END OF DAYS

Disasters. Heatwaves. Brexit. Political turmoil. It feels like society really is crumbling. Could the end of days be just around the corner?

And it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. American Horror Story – which begins its eighth season on FOX on 27th September at 10pm, appropriately called “Apocalypse” – has been warning us for years. Don’t believe us? Here are seven ways American Horror Story is predicting that the apocalypse is coming.

The Anti-Christ Is Here

As Seen In: Season 1, “Murder House” In The Show: Fathered by the evil seed of ghostly high school shooter Tate (Evan Peters – in full BDSM “Rubber Man” costume no less) and delivered by Dr. Montgomery (Matt Ross) – an already-dead quack with a penchant for Frankenstein-type experiments – baby Michael is about as anti-christy as bonnie, bouncing, bloodthirsty babes come. After being adopted by murdering neighbour Constance, Michael proves his evil credentials by slaughtering the nanny. Kids, eh?

In Real Life: OK, so no Satanic cult has announced the birth of the anti-christ just yet. But the world’s in such a state, there must be one amongst us already.

The Sins Of The Father Are Being Repeated As Seen In: Season 2, “Asylum”In The Show: Bloody Face is a deranged serial killer who tortures and flays women – complete with a mask made from his victims’ skin. He’s revealed to be Briarcliff Asylum psychiatrist, Dr Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto). But even a bullet to the back of Thredson’s head can’t stop Bloody Face’s reign of bloody terror. Johnny (Dylan McDermott), the son of Thredson and would-be victim Lana (Sarah Paulson), takes up the mantle of Bloody Face years later for a new reign of terror.In Real Life: Global warming’s about to bake us all to death. Natural disasters are wreaking havoc with the world. And political turmoil brings us ever closer to World War 3. All thanks to the ecological crimes and political legacy of past generations. But has that stopped us committing the same crimes? Nope. Instead we continue polluting, arguing amongst ourselves, and generally setting out to destroy the world. Just hand over the ol’ skin mask…

Society Is Ready To Burn Itself At The Stake

As Seen In: Season 3, “The Coven” In The Show: The Coven is a secret society of New Orleans witches – survivors of the Salem witch trials – who burn, kill, and condemn each other in the pursuit of being all powerful. If that’s not bad enough, lead witch Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) stabs herself in the eyes with garden shears to get “second sight” powers. Ouch and double ouch.

In Real Life: Even with a pair of stabbed out eyes, these witches couldn’t be a more insightful allegory for modern society if they dropped toe of frog in the cauldron and said, “show us a perfect example of how the world is tearing itself apart”. Themes of racism, religion, oppression, and sexual violence punctuate its inherent message: can’t we all just get along? The fact that the Coven is back for the eighth apocalyptic season says it all. The end is most definitely nigh.