It's been more than a decade now since the first season of American Horror Story premiered on FX. While not much was known about how it was all going to play out back then, little did we know that the show would go on to amass a huge cult following and splinter into an entire TV franchise. Its ability to subvert the ordinary and delve into some truly twisted plots complemented by a myriad of intriguing and terrifying characters has kept audiences hooked on the show ever since. With the show's popularity waning slightly, Season 11 promised to keep up the exhilarating reputation it has.
Officially subtitled, American Horror Story: NYC, the latest installment has certainly delivered. Keeping up with switching between locations and timelines, Season 11 took place in 1980s New York. Its location added a darker level of seediness to it as its stories played out against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic and all the pain, panic, and tragedy it brought before the world knew more about this now infamous and deadly disease. With an ominous tone foreshadowing all the drama and terror that unfolded, the season was gripping and well-received by audiences and critics alike. Now that NYC has officially wrapped up, here's a look back at our picks for the best characters from Season 11 of American Horror Story.
15 Alana
While more of a fringe character from the season, Alana was certainly a memorable one who slayed in the graphic leather-inspired garb featured in the season's beautifully haunting marketing posters that set the tone for the seedy atmosphere featured throughout.
She manages The Ditch, a popular gay club in the city, and is approached by Gino and Patrick, who are investigating the recent murders plaguing New York. Since her club is owned by mobsters, Alana has to caution them but later also recognizes one of the people of interest in the matter, pointing them in his direction. Alana was played by French actress and model Rebecca Dayan.
14 Chief Mac Marzara
The Chief of Detectives for the NYPD, Mac Marzara, is one of the most familiar faces from the season since he's played by Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar fame. He's the boss of Patrick Read and a bigot who's prejudiced against gay men. This attitude plays a significant role in the season since much of it is dedicated to the tragic circumstances that many LGBT people suffered during that period. Mac Marzara acts as a perfect conduit for this since he depicts both the societal apathy and the systemic prejudice that alienated gay men for being different at the time.
13 Fran
AHS: NY centered around the LGBT scene in the 1980s while a mysterious virus plagues the city. While it mostly revolved around the plight of gay men during this period, other aspects of the community were represented too. The character Fran was a sharp-minded lesbian woman who worked as a lab assistant. Fed up with how The Downtown Native magazine only writes about gay men and refuses to acknowledge lesbians or women in general, she decides to confront them.
Gino Barelli later gives Fran and her friends a desk and an opportunity to write for The Native about women's issues. Fran's main job as a lab assistant also allows her to access files which leads her to believe that the government may be responsible for the virus. Her attempts to uncover the truth fall on deaf ears while she later takes a job as a fortune teller and learns that she may have psychic gifts. Played by Sandra Bernhard, Fran was an engaging character that added some great layers to the season.
12 Henry Grant
A familiar face to the show in general, Denis O’Hare played Henry Grant in this season of it. He's known as a mafia hitman and sticks out by the fact that he can be found wearing neat suits. This wasn't particularly out of place for the time period, except that Henry features amid a plethora of scantily clothed and leather-clad men that the season featured a lot of — likely in homage to some of the raunchier aspects of the gay community the city had a reputation for in the '80s.
His appearances as a regular of the Brownstone Bar showcased a different aspect of the stereotypical view of New York's gay scene back then, just as many other portions of the season were throwbacks to the reality behind the setting.
11 Adam Carpenter
Adam was a gay man who is struggling with a recent breakup when he and a friend encounter a large and terrifying assailant, that we now know as the mysterious Big Daddy character. Adam escapes while his friend is abducted. His attempts to get help from the police are met with attitudes of apathy and homophobia. He tries to get answers on his own, along the way encountering just how exploitative the city can be as he even has to trade shirtless pictures of himself for answers from the photographer, Theo Graves, who actually managed to take a photo of Big Daddy once.
Adam's frustrations are compounded when he allows The Downtown Native to tell his story, causing the police to rebuke and harass him further. Adam was a tragic character of sorts since he represented the prejudice that gay people have long been enduring by society not taking their problems seriously. He was portrayed by Charles Carver, who himself came out as gay in 2016.
10 Kathy Pizazz
Her name suited her well since Kathy Pizazz was a cabaret singer and formerly a star of Broadway. She's also a performer and owner of the Neptune bath house that many of the gay characters visit during the season. She often laments her time at Neptune since she finds it a far cry from the glorious theaters she once performed in.
Regardless, her Sicilian roots make her feisty. When aspersions are cast at her and insinuate that she doesn't care about t gay men being killed in the city, she proves to be a long-standing supporter of the cause and reveals she was once a Grand Marshal at the 1971 New York pride parade. Her story intersects with characters like Fran's since she also owns the psychic business that the latter joins.
9 Shachath
Although this character was only featured as a guest in Season 11, Shachath, the Angel of Death, is still one of the coolest characters from AHS lore. She played a bigger role in Season 2 of the show and was depicted by a different actress then. This time, the role fell to Hannah Jane McMurray, who aptly played this ghostly entity. Although she may appear frightening, Shachath is a benevolent spirit and appears to those on the brink of death or who wish for death, so she can perform a kiss that ends their lives.
