American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the show's eighth season, explored a world in the aftermath of nuclear war, inspired by real-life possibilities.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the show's eighth season, explored a world in the aftermath of nuclear fallout, inspired by real-life possibilities. In addition to its connections to past seasons, including Coven and Murder House, Apocalypse pays homage to true-to-life fears of nuclear war.

For fans, Apocalypse was a highly-anticipated season, as producer Ryan Murphy revealed early that it would be a crossover of Murder House and Coven, two of the series' most beloved seasons. It explores what the world is like after nuclear war has killed much of the human population and left the earth nearly uninhabitable. Most of the action takes place in an underground fallout shelter known as Outpost 3, where a chosen few live under the iron rule of Wilhemina Venable (Sarah Paulson) and Miriam Mead (Kathy Bates). It also features the Antichrist, Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), who is the baby born at the end of Season 1. Several flashback episodes also involve the witches' coven from season 3 as they conspire to prevent the apocalypse by defeating the Antichrist.

Critics hail Apocalypse as one of the series' better seasons, especially after many were disappointed by the previous two, Roanoke and Cult. Fans like it for its dark-chic aesthetic and interspersed campy humor. Like previous seasons, it's filled with references to other famous works of horror and pays homage to the genre in general. However, because it is set in a future 2019 (the season was released in 2018), it does not contain the same spread of references to historical figures and cultural events as previous seasons. Instead, it focuses on what is possibly the most likely cause of an apocalypse: nuclear war.

Nuclear Apocalypse: A Very Real Possibility

In American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the Antichrist, Michael Langdon (one of many evil characters seen throughout the series), orchestrates a nuclear war to bring about the end of the world and the fall of humanity. This is, of course, not something that has happened yet. However, there are many theories as to how an apocalypse of this nature might happen. People have discussed everything from a virus that turns humans into zombies to genetic mutations that prevents population growth by biological sterilization, but one of the most likely causes is nuclear fallout.

From 1947 to 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a competitive struggle of stockpiling nuclear weapons known as the Cold War. If one side launched any of their missiles, the other would respond in turn until nukes were falling all over the world. This would have resulted in massive casualties and severe radioactive fallout all across the globe. Kids in schools practiced nuclear drills in which they hid under their desks (as if this would save them). And still today, even with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the threat remains, with estimates North Korea could have up to 60 nuclear warheads in its inventory. All of this is to say that if an apocalypse were to happen, it could be caused by nuclear war, exactly what American Horror Story: Apocalypse references and what makes it truly scary.

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