‘American Horror Story:’ Is ‘Red Tide’ Connected to ‘Hotel’?
All nine seasons of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s hit series American Horror Story connect. We’re not completely sure where the current 10th season Double Feature fits in, but it’s safe to say that every season exists in the same universe. We just have to keep our eyes peeled for the first clue, and we may have already gotten it.
Double Feature is split into two parts, Red Tide, which is set near the ocean, and Death Valley, which takes place in the desert. So far, Red Tide‘s subject matter could unlock the answers to all of our questions.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for American Horror Story: Double Feature and Hotel]
The plot of ‘Red Tide’ and ‘Hotel’ are similar
Judging from only three episodes, it’s easy to see how Red Tide and season 3 Hotel are similar. In both seasons, a family comes in contact with an evil place that changes them forever. In Hotel it’s Hotel Cortez, and in Red Tide, it’s Provincetown. The father of both families is controlled by the demons who’ve made the place their home.
Sarah Paulson’s Hypodermic Sally and Tuberculosis Karen are ghosts who haunt their respective places. Wes Bentley’s Detective John Lowe was always the Ten Commandments Killer, but now Fin Wittrock’s Harry is also a killer.
The biggest similarity between seasons is that they both have vampires. In Hotel, Lady Gaga’s Countess is the head of the Afflicted, and her lover, at least for part of the season, is Donovan. Provincetown is also overrun by bloodsuckers Austin and Belle, who take a black pill called “The Muse,” which comes with the side effect of craving blood, but helps talented people reach their full potential. Surely, if both seasons have vampires, that’s what connects Red Tide to all other American Horror Story seasons.
How do the ‘American Horror Story’ vampires compare?
Falchuk and Murphy have introduced us to creatures we’ve already seen in Double Feature instead of bringing in new monsters. Screen Rant writes that while Red Tide once again gives us vampires, Death Valley will once again show us aliens as we saw in Asylum.
Screen Rant also points out that neither season’s vampires are technically vampires, at least in the traditional sense. The Afflicted in Hotel are infected with an ancient virus that gives them eternal youth, and they need blood to stay immortal. To turn someone, they have to be on the brink of death and get a blood transfusion from another Afflicted. They die in the process. The bloodsuckers in Red Tide are turned by taking the black pills made by The Chemist. They become murders for blood in exchange for heightening creative talent, but they never die. If the user isn’t talented, they become wild creepy skeletal versions of themselves.
Red Tide‘s vampires also don’t have any of the abilities that Hotel‘s vampires have. For instance, “the powers of Concilium, regeneration, enhanced speed and strength, or transference of the vampiric nature.” Both seasons have seen children turned into vampires, however.
Just because these differences are great does not mean more than one type of vampire can’t exist in the American Horror Story universe. We’ve seen stranger things happen in the series.
Fans think the pills and the virus are connected
In a Reddit discussion, fans theorized about the black pills and how they could connect Red Tide and Hotel. They think that the black substance in the pills could contain Hotel‘s vampire virus.
“My theory is that there’s traces of the blood virus from Hotel in there, which explains the thirst for blood without being full vampire,” the post read. This is an interesting theory, but it doesn’t really explain the whole talent aspect of the pills. The Countess and Donovan don’t seem to have extraordinary talents, except maybe in fashion and hunting. So wouldn’t they be like the pale talentless vampires?
Red Tide may not even be connected to Hotel or American Horror Story at all. We’re just going to have to keep watching the season to find out.
