As 2019 was winding down, it dawned on me that I had not watched nearly as many new horror films as I had in years prior. There were several factors at work here, but the bottom line is that I slacked in the viewing department. I did see several horror films released in the past year and many that were very good, such as One Cut of the Dead, Depraved, and Brightburn. But for my list of “top horror of 2019”, I’m choosing to focus on a horror “moment” rather than the top films as I feel it would be more meaningful to me.
Hear me out…..American Horror Story: 1984 was my favorite horror memory for 2019. I’m not saying it was the best show, or the most well-acted, or the writing was superior to anything else that came out in either television or cinema. Viewing each episode this past fall was an event, as each week it allowed my wife and I to reconnect for our love of cool things and bond in a way that we hadn’t in a long time. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I didn’t like AHS. I remember fondly watching the first season (again, with my wife) and enjoying the different directions the writers would take the characters each episode. But while she continued to watch each subsequent season, for some reason I felt like the show was too predictable just set in different time periods. So she watched it alone.
That all changed in 2019, as my well-known love for all things ‘80s drew me in to giving AHS another chance. And while the show was definitely cool and was all over the place with about five different possible endings, the real reward for me was that one hour each week to enjoy the gore and corny one-liners with the one I love. Well that and the mass murder of Kajagoogoo, of course.
So American Horror Story: 1984 was my fondest horror entertainment memory of 2019 and will now forever hold a fond place in my heart. And I promise in 2020 that I will watch as many horror films as possible. Hopefully not alone.
