EDGE Hot List :: Ranking the Nine Seasons of 'AHS'

Horror fanatics rejoice! The highly anticipated 10th season of "American Horror Story" is finally here. Premiering August 25th, "American Horror Story: Double Feature" will – in a first for the franchise – tell two terrifying tales in the same season.

For those of us who have sworn devotion to the series since the beginning, it's hard to believe that "American Horror Story" has been in our lives for a decade now. What's more, its success has led to several spinoffs, like "American Crime Story" and the just-announced "American Sports Story" and "American Love Story." "American Crime Story" has already had two seasons ("The People v. O.J. Simpson" and "The Assassination of Gianni Versace"), with the third season about the impeachment of Bill Clinton set to air September 7. The first sports story will reportedly center on Aaron Hernandez, and the love story on the romance between JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

But before all that happens, we have a brand spanking new season to look forward to, one that heralds the return of two "AHS" stalwarts, Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson, after being absent from season 9's "1984." "Double Feature" will also include other longtime favorites like Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, Billie Lourd, and Finn Wittrock, while welcoming a new, much buzzed about name: Macaulay Culkin.

In anticipation of next week's premiere, let's take a look back at all nine seasons of franchise, ranked from worst to best.

9. "1984"

While it was easy to appreciate the retro feel and nostalgic storyline that hearkened back to the slasher movies of the '80s – not to mention the gratuitous beefcake – what started out as a creepy and compelling summer camp slasher story quickly turned into unwatchable television that tried way too hard to overcompensate for Sarah Paulson's absence. It would have been better to focus entirely on the Camp Redwood murders or famous serial killers of the '80s... not both. Sadly, newcomer Angelica Ross was utterly unconvincing as the camp nurse, and poor Emma Roberts was given so little to work with.

8. "Apocalypse"

The internet and all of "AHS" fandom was abuzz over the prospect of a season that connected "Coven" and "Murder House," but that isn't quite what came to pass. Sure, some of the witches from "Coven" were involved, but this season was a hot mess. Things started off promisingly enough, with the actual apocalypse, but once the action switched to warlocks and Billy Eichner and Cody Fern and Joan Collins... I was out. More is rarely more, even in Ryan Murphy's universe, and this close-to-unwatchable season is a stain on an otherwise relatively impressive body of work.

7. "Hotel"

This fifth season of "AHS" marked the first season without Jessica Lange, and Ryan Murphy went balls to the wall trying to make up for it, first and foremost by adding Lady Gaga to the cast. This season was watchable, if needlessly messy, though the franchise has never looked better (as if we'd have expected anything else from a season starring Lady Gaga). Gaga was pretty good: she added luster to the show and won a Golden Globe for her performance, but the vampire angle stopped being interesting when every episode seemed to aimlessly meander into bloodied incomprehension.

6. "Roanoke"

This was a stellar, surprisingly absorbing, and very original season that worked beautifully... until the final episode derailed some of the magic. But the acting was incredible – especially Sarah Paulson, Cuba Gooding Jr., and a terrifying Kathy Bates – and the writing was generally airtight. The season built and unfurled at just the right pace, and the major mid-season twist was pulled off impeccably. It's probably the best-written season after "Asylum," which is high praise indeed.

5. "Cult"

To be honest, what could be more horrifying than the election of Donald Trump? (If you're thinking "the reelection of Donald Trump, don't even go there.) This was a rogue season for the franchise in that it used current events as a springboard for a story that took place in the present. But what could have come off as an ill-advised attempt to get political turned into a season that was pretty damn creepy. This season gripped me from beginning to end, thanks mostly to a never-better Evan Peters, the always reliable Sarah Paulson, and a posse of horrifying killer clowns.

4. "Freak Show"

Finally, we have arrived at the Lange years. "Freak Show" was her final season, and here she got to sink her teeth into another role that no other actress could have pulled off quite in the same way. Lange played Elsa Mars, a German whose legs were cut off with a chainsaw while making a snuff film before coming to America and running a freak show in – where else? – Florida, of course. It's also possible that an entire "AHS" cast has never been better, from Sarah Paulson – who was nominated for an Emmy for playing conjoined twins – to Michael Chiklis, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Matt Bomer, and Neil Patrick Harris. Was it perfect? No. But it was ambitious, cohesive, and a whole lot of fun.

3. "Coven"

There are a lot of "AHS" diehards who cite "Coven" as the franchise's best series, and while it is certainly one of the best, I missed the creepiness that was so ever present in the first two seasons. And while the dialogue was largely whip smart – especially when rolling off the tongue of Jessica Lange – the bitchy witch schtick grew a little tiresome for me. Still, the acting was top notch, and the introduction of Stevie Nicks, Angela Bassett, and Kathy Bates to the cast was a brilliant decision.

2. "Murder House"

This is the one that started it all, and it stands up well to repeated viewings. It had just the right amount of fantastical horror mixed in with actual real-life terror by way of a school shooting. It was an excellent homage to classic horror tales, while also doing something completely new for television. Plus, anything with Connie Britton is must-see TV.

1. "Asylum"

This is without a doubt the most terrifying and fucked up season of the entire series. While it is true that the alien business was unnecessary and degraded some of the believability, "Asylum" was so suffocatingly horrifying that it was frequently hard to watch. But the brilliant storytelling, along with top-shelf performances from Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Peters, and James Cromwell (who won an Emmy Award for playing the sadistic Dr. Arden) make this the most airtight and expertly-crafted installment of the series. And who could ever forget Lange performing "The Name Game?"