The second season of FX’s creepy drama American Horror Story premiered last night to a record number of viewers for the cable series. The new season, titled American Horror Story: Asylum, used a determined marketing campaign to scare viewers into tuning in, and it looks like those twisted promos worked.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the second season premiere attracted 3.85 million viewers. Not only is that the series’ best performance; it’s also a 22 percent increase over last year's premiere. The episode also boasted 2.78 million in the important 18-49 demographic.
Last year’s season was critically acclaimed and received 17 Emmy nominations. Nielsen named it last year’s most "time-shifted" series. The finale attracted 3.22 million viewers. This year, the show tells a completely new story, set in a sinister insane asylum in 1964. The season features returning actors like Jessica Lange (who won an Emmy for the first season) and Evan Peters, who are now playing totally new roles, as well as newcomers like James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.
The series was co-created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. The disturbing program is a far cry from their more famous creation, the high school musical series Glee.