8 Dr. Hannah Wells
As a scientist, Dr. Hannah Well's work becomes critical to the plot of the season since she's the one who discovers that there is a new virus out there. Another cast member who returns to the franchise as a different character, the talented actress Billie Lourd plays her. Wells starts to unearth evidence that points to the fact that the dreaded virus that is devastating the gay community may have been cooked up by the government.
Lourd is highly thought of by AHS fans since she's played a bunch of other characters on the show from earlier seasons. A fun fact about her is that she's the daughter of the iconic Carrie Fisher. A fitting lineage, since she's also appeared in Star Wars films over the years too.
7 Mr. Whitely
If you've ever seen other seasons of American Horror Story, you'd know that things often aren't as they seem. The show is littered with some weird, terrifying, and haunting characters. As a show that often uses ghostly entities and the concept of evil as allegories for other things, misdirection is one of its strong points.
Mr. Whitely was a character that showed this off in Season 11. While he did do unspeakable things as a serial killer, much of the show initially misdirects viewers into believing that he's the only killer. While the virus and the entity that represents it both prove far more deadly and frightening, Mr. Whitely was still a pretty disturbing character himself who was ably played by actor, Jeff Hiller.
6 Barbara Read
The ex-husband of one of the key characters from the season, Barbara Read is a long-suffering woman who has been dealing with her devastating divorce. Once a blushing bride utterly in love with her husband, her life took a turn when she learns that he was actually closeted and used to cheat on her with men. Finding her ex-husband's gear that seems to match the description of the creepy man who's been abducting and murdering gay men, she becomes convinced that he has something to with the killings.
A tragic character of note, Barbara is played by Leslie Grossman. Barbara's life can be summed up by one of her most poignant lines in the show when she discusses her suspicions with her ex's current partner.
"I guess living with someone who lies to you with every breath can make a woman a little unstable."
5 Sam
Another well-known actor who came out in real life, Zachary Quinto was launched to instant superstardom when he landed the role of the young Spock in Star Trek prequels. On AHS: NY he played a very different character. While he was also methodical, Sam was a character who was dripping with evil intentions. A partner and financier of photographer, Theo Graves, Sam is hedonistic and crafty as he goaded Graves into darker realms with his photography.
4 Theo Graves
A photographer whose artistic tastes were once darker as he sought to capture the beauty in the strangest of subjects, Graves proves to be a twisted character at times. However, he's exactly the kind of colorful individual that adds spice to the season in ways that the show is famous for. He has Haitian background from which he claims to have psychic powers.
An arrogant and abrasive artist, Theo also hates when people trivialize his work or see things in it that he doesn't want them to. He's a hedonist, and has ties to Sam whom he blames for his darker side, but can be softer when in Adam Carpenter's circle. He and Adam meet while the latter is investigating the murders. Theo is played to perfection by the screen actor and theater star, Isaac Powell.
3 Gino Barelli
One of the main characters from Season 11, Gino Barelli is the journalist from New York Native who got Fran her role there. He's been covering the turbulent events in the city that has seen rising hate crime incidents and the murders of gay men amid the backdrop of the virus. He's also in a secret relationship with Patrick Read. A veteran, Gino, who's played by Joe Mantello, is abducted and almost killed until his captor realizes that he also served his country.
Believing that his captor is the same serial killer that's been murdering gay men, he becomes wrapped up in a mission to find him. His efforts send him on a harrowing journey that passes by many of the other significant players from the season. Determined and resilient, Gino doesn't understand what the men being targeted in the city are truly up against.
2 Patrick Read
An NYPD detective, Patrick Read is the former husband of Barbara Read and a closeted gay man who's in a secret relationship with Gino Barelli. He fears being outed since he rightly feels that it will jeopardize his job and has to straddle the line between being a cop and the fealty he owes to his true community. Patrick has some dark and twisted traits to go with his past that included covering up the accidental death of a man while they were engaged in some extreme sexual acts.
He and Gino share a lot of tension in their relationship because of his job. As he investigates the murders, Read remains one of the central characters throughout the season. By the finale, as time skips ahead to the late '80s, like so many others by that time, Gino's fate takes some tragic turns. He's played wonderfully by British actor, Russell Tovey.
1 Big Daddy
With a name like Big Daddy, it was never in doubt that this character was going to be intriguing. As it turned out, he was a lot more than that. The character begins showing up as a massive leather-clad figure. Despite his human appearance, he's better described as an entity. Big Daddy proves to be the assailant behind many of the attacks against the gay men of the city. While it isn't made literally clear who or what he is, there's some pretty clear evidence that the character was actually an allegory for AIDS.
Since he shows up, stalks, attacks, and generally decimates the people who encounter him, his spooky appearances served a greater purpose against the backdrop of the virus in the show and its relation to the actual AIDS epidemic that shattered the lives of so many gay men and other people during the '80s.
Like many past characters from other seasons of the show, he's a masked assailant who haunts it but is actually a representation of more significance than he appears to be. He's played by Matthew William Bishop, an actor who fits the bill size-wise. However, when Big Daddy finally reveals himself, he's noticeably smaller and takes on the appearance of an angelic-looking blonde man, likely played by a different actor.