American Horror Story (sometimes abbreviated as AHS) is an American horror anthology television series co-created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a different set of characters and settings, and a storyline with its own beginning, middle and end. However, Murphy has stated that all of the seasons are and will be connected by the end of the series. Some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events.
 The first season, retroactively subtitled Murder House, takes place in Los Angeles, California, during 2011 and centers on a family that moves into a house haunted by its deceased former occupants. The second season, subtitled Asylum, takes place in Massachusetts, during 1964, and follows the stories of the patients and staff of an institution for the criminally insane. The third season, subtitled Coven, takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, during 2013, and follows a coven of witches who face off against those who wish to destroy them. The fourth season, subtitled Freak Show, takes place in Jupiter, Florida, during 1952, and focuses on one of the last remaining American freak shows and their struggle for survival. The fifth season, subtitled Hotel, takes place in Los Angeles, California, during 2015, and focuses on the staff and guests of a supernatural hotel. The sixth season, subtitled Roanoke, takes place in North Carolina, during 2014–2016, and focuses on the paranormal events that take place at an isolated farmhouse haunted by the deceased Roanoke colony. The seventh season, subtitled Cult, takes place in the fictional suburb of Brookfield Heights, Michigan, during 2017 and centers on a cult terrorizing the residents in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The eighth season, subtitled Apocalypse, features the return of the witches from Coven as they battle the Antichrist from Murder House in an attempt to prevent the apocalypse. The ninth season, subtitled 1984, takes place outside of Los Angeles, California, during the titular year, 1984, and focuses on a group of young staff members at a summer camp getting ready to reopen after a massacre. The tenth season, Double Feature, is split into two stories; the first half, Red Tide, centres around a screenwriter who moves to Provincetown, Massachusetts with his family for the winter; the second half, Death Valley, revolves around an alien invasion of the United States and the response of the U.S. government. The eleventh season, subtitled NYC, takes place in New York City in the early 80s and follows members of the LGBT community who are targeted by a serial killer, as a mysterious virus is being carefully monitored. The twelfth season, subtitled "Delicate", is based on Danielle Valentine's book Delicate Condition. The season takes place in New York City and follows an actress who comes to believe that someone is going to great lengths to stop her from fulfilling her dream of getting pregnant. In January 2020, FX renewed the series through to season 13.
 The American Horror Story main cast changes each season but includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Wes Bentley, Billie Lourd, Emma Roberts, Leslie Grossman, Charlie Carver, Lily Rabe, Cheyenne Jackson, Zachary Quinto, Adina Porter, Angelica Ross, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., André Holland, Cody Fern, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Matthew Morrison, Gus Kenworthy, Alison Pill, Chloë Sevigny, Isaac Cole Powell, Matt Czuchry, Russell Tovey, Joe Mantello, Zach Villa, Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Taissa Farmiga, Sandra Bernhard, Nico Greetham, Kaia Gerber, Rachel Hilson, Kim Kardashian, Cara Delevingne, Macaulay Culkin, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Neal McDonough, Joseph Fiennes, Lizzie Brocheré, Rebecca Dayan, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Frances Conroy, Michael Chiklis, John Carroll Lynch, Patti LuPone, Maaz Ali, Julie White, Denis O'Hare, Kathy Bates, James Cromwell, Jessica Lange and Lady Gaga.
 Some characters have appeared in multiple seasons: Pepper was the first, appearing in Freak Show after having appeared in Asylum. Hotel, Roanoke, Cult and NYC also had characters from previous seasons making appearances. As a crossover between Murder House and Coven, several characters from those two seasons reappeared in Apocalypse.
 This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in each season.