Horror Biz

"You must admit, it's hard to imagine this place being conducive to anyone's mental health."
—Batman, on Arkham Asylum

I've pretty much abandoned Falling Skies, and I'm desperately hoping that the writers of Terra Nova develop something beyond dinosaur-of-the-week with only the badassness of Stephen Lang and its family-friendliness to keep it on my radar. But there is one show this season that has me eagerly awaiting the next episode.

FX's American Horror Story is the story of the Harmon family. Psychiatrist Ben Harmon moves his wife Vivien (played by Connie Britten) and his daughter Violet (played by Taissa Farmiga) cross-country to Los Angeles, leaving behing mundane misfortunes and misdeeds like miscarriage and adultery only to find supernatural horrors at their new Hollywood Victorian abode.

With the New House, New Problems trope as its central motif, AHS has all of the tropes that make for great horror: the Waif-Prophet, Creepy Twins, a Spooky Painting, and a delightfully Politically Incorrect Villain played by my nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series Emmy, Jessica Lange.