that he has killed her girlfriend and kept her corpse on ice, he encourages her to [[ILoveTheDead sexually experiment with the body]] to "help" with her [[CureYourGays conversion therapy]]. He intends for Lana to become a replacement mother figure to him, but rapes and tries to kill her when she attempts to escape. This results in her getting pregnant. While he appears disgusted at the possibility of his child being aborted or going into the foster system, he later shows exactly how much he cares about the child when he makes another attempt to kill Lana when she threatens to expose him, smugly gloating that he'll avoid prison with the insanity defense. Depraved, psychotic, and perverted, there were no lows that this deviant wouldn't sink to fulfill his twisted desires.

* CompleteMonster: The Devil and Bloody Face qualify. [[Monster/AmericanHorrorStory The series has its own page]]. See that for details.

* CompleteMonster: The Devil and Bloody Face/Dr Oliver Thredson qualify. [[Monster/AmericanHorrorStory The series has its own page]]. See that for details.

* CompleteMonster: The Devil, Bloody Face, and Leigh Emerson qualify. [[Monster/AmericanHorrorStory The series has its own page]]. See that for details.

** ToughActToFollow: Is widely considered the best season of thw show to the point it is held as the gold standard for the others to live up to.

** Lana
** Shelley
** Kit
** Grace
** Wendy

** Dr. Arden's real name is [[spoiler: Hans Gruper]]. It's kind of hard to establish tension when one of your characters' name sounds like a character from ''Film/DieHard''.