'American Horror Story: 1984' represents violence from Dante's Nine Circles of Hell, suggests fan theory
Before American Horror Story's season 8: 'Apocalypse' premiered, Ryan Murphy had retweeted a fan theory about the anthology show's each season representing each circle of hell from Dante's Inferno, and the repost of the theory confirmed some of its credibility. And now that season 9: '1984' is finally here, fans are busy speculating which level of hell this slasher horror with a psychopathic masked murderer represents.
In the fan theory, which Murphy reposted with the caption 'Interesting', a fan lists down their idea of which circle of hell each season of AHS represents, citing the then to-be-released season 8: 'Apocalypse' as the one going along with violence. The rest of the seasons were also paired with other circles of hell, with only lust being left out, which now indicates the possibility of season 9: '1984' representing the circle. But the theory's biggest problem is the fact that AHS has been renewed for a 10th season, which means that no more circles of hell are left to be explored after the ongoing ninth one.
Worry not, here comes an interesting fan theory where season 8: 'Apocalypse' is cited as a crossover between limbo and treachery. The theory is backed by how 'Apocalypse' was a crossover between season 1: 'Murder House' and season 3: 'Coven', with most of the characters in season 8 being borrowed from those previous seasons. Since 'Murder House' was purely limbo and 'Coven' represented treachery, perhaps 'Apocalypse' was not only a crossover between seasons but also one between the two circles of hell.
And that would leave room for '1984' to represent violence, which is not missing at all in the slasher horror where the villain, Mr. Jingles, is terrorizing the counselors at the lakeside Camp Redwood, for a second time since his first murdering spree at the venue, some 14 years prior to the season's current timeline. That would also leave more scope for the tenth season to pursue the only left out circle of hell, lust, which granted was represented through 'Murder House' in bits and pieces but is yet to receive its major focus. But for now, let's rest easy knowing Murphy is channeling the circle of violence through this season of 'American Horror Story'.
'American Horror Story: 1984' airs on Wednesdays at 9 pm only on FX.