The season premiere of American Horror Story’s fourth season, “Freak Show” was Oct. 8.  The story of the show takes place in 1952, Jupiter, Fla. Being associated as a “freak,” in a extremely judgmental society, what better place to go to than the circus? It should be safe there, right?

AHS gets five out of five stars. This is a great show to follow because they bring to light the different horror aspects in life while showing a side that others may not be able to see. Thanks to all the backstories and tragedies the writers put into the series, this show makes for a very exciting yet touching experience that everyone should partake.

The shows leading characters, for starters, features Jessica Lange, (who says this is her last season working with AHS) as Elsa Mars, the leading lady of the circus act, and Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot Tattler, who are sisters who share a body, but have different hearts. Along with many other actors playing freaks, based on actual people from the ‘50s. To find out the rest of these freaks, tune in to FX every Wednesday at 11 to find out.

So far, the show is circulating around the “freaks” of the circus. But trouble starts when the freaks start getting accused of covering up a serial killer. Like it wasn’t enough they weren’t accepted by the townspeople, now they’re suspects of the mass murders of Jupiter, Fla. Will they ever catch the killer? Is the killer actually among the freaks?

Like that wasn’t enough stress on them, they get mixed up with an old urban legend: Edward Mordrake (played by Wes Bentley.) The story goes that Edward was born with the “devils face” at the back of his head. The face would whisper terrible things to Edward. Disturbing, murderous things. He wrote poetry and plays to distract him, but he drove him to the point to where he ended up in a mental institution. Eventually he broke out and went to live among a circus, where he felt he belonged. Until one day, on Halloween, he cracked and murdered everyone in the circus, before hanging himself. They say that when they found Edwards’ body, the face was smiling. The legend goes that if any circus performs or even rehearses on Halloween, Edwards ghost will make an appearance and take a soul of a freak, whose tale makes even the face weep. And what does Elsa do? She has the circus rehearse.

Now, a con artist by the name of Stanley, wants the bodies of these freaks to sell to a museum which holds the preserved deceased bodies of people with unique deformities. In this museum, the freakier they are, the more zeros on the price.

The main cast members are simply actors who are brought to life with makeup, prosthetics, and computer effects. However, the show has also cast extraordinary people with real “freakish” features. One would think that these people would be uncomfortable being showcased to the world on television, but this is a great opportunity to show the world that there are people like this with unique and different characteristics and deformities.

Just to name a few, the show cast Jyoti Kisange Amge, as Ma Petite, is the world smallest woman at 23 inches tall. And to help make her look even shorter, they cast Erika Ervin aka “Amazon Eve” who has a height of 6-foot-8, who is also a transgender. “It’s more than just a Freak Show, there’s a family here.” Erika said.

Next we have Rose Siggins playing as Legless Suzi. She was born with Sacral Agenesis, which is a fatal disorder that affects the lower spinal area, and everything below. Since options were limited in the 1970s, at the age of two the doctors decided that removing her legs was a better alternative to being binded to a wheelchair. “We’re just like you, we just come in different forms,” she said.

After getting past the profanity and horror of this series, all that awaits is the jaw dropping, plot twisting brilliance of it all. There’s much more to this show than just horror. For example, season 1, “Murder House,” brings the audience into what its like to live in a haunted house with many murder tragedies, and also shows a different perspective of the entities that most people fail to recognize. Season 2, “Asylum,” shows the horror and relentless trauma of living inside of such an asylum, and also shows the scandal and secrets of insanity of the supposed “sane.” Season 3, Coven, projects the insides of an endangered coven. We see the horror factor of what happens when emotions and supernatural powers collide. But being a witch doesn’t mean you’re automatically compelled to be evil and fly around on a broom and cast spells upon innocent people. Well that depends on the conscience. It just means a person has extraordinary abilities, and deserves the same rights as any other human. And “Freak Show,” is trying to portray the need for these “freaks” to be accepted in society, not as monsters, but as people. Very unique people. What this season is doing is that of portraying justice to these unique people, aside of reality that is not so often showed on the big screen. This series gives the audience a unique perspective on the fine line between reality and imagination. The countless horrors of reality. An American Horror Story.

By Alyssa Lopez