Commentary: The Medical Horror In ‘American Horror Stories’ Is The Scariest
by Frank Martin
Horror can take many different forms. Of course, there are the obvious subgenres such as slasher, horror, supernatural, and even comedic horror that tries to make light out of the darkness. But an argument could be made that out of all of the scary niches nestled into the larger horror umbrella, medical horror is the most terrifying. This aspect of the genre deals with doctors who experiment on and torture their patients in the name of treatment and science. Films such as House on Haunted Hill and shows like American Horror Story: Asylum come to mind. But the AHS spin-off, American Horror Stories, recently added a new entry into this category with an episode titled “X.”
The episode follows a woman named Claire (Mia Isaac) who becomes concerned after encountering an extremely disfigured woman in the hospital. This woman, named Alice (Amy Ruggiero), was so traumatic Claire couldn’t forget her. She began investigating the mysterious woman’s origins, discovering that she was being housed in a strange section of the hospital called Ward X. In truth, this ward was the site of ruthless experiments and treatments on unsuspecting patients in the hopes of creating the perfect cure for disease.
On its own, there was a lot to be scared of in this episode. The disfigured woman had a horrible visage that amplified her creepiness whenever she was on the screen. Also, the episode’s black-and-white nature only added to the foreboding atmosphere. However, there’s real world precedent to be afraid of medical horror. It wasn’t that long ago when doctors really did experiment on their patients. Men who believed themselves highly educated kept patients in archaic conditions completely devoid of ethics. The treatment of pregnant women and the mentally ill especially comes to mind. So although other forms of horror can also be scary, leaning into a side of the genre that actually used to be a real life horror show is frightening enough.
American Horror Stories is now streaming on Hulu.