KW SAYS:

this is perfect i already have a list! (I made it 15 because i have so many)

my top 15 favorite ahs scenes of all time

15. audrey sees real edward (roanoke)

i dont get very scared of ahs, but this scene FREAKED me out. i loved seeing what edward truly was and not who evan portrayed him to be, i think its really creepy

14. maggie’s death (freak show)

this was THE FIRST EVER ahs scene ive ever watched, i found it on youtube in a long time ago and its one of the main reasons i started watching. has perfect mixture of gore/fear factor

13. life on mars (freak show)

both the regular song AND where elsa almost sings after she dies make me cry. jessica lange is such an incredible actress and these scenes really show it

12. the fashion show (hotel)

honestly the entire last episode of hotel is one that made me smile about the whole way through. to me, hotel has the BEST ending out of any season and this scene was just so sweet to me

11. gallant’s interview (apocalypse)

this is a given because… you know… but i liked how it gave a little insight to gallant’s backstory and showed how he was being put down his whole life. id love to see more of his backstory. couldve had some amazing character development

10. dandy’s freak genocide (freak show)

a lot of people hate this scene, but i think it was done so nicely. i loved how it was sort of unexpected and gave a shock factor. it did make me sad to see the freaks die but it was very fearful, like a horror hide and seek

9. lana’s escape from briarcliffe (asylum)

OBVIOUSLY this one tramps i love lana sm and think she is sarah’s best character. it was satisfying to see her actually leave briarcliff with the evidence and i remember being so relieved when it happened

8. edward’s art freak out (roanoke)

this one is abnormally high on the list but i just love evan’s acting in this scene. when he sees all of his paintings destroyed and then gets killed, i just think edward was a greatly played character

7. violet finding her body (murder house)

im not a huge fan of mh but this scene had me on EDGE, probably one of the few times in ahs where i was actually very shocked. its something i had never seen before in tv and it was very well done

6. devil’s night (hotel)

unlike a lot of people, hotel is in my top 3 favorite seasons and this part of the episode was a mix of both insane and funny. seeing all the famous serial killers was creepy, and i just love john lowe

5. kyle spencer’s resurrection (coven)

this was my favorite scene ever in ahs for a LONG time. i cant explain why but watching zoe and madison put him back together sent chills up my spine

4. michael’s 7 wonders test (apocalypse)

basically any part with michael is a given favorite, but this one was super cute. i love how they played it back in the old video style like in coven, and when he made zoe and madison slow dance. this whole scene was just very adorable

3. the name game (asylum)

A GIVEN; if you don’t like the name game you can leave forever. one of ahs’ most iconic pieces and its when i really began to fall in love with the cast. watching them goof off and have fun was just so cute

2. kai’s death (cult)

kai has one of the best character arcs ive ever witnessed, and even if i love him, his death was perfect as it was equally chilling. loved ally’s little monologue in it too

1. the explosion out the plane window (apocalypse)

listen … i do not know why on EARTH this is my favorite scene, but i just remember watching it for the first time during the premiere and getting chills. the music + the slow mos had me on edge, it really made apocalypse come together in those first few episodes. this part made it out for what could’ve been such an incredible season

MA RAINEY 1886–1939

BESSIE SMITH 1894–1937

LORRAINE HANSBERRY 1930–1965

American playwright, writer, and activist, known for her groundbreaking play A Raisin in the Sun. Her father was a successful real estate broker, and when Lorraine was eight, he bought a house in an all-white Chicago neighborhood. Their new neighbors tormented the family and tried to force them out, an experience that would reemerge in Lorraine’s later work. The resulting case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which eventually ruled in Hansberry’s favor. At 20, Lorraine moved to New York City. She found work at the black publication Freedom Newspaper, met thinkers such as Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois, and involved herself in both local and global activism. She also met Robert Nemiroff, a white writer and activist. They were married in 1953, and moved to Greenwich Village, where Hansberry began to write full time. As she worked on her play, she also began to turn her intellect toward her own sexuality. She joined the pioneering lesbian organization, The Daughters of Bilitis, and contributed two letters to their publication, The Ladder. Signing only her initials, Hansberry described herself as a “heterosexually married lesbian,” and wrote about the intersectionality of homophobia, misogyny, and racism. On one telling piece of paper where she had written a personal list of likes and dislikes, she placed “my homosexuality” under both categories. By 1957, she and Nemiroff were quietly separated though still close friends, and Hansberry began discreetly dating women. 1957 is also the year she finished A Raisin in the Sun, a play about a black Chicago family at a crossroads. After struggling to get it produced, the play opened on Broadway in 1959, becoming the first Broadway play ever written by a black woman, as well the first to have a black director. It was an immediate success, and Hansberry became the first black woman to win the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. At only 29 years old, she was also the youngest. She then wrote the screenplay for the Hollywood film adaptation, though she had to fight their censorship at every turn. Sadly, it was only a few years later that Hansberry was diagnosed with cancer. She continued to work despite the pain she was in, writing essays, discussing race relations with Robert Kennedy at James Baldwin’s invitation, starting a number of unfinished works, and completing the play The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, which opened on Broadway in 1964 and closed the night she died. Nina Simone, a close friend, released the song “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” in memory of her short but influential life.

