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"I know quite a few people that stopped watching American Horror Story after the first episode. Complaints ranged from &amp;amp;#8220;It&amp;amp;#8217;s too scary!&amp;amp;#8221; to the pace was too slow and distracting. Honestly? I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t disagree but being that my husband absolutely loves any TV show or movie that has to do with the spooky and paranormal, I knew that this show was going to be on in our apartment every Wednesday night whether I liked it or not. And without warning and sort of like the haunted house on the show&amp;amp;#8212;I got sucked in. For those who don&amp;amp;#8217;t watch, the show started out with a very simple premise. Ben (the oh so hot Dylan McDermott who recently revealed he doesn&amp;amp;#8217;t use a body double) and Vivian (played by the fabulous Connie Britton) Harmon move to Los Angeles from Boston with their brooding daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga, younger sister of the Oscar nominated Vera). Ben cheated on Vivian and the move was meant to be a fresh start to get past the anguish. They move into this house known as the &amp;amp;#8220;murder house&amp;amp;#8221; (it&amp;amp;#8217;s even featured on a bus tour around L.A.). Nothing in the house (and we mean nothing) is as it seems and nothing is ever the same for the Harmon&amp;amp;#8217;s again. You never know who is alive, who is dead (or who will die) and who in the house has a vendetta against who&amp;amp;#8212;because if you die in this house (and it&amp;amp;#8217;s revealed every week that more people than you keep track of have indeed died inside), you&amp;amp;#8217;re basically there for eternity. Ghosts can talk to humans&amp;amp;#8212;hell, ghosts can even sleep with and kill humans and it&amp;amp;#8217;s abundantly clear that the house has powers that even the ghosts don&amp;amp;#8217;t fully understand. It&amp;amp;#8217;s a ride each week and my very first nightmare occurred after episode two when Vivian and Violet narrowly escape a home invasion by a group of three young people with the crazy idea to try and recreate one of the many murders that took place in the house. So in honor of the American Horror Story season finale airing tonight at 10 p.m. ET on FX, I present my list of the top 10 things that induced my nightmares during season one. If you&amp;amp;#8217;re behind on any episodes or haven&amp;amp;#8217;t started watching yet&amp;amp;#8212;this list does contain SPOILERS&amp;amp;#8212;so read at your own risk! 1. The Opening Sequence. Before the show even begins, I have my hands covering my eyes and I can barely peek out between two fingers. The twisted music, photos off dead babies, jars filled with God knows what . . . after twelve episodes you think I would either be used to it or fast forward past it but it&amp;amp;#8217;s all part of the experience. 2. Everything Constance Does and Says. Jessica Lange just got nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as the conniving Constance. She used to live in the &amp;amp;#8220;murder house&amp;amp;#8221; and even though she&amp;amp;#8217;s now next door, she still lets herself in and makes herself at home. Who can blame her since two of her three deceased children still roam around inside. Every scene with her is uncomfortable because you just never know her motives&amp;amp;#8212;we&amp;amp;#8217;re still learning more about her as the series unfolds. 3. Adelaide and Her Mask. At the beginning of the series, Adelaide is Constance&amp;amp;#8217;s only living child. She has Down&amp;amp;#8217;s Syndrome and only has one wish&amp;amp;#8212;to look like what she considers to be a &amp;amp;#8220;pretty girl.&amp;amp;#8221; She wears a rubber, &amp;amp;#8220;pretty girl&amp;amp;#8221; mask on Halloween that makes her look like something out of a freaky stage show. She&amp;amp;#8217;s hit by a car and killed, lying helplessly in the street with the mask still on. My mouth was still gaping wide open for a good hour after the show ended. 4. The Truth About Tate. Constance&amp;amp;#8217;s son Tate is Ben&amp;amp;#8217;s patient and Violet&amp;amp;#8217;s boyfriend. He&amp;amp;#8217;s also a ghost. He died because the police shot him after he pulled off a Columbine style shooting at his high school. The flashback scenes of that event are so real you feel like you&amp;amp;#8217;re hiding in the library praying that Tate spares you. But when his victims&amp;amp;#8217; ghosts came back to confront him on Halloween, I felt this bizarre mix of hate and empathy for Tate that haunted my dreams that night. 5. The Truth About Violet. Violet discovers what she thought was a failed suicide attempt was sadly a success. She&amp;amp;#8217;s now a ghost in the house (how do you explain that to your parents!) and when Tate has her take a look at her own dead body&amp;amp;#8212;I screamed and cried all at once! 6. Moira the Maid&amp;amp;#8217;s Eye and Sex Drive. Her wonky eye just ups her freak factor. Women see her as an aging, sad, lonely maid. Men see her as a hot, sexy, young seductress in a French maid uniform. 7. Those Pesky Red-headed Twins. In the opening scene of episode one, these red-headed twins are brutally murdered in the house and stuck in their &amp;amp;#8216;70s duds (and the house) forever. Whenever they appear, I know it&amp;amp;#8217;s a sign that trouble is brewing&amp;amp;#8212;and my goosebumps start rising. 8. That Sewn Together Frankenstein Baby. Basically we discover that one of the first residents of the house was a doctor that tried to revive his stillborn baby by sewing all sorts of new organs and parts into it. I can&amp;amp;#8217;t even think about the monster he created without my uterus hurting. 9. Vivian Eating Brains. She&amp;amp;#8217;s pregnant with twins (and twins with two different fathers at that but that&amp;amp;#8217;s a whole other post) and Moira serves her brains. On a plate. Making it seem like it was as normal to eat for lunch as mac and cheese. And Vivian eats it right up because that&amp;amp;#8217;s what you do when you live in a haunted, murder house, right? 10. Larry. Oh Larry. Just looking at his half burned body makes me huddle under the covers. I don&amp;amp;#8217;t know even know where to start with this troublemaker, murderer and all around creep. He&amp;amp;#8217;s just icky. For those of you that watch my other favorite show True Blood, then you probably know Denis O&amp;amp;#8217;Hare best as Louisiana&amp;amp;#8217;s King Russell Edgington. Maybe it&amp;amp;#8217;s the dichotomy between these two characters and the way he plays them both without missing a beat that scares me the most! Are you watching American Horror Story? What things creeped you out the most? What on my list overlaps with yours&amp;amp;#8212;and what is on your list that&amp;amp;#8217;s not on mine? More on what we&amp;#x27;re talking about when it comes to American Horror Story! * The Golden Globe Nominations Have Been Revealed! Lets Do the Happy Dance--Awards Season Has Begun! * The &amp;quot;Murder House&amp;quot; from American Horror Story is for Sale. You Couldn&amp;#x27;t Make Us Move in There Even You Picked Up the $4.5 Million Dollar Tab For Us! * The Single Girl&amp;#x27;s Guide to Surviving Scary Shows Photo Credits: FX"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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