American Horror Story’s Real-Life Inspirations, Ranked by Accuracy

The Axeman was a real, unidentified killer who terrorized New Orleans between May 1918 and October 1919. Several people, mostly Italian-American grocers, were attacked in their homes, and the killer was never caught. Coven also borrows a notorious letter, supposedly from the Axeman himself, published in newspapers. In it, he threatened to attack anyone who wasn’t playing jazz music. After establishing that terrifying historical base, the series invents an entirely new story for him. It gives the Axeman a supernatural identity, a personal relationship with the witches, and a ghostly return to the modern world.