LABI SIFFRE 1945–

WILLI NINJA 1961–2006

ALVIN AILEY 1931–1989

American dancer and choreographer, founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and best known for his world-famous work Revelations. He was born into poverty in Texas, and moved often as his mother looked for work during the depression and segregation, ending up in California when he was 12. At school, he joined the gymnastics team in order to avoid contact sports. His interest in dance was sparked by seeing a ballet performance on a school trip, and a friend of his introduced him to the dancer Lester Horton when Ailey was 18. Horton’s school was rare in being racially integrated, and taught a variety of dance techniques from around the world. Ailey flourished there, though unsure at first if he wanted to pursue dance as a career. When Horton died suddenly in 1953, the company was left without an artistic director. Ailey stepped into the role at only 22, choreographing and directing with little experience. He left for New York City the following year to perform in a Broadway show by Truman Capote, but had trouble finding more work as a black man, and didn’t feel a strong connection to the New York modern dance scene. He formed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958, a black company that became multi-racial a few years later, and that implemented Horton’s technique. In 1960 they debuted Revelations, a work in three parts that dealt specifically with African American history and culture, set to the music of spirituals, gospel, and the blues. It was an immediate success, and today has become one of the world’s best known pieces of modern dance. The U.S. State Department even sponsored the company to perform it overseas, earning them the nickname “Cultural Ambassador to the World.” Another signature piece of his was “Cry,” a critically-acclaimed solo performance by Judith Jamison, who would become the star of the company and later take over as artistic director. Ailey had a few romantic relationships through his life, but remained fairly closeted, and would often meet younger men in gay bars who took advantage of him. He also struggled with mental health, suffering a nervous breakdown in 1980, exacerbated by drugs and alcohol. He died of AIDS at 58, but insisted the doctor call it a rare blood disorder in order to spare his mother. Today his namesake company and school are still thriving, performing new and old dances around the world. And in 2014, Ailey received the Presidential Metal of Freedom from Barack Obama.

BILLY STRAYHORN 1915–1967

American jazz composer and pianist, and the longtime unsung collaborator of Duke Ellington. Inspired by his grandmother, he displayed musical talent from a young age, even saving up money from odd jobs to buy his own upright piano. He wanted to be a classical pianist, but black classical musicians were practically nonexistent, and he soon gravitated towards jazz instead. While still a teenager, he wrote one of his best known songs, “Lush Life,” as well as penning a musical. In 1938, he had the chance to meet Duke Ellington, who was passing through his hometown of Pittsburgh. Ellington was so impressed by what Strayhorn played for him that he invited him to come to New York City, even though there were no official open positions in the band. Strayhorn took him up on the offer. There he met his first partner, fellow black musician Aaron Bridgers. They lived together from 1939 until when Bridgers moved to Paris in 1947. Throughout his life, Strayhorn was surprisingly open about being gay. In 1941, he met the singer Lena Horne because Ellington, who was romantically interested at the time, thought Strayhorn would be a “safe” choice to show her around. Lena Horne ended up falling in love anyway, and said she would have married Strayhorn had he been straight. He did become her mentor, vocal coach, and close friend. And over the course of three decades, he enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Duke Ellington, using his classical background to create sophisticated arrangements, and writing or co-writing some of Ellington’s best known compositions, including the staple “Take the ‘A’ Train” and the groundbreaking soundtrack to Anatomy of a Murder. But his contributions went largely uncredited, or at least downplayed. Ellington retained many of the copyrights for Strayhorn compositions, and even received their royalties. Strayhorn’s homosexuality may have been one of the reasons he tended to shy from the spotlight, and why others shielded him from it. But he had mixed feelings about his hidden role within the orchestra, and began branching out later in his career, releasing a few solo albums. A civil rights advocate, he attended the 1963 March on Washington, but his health declined soon after. He died from cancer brought on by excessive drinking and smoking, in the company of Bill Grove, his partner at the time. A few months later, Duke Ellington commemorated his memory with the album …And His Mother Called Him Bill. Today, Strayhorn is finally seen not just as a member of Ellington’s band, but as an important and influential musician in his own right.