New episodes of American Horror Stories are now out, and you’ll want to watch them right away. The question is whether you should watch them with the kids around or if you should wait for them to go to bed.
This horror anthology series is a spin-off of American Horror Story. There are a couple of episodes here and there that take us back to the Murder House from the first season, but that’s not the case with the new episodes.
Ryan Murphy has brought us individual horror stories. Are they suitable for kids? Definitely not!
American Horror Stories remains TV-MA and there are reasons
This is a series that is officially rated TV-MA. While there are moments in each episode that are more psychological horror, there are some gruesome moments in the newer episodes just like in previous ones.
Sex & nudity: While there isn’t that much in the way of sex and nudity in the latest episodes. That’s not where the horror is. This isn’t that surprising when you watch other episodes within this anthology.
There is a moment in "Clone" where there is an attempted sexual assault between two men. A lot of this is shown on screen, but there is no nudity in the moment. It doesn't happen, but it does lead to death.
Violence & gore: This is where the stories earn their TV-MA rating. Just the first episode of the new set of episodes, titled “Backrooms,” features a man who kills a child. We see that happen on the screen clear as day. There is also a scene with a woman dying in a pool of her own blood following an accident.
Some of the previous episodes have given us organ removal and brutal murders on the screen. We’ve also seen the goriness of smallpox and other illnesses.
Language: American Horror Stories has never shied away from harsh language. The F-bomb is dropped multiple times in each of the episodes, and it is the strongest of the swear words. The B-word and S-word are also mentioned multiple times, along with words like hell and damn.
Alcohol & drugs: As you would expect, there is some drinking and smoking in each of the episodes. In a lot of cases, there are adults looking to relax after a long day. There are also characters who take drugs in some episodes. This isn’t done in a gratuitous way in all episodes, but it does depend on the specific story.
Overall verdict: Who is American Horror Stories appropriate for?
The level of gore and violence in the series is something that makes American Horror Stories unsuitable for children. This is made for adults, and you’ll want to wait until the kids go to bed. Even without the gore, the horror is on a psychological level in a lot of cases. This can go over the heads of a lot of children, leaving them more scared and unsettled than they should be by the end of each episode.
American Horror Stories is available to stream on Hulu.