The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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The story behind AHS’s newest season: Hotel

The “American Horror Story” (AHS) series has been known for its’ intriguing and disturbing story lines and characters, and this year’s season, Hotel, is continuing to keep viewers on their toes with this horrifying background story to the inspiration behind this season.
The new season premiered last month with the excitement forming around the news that Lady Gaga had a main role in the newest season as the Hotel’s 115-year-old warden, “The Countess.”
This is also the first season where the shows leading lady, Jessica Lange, is no longer involved in the cast.
After the filming of Murder House (2011), Asylum (2012), Coven (2013), Freak Show (2014), the production of Hotel was made for this year’s terrifying season.
The story is based in downtown Los Angeles in the haunted Hotel Cortez, where we are introduced to some main characters that will be displayed throughout the season.
What is even creepier then the show itself, is the inspiration the producers had behind the making of this season in particular.
Without giving the season away, here is the true background story on why Hotel seemed scary enough to go with for the newest setting for AHS to be based upon.
The inspiration was based on a real hotel in L.A. called the Cecil Hotel, one of the area’s most famous hotels due to its dark history. Known for having been home to serial killers, murderers, and the paranormal, this place is claimed to be cursed.
The most recent event and main motivation for this season was based on the strange death of a young student from Canada named, Elisa Lam who had come to stay at the Cecil. The 21-year-old’s body was found after she had drowned, decomposing in the rooftop water tanks of the hotel on Feb. 19 2013.
The investigation later turned up very strange video from the hotel elevator from two weeks before Lam’s body was discovered. The tape shows Lam going into the elevator alone, then proceeding to press all of the buttons on the panel, and then walking out slowly.
She then begins to wave her hands around and it appears that she is having a conversation with someone who isn’t even there; then the elevator door closes and she walks away.
Investigators say she made her way to the water tanks after the incident on the elevator; the water tanks are seemingly impossible to get into. There were also no drugs or alcohol found in the Lam’s autopsy report.
After residents start complaining about the discoloration and taste in the water is when Lam’s body was discovered, and no one truly knows what made her do it. But, it has inspired many scenes in horror films, including this push that made hotels appear creepy to viewers.
With many more paranormal surprises that appear in this film, the creepy story behind the creation of this season, makes the show that much more interesting. Now into its fifth episode, it is claimed to be the scariest season of AHS so far.