"American Horror Stories" Season 1 Review: Is This "AHS" Spin-off Worth The Watch?

Season 1 of "American Horror Stories: is currently viewable on Hulu. Unlike Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's juggernaut "American Horror Story", "Stories" is an anthology. This helps smooth out the structural issues of the original series. The main problems being each season starts out strong but has a hard time sticking the landing. What should be the finale is typically one to two episodes before the actual ending.

There are seven episodes total in season 1. Three episodes are based on "Murder House" (the first season of "American Horror Story"). There are tons of fun Easter eggs for fans.

Season 1 episode titles:

Rubber(wo)Man part 1- Very meta. An unsuspecting couple and their rebellious teenage daughter take up residence in the "Murder House" Scarlett is harassed by a group of mean girls led by Paris Jackson.
Rubber(wo)Man part 2- More of the same.
Drive In- Audiences at a drive in view a forbidden film (with very bad results). AHS alum John Carroll Lynch is the movie's director. It was great to see Adrienne Barbeau as well.
The Naught List- You Tube jerky bros get their just rewards when Danny Tejo shows up as a very bad Santa. More of him please!
Ba'al- A woman (AHS alum Billie Lourd) will do anything to get pregnant. Great twisty ending!
Feral- Dont go in the woods. AHS alum Cody Fern is a park ranger. A couple searches for their missing son. Much was made of Cody's bad Australian accent. The funny part is that is his REAL accent.
Game Over- Ben (Dylan McDermott) is back. Too bad he couldnt stay longer. The end of the "Murder House" story line. Or is it?

Rotten Tomatoes gave season 1 a 52% from critics and a 36% from audiences. Major criticisms include the acting overall and especially Scarlett (Sierra McCormick) and Ruby (Kaia Jordan Gerber-- supermodel Cindy Crawford's daughter) in the "Murder House" episodes.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). It seems that most people didnt like season 1 of "American Horror Stories". It may be especially hard to please the rabid "AHS" fan base. I approached the series with an open mind and enjoyed it. Sure the acting is a little stale at times. I'm looking at you Scarlett and Ruby. Sure they spend a little too much time at the "Murder House". Who cares? I much prefer stand alone episodes to a whole season. It's mother ship "American Horror Story" typically starts off very strong but loses it's way before the season finale. It's very frustrating to invest in a whole season and be let down in the end. I'm anxious to see where "American Horror Stories" goes from here. There are currently 3 seasons on Hulu.