Who's Watching: American Horror Story: Hotel

When two co-eds hop out of a yellow cab and walk into the gorgeous,yet silent Hotel Cortez, you already know something wicked is about to happen. They are greeted by a surly desk clerk (Kathy Bates) and already they want to turn the other way, but there are no refunds at Hotel Cortez. With no other choice, they stay and are led down the halls as intricate as a maze, moans and screams echo behind closed doors, and AHS: Hotel gets underway.

This season starts of very interesting to say the least. It held my attention with its stylized beauty and harkened back to season one's slow reveal story telling. Where FreakShow focused on their oddities of their circus folk, Hotel comes off as a metaphor for many, many sins and obsessions.  Ghosts are a plenty and so is the blood. Even the most grotesques of scenes have a dark beauty to it.

My favorite scene (because it made me uncomfortable and want to turn away) was when a junkie strolls into the hotel for a room to get high. As soon as he enters the ghost of Hypodremic Sally (Sarah Paulson) claims him as her. In his room, he shots up, but suddenly bursting from the shadows a demon wrapped is glossy gauze (like a large condom) begins to rape him with a bedazzled phallic prick. Sally promises to end our junkies torture if he says he loves her. The metaphor for getting "f**ked up" wasn't lost on me.

Some pretty creepy and gory shit!

Every thing on set is stylized right down to the carpet. It just so damn beautiful to look at. And the acting is top notch. Lady Gaga plays Lady Gaga/Countess of Hotel Cortez. It's not too big of a stretch from the character the pop star plays on stage: costume changes and weird aesthetics. I await to see what role she plays in this hotel's horrors.

Where others may cringe at the tributes Hotel from horror films of the past (The Shining mostly), I view it as homage...in so long as the story telling remains crisp and the scares are inspiring as well as creative.

I feared the show had jumped the shark and that it would forsake story for fashion and imagery. From the looks of this premiere that will not be the case. Subplots are everywhere enough to keep one busy and guessing. What's up with Room 64? What beastly thing is Lady Gaga? Is that her in room 33? Why does the alarm clock stop at 2:25am? Will our hero detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley) solve the mystery of this hotel in time before it consumes him? And what ever will happen to this Hotel at the hands of new own Will Drake (Cheyenne Jackson)?

And this wasn't even half the cast expected to make an appearance.

Check into AHS: Hotel every Wednesday at 10p on FX.