American Horror Story: Murder House is full of family dysfunction, ghosts, and, of course, murder. Seriously, hardly anyone makes it through the season alive. While many of the deaths are fictional, others are based on real, chilling events from American history. As your AHS history guide, let’s explore the true crime cases that inspired the terrifying events of Murder House.
Columbine School Shootings
We’ll first turn our attention to Tate Langdon, the resident pretty-boy ghost who is equal parts sensitive and murderous. Before Tate was dead and longing for Violet Harmon, he was a grunge teen into Nirvana and Kurt Cobain.
While living at the murder house in 1994, Tate perpetrated a horrific high school shooting that left 15 students dead. His fictional rampage was inspired by the real-life Columbine High School massacre. On April 20, 1999, asshats Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree at their high school in Littleton, Colorado. Armed with 4 guns, knives, ammunition, and pipe bombs, these two losers killed 12 students and 1 teacher over the course of 49 minutes. They also injured 24 others.
Harris and Klebold originally intended to have a higher number of victims, aiming for at least 500. They planned on achieving that number by detonating bombs in the cafeteria and picking off survivors as they escaped the building. Thankfully, their bombs didn’t explode. Upon realizing their plan failed, they changed tactics and decided to go on a shooting spree.
As we see in Murder House, Tate wears a black trench coat during his massacre. Harris and Klebold wore black trench coats to hide their shotguns as they entered the school. Like the Columbine shooters, Tate enters the library and finds students hiding under desks. He shoots all 5 of them and wounds the school librarian.
The Girl Who Said Yes
One of Tate’s library victims is a Goth girl, whose ghost later confronts him on Halloween night in Episode 5 (Halloween, Part 2). She reveals that before shooting her, Tate asked her if she believed in God. She replied yes, even though it wasn’t true. Then he took her life.
This scene directly references Columbine. For a long time, media and Christian groups told the myth of Cassie Bernal, who died that fateful day. The story goes that Klebold pointed his shotgun at her, asking if she believed in God. When she said yes, he pulled the trigger, instantly making her a martyr. Now, it’s true that Cassie died in the library, but she was not the girl who said yes.
In reality, the girl who said yes is survivor Valeen Schnurr. When Klebold shot her in the library, she said, “Oh my God,” and prayed. One of the two asshats looked back and asked her, “Do you believe in God?” She replied yes, and when he asked why, she said her parents brought her up that way. As they reloaded their guns, Valeen crawled under the library table. Something distracted them, and they left.
Death and Motive
Harris and Klebold later returned to the library, shooting at policemen and paramedics through the windows. Then they committed suicide before SWAT could get to them.
Tate, on the other hand, made it back to the murder house after his rampage. LA SWAT killed him in his bedroom.
The question many fans ask is, “Why did Tate become a school shooter?” Murder House suggests a few reasons, including mental instability, psychopathy (as per Dr. Ben Harmon’s diagnosis), being high on cocaine, and getting back at his mother, Constance Langdon. Constance also insists that the dark, manipulative forces of the house drove him to such extremes.
As for Harris and Klebold, we don’t know their motives. In the aftermath of the shooting, many blamed violent video games and media. Whatever the reason, they were obviously hateful, unstable little shits.
Home Invasion
Episode 2 (Home Invasion) opens with one hell of a scene. It’s 1968, and the murder house is a dormitory for nursing students. One evening, most of the nurses go out for a night on the town, leaving two at home. A short time later, a knock on the door reveals an injured man in need of help. The nurses attempt to treat his head wound but are confused when they can’t find the source of blood. That’s because he’s a homicidal bastard who tricked them to gain entry. He brutally murders the nurses, drowning one in the bathtub and stabbing the other in the living room.
Fast forward to 2011, when a deranged trio intent on recreating the historic murder attack Vivian and Violet Harmon. In reality, a historic murder like this did actually occur, and creator Ryan Murphy admits that it inspired the opening scene.1
Richard Speck
On July 13, 1966, Richard Speck tortured, sexually assaulted, and murdered 8 nursing students in their Chicago townhouse. A career criminal with robbery, theft, assault, and possibly murder under his belt, Speck ramped up that night by breaking into the nurses’ townhouse armed with a gun. Initially, he told them he wanted money but quickly decided to bind them. He then took them upstairs one by one and raped them. He then killed them by suffocation, stabbing, and bludgeoning. As more nurses returned home during the attack, he subdued and killed them.
Authorities apprehended Speck two days later thanks to a tacky tattoo on his arm that said, “born to raise hell.” At his trial, Corazon Amurao, the lone survivor of the attack, testified and sealed his fate. The jury found Speck guilty and sentenced him to death. He never made it to the electric chair, however, thanks to a 1972 resentencing that ensured he’d spend the rest of his miserable life in prison. Speck died on December 5, 1991—good riddance.
The Black Dahlia
The Richard Speck murders and Columbine aren’t the only true crime cases Murder House draws inspiration from. Episode 9 (Spooky Little Girl) introduces the tragic figure Elizabeth Short, who was real and is widely known as the Black Dahlia.
