Slasher: Ripper Proves The Shudder Series Is Better Than American Horror Story - There, I Said It

Summary Slasher: Ripper offers a refreshing take on horror with a simple yet satisfying storyline every season.

Regina Simcoe as "The Widow" is a standout slasher villain with a compelling background story.

Slasher maintains focus on classic scares and storytelling over AHS' shock value, making it a must-watch series.

Spoilers for Slasher: Ripper ahead.

Slasher: Ripper from Shudder is better than American Horror Story, admit it. We all know American Horror Story from TV god Ryan Murphy. Almost every year since 2011, a new American Horror Story season comes out, bringing with it some awesome new idea for a classic horror story, whether that be clowns, covens, or Connie Britton. However, nearly every season, I'm inevitably disappointed. Fortunately, there's an even better horror anthology available on Shudder called Slasher, and you have to check out season 5, Ripper.

Slasher premiered in March 2016 on Chiller, then moved to Netflix for two seasons before finding its home on the horror streaming service Shudder. Slasher centers on a masked killer every season, firmly planting itself in the slasher subgenre of horror. Slasher: Ripper is the fifth season of the show and premiered on April 6, 2023. The season follows the hunt for the Widow, a serial killer in 19th-century Toronto who targets the elite. It's another winning season for Slasher and the one that's convinced me the show is better than AHS.

Related Slasher: Why The Netflix Series Is The Smartest Horror TV Show Slasher, which moved to Netflix streaming, is one of the smartest and most visceral examples of horror television available today—here's why.

Slasher: Ripper Values Simplicity & Good Storytelling Over AHS' Shock Value

Slasher Focuses On Classic Scares And Straightforward Storytelling

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Unlike American Horror Story, Slasher keeps it simple and its stories are better for it. Slasher seasons are only ever about slasher villains. They don't mix it up with random and "shocking" events of AHS. I still remember watching American Horror Story: Asylum and trying to figure out how Nazis, nuns, an asylum, and a modern-day murderer were all supposed to tie together when aliens suddenly showed up for some reason. AHS can't focus, and it just got too hard for me to watch.

Slasher Seasons Season Subtitle Network 1 The Executioner Chiller 2 Guilty Party Netflix 3 Solstice Netflix 4 Flesh & Blood Shudder 5 Ripper Shudder

Slasher, on the other hand, keeps a season's worth of story feeling fresh and frightening without resorting to gross-out violence or twists coming completely out of left field. Ripper in particular is a very tightly written story. This is an old-fashioned horror tale. A killer is loose. Some people are innocent. Some aren't. Some are caught in between. To me, that simplicity is the mark of a good horror movie.

It's the characters who are complex, not the horror. Horror is simple.

"Don't go in the basement," "Stay out of the woods," "Don't walk home alone." Simple rules are the bread and butter of good horror story-telling. If you want to deviate into something much more complex, your name had better be David Lynch. Ripper introduces our villain in episode one and the season depicts the search for "him." It's the characters who are complex, not the horror. Horror is simple. That's why a door closing in Paranormal Activity is a legit jump scare for me.

Slasher, like AHS, has actors return season to season as different characters.

Regina Simcoe Is My Favorite Slasher Killer

Simcoe Has Good Reason To Commit Her Crimes

Not only is Slasher: Ripper's story simple and satisfying, but the killer, Regina Simcoe, is one of the coolest slasher villains I've seen in years. Calling herself "The Widow", Regina hides in plain sight the entire season, and I was shocked when she was revealed as the murderer. That's the right kind of shock. If it turned out the Widow was actually an alien from a completely different storyline with a whole new bunch of characters, I would have said, "Huh?"

Regina's husband is the first one murdered in the series, and it becomes clear she's committing these murders as an act of revenge against the upper-class people who destroyed her life and committed a terrible crime against her when she was little. Good horror puts a lens on current societal issues and an "eat the rich" narrative has been very popular in the 2020s, with Saltburn and The White Lotus being huge successes. Slasher: Ripper taps into that in a thoughtful but straightforward way, and I'm excited about what's next in the series.