The show takes us to 1947, when Elizabeth visits Dr. Curan, a dentist practicing in the murder house. Since the aspiring Hollywood starlet has no money to pay for dental care, they come to a mutual agreement of payment (wink-wink). As soon as Dr. Curan gives her anesthesia, however, the pervert rapes her and accidentally kills her.
Scared shitless at what he just did, Dr. Curan brings her body to the basement. The ghost of Dr. Charles Montgomery appears to assist in the disposal of her body. A surgeon while he was alive, the doctor cuts her in half to make her “portable.” He decides to give her a Glasgow grin (cuts emanating from the sides of the mouth that reach up the face) because she seemed so sad. In death, she will be permanently smiling.
Cut to the next scene, when a woman is walking in a neighborhood with her kid. Along their stroll, she sees the bisected body of Elizabeth, but at first mistakes it for a department store mannequin.
The Real Elizabeth Short
Unfortunately, the real Elizabeth Short met an equally tragic and horrific end in one of the most infamous true crime cases of the 20th century. She was a 22-year-old woman with a serious case of wanderlust, living in post-World War II California. She wasn’t really an aspiring starlet, though. Although she expressed interest in modeling, she never actually tried to “make it” in Hollywood. Rather, Elizabeth was a girl who didn’t like to work but used her charms and wit to get by. Originally from Massachusetts, she was essentially homeless in Cali, depending on the generosity of others—usually men—for meals and lodging. In short, she was a young woman doing her thing and defying societal expectations.
Ironically, Murder House shows her receiving dental work, but the real Elizabeth had rotting teeth. While it’s true that she couldn’t afford dental work in real life, she did not exchange sexual favors for money or services. She was certainly not a prostitute and did not sleep with most of the men she used for favors. This is in direct contrast to her portrayal on the show, which stems from the 1940s press putting a slutty spin on her story to sell, sell, sell.
Fame After Death
Elizabeth did land in some major trouble, however, because her body was discovered in LA’s Leimert Park on January 15, 1947. As shown in Murder House, Betty Bersinger found her naked body displayed in a vacant lot while walking with her young child. Betty really did think the body was a mannequin at first because it was drained of blood.
While Murder House posits Elizabeth Short died by accident and was subsequently butchered for transport, we unfortunately don’t know all the true details of her death. According to her autopsy, she was tortured and endured the Glasgow smile while she was alive. The official report stated she died of shock from the lacerations to her face and blows to the head. It was clear that her killer further mutilated her body and bisected it after death. Since she was so cleanly cut in half, authorities speculated the perpetrator was someone with medical knowledge (à la Dr. Charles Montgomery).
After the discovery of the body, the press sensationalized Elizabeth Short’s life and death. They labeled her the “Black Dahlia” because people believed she wore sheer black clothes (she didn’t) and a movie called The Blue Dahlia had hit theaters in 1946.
Who Killed Elizabeth Short?
So, who murdered Elizabeth Short and why did the killer display her body like that? We don’t know. But boy, do true crime enthusiasts have many theories. Retired LA homicide detective Steve Hodel thinks his father George Hodel did it. George was an LA doctor who was a really bad dude. He was also into Surrealism, and this theory has Elizabeth’s body serving as the ultimate Surrealist artwork.
Los Angeles journalist Larry Harnisch believes Walter Bayley is the Black Dahlia killer due to the location of the body, a connection to Elizabeth’s sister, and his career as a surgeon. Harnisch believes Bayley could’ve committed the crime due to mental instability brought on by Alzheimer’s.
Other authors think it could be Mark Hansen, a wealthy nightclub owner who allowed Elizabeth to live in his home several times. He apparently had a thing for her he couldn’t shake, and some speculate she rejected him one too many times. Author Piu Eatwell thinks Hansen had a man named Leslie Dillon carry out the murder for him.
Historian William J. Mann posits it could’ve been her ex-boyfriend Marvin Margolis, or even a complete rando who caught Elizabeth at the wrong place, wrong time. Even legendary FBI criminal profiler John Douglas takes a stab at the case and developed his own profile of the killer. Alas, we may never know who took the life of the Black Dahlia.
More Murder House Inspirations
The history doesn’t stop here! Check out the following two articles on Murder House for more historical inspirations:
- The Real Houses of Horror Behind American Horror Story: Murder House is the first article in the series. It delves into the inspirations behind the murder house itself, including Gothic horror literature, the Los Feliz Murder House, and the Amityville Horror House.
- The Disturbing History That Inspired American Horror Story: Murder House explores the influences of illegal abortions in the early 20th century, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, and the lost colony of Roanoke.
Footnotes
Bibliography & Further Reading
*The following links are Amazon affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Additional Sources
Stack, Tim. “‘American Horror Story’: Ryan Murphy talks ‘Home Invasion,’” Entertainment Weekly, updated December 20, 2019.
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