It wouldn't be a season of American Horror Story [1] without a lot of creative, sometimes gruesome deaths. While you're getting ready for the new season, subtitled Apocalypse [2], it's as good a time as any to look back on some of the memorable moments from seasons past. Back in 2013, American Horror Story [3]: Coven told the story of oppressed witches in modern-day New Orleans fighting for their very survival amidst threats from shady corporations and turncoat voodoo practitioners. But these forces, it turns out, are nothing compared to the power struggles and infighting within the witches' own ranks — and when witches fight, things get deadly. Take a look back at how some of Coven's most indelible characters met their ends.
Myrtle Snow
Myrtle, the rival to Jessica Lange's fearsome Fiona, is formidable for her ability to magically detect lies and compel others to tell the truth. She's frequently spoken against Fiona, particularly because she (accurately) suspects Fiona of killing the previous Supreme. As you might guess, this doesn't sit well with Fiona, so she frames Myrtle for an acid attack on Fiona's daughter (and Myrtle's protegee) Cordelia [4] and has her burned at the stake. If that weren't enough, Myrtle is revived later in the season, then burned at the stake again for murdering her fellow members of the Council.
Fiona Goode
Played by series regular Jessica Lange [5], Fiona is about as close as the show gets to royalty. She's the Supreme, a once-in-a-generation witch with extraordinary magic — think the Slayer, but for witches. Even after being cursed with incurable cancer to make way for a new Supreme, she won't go down without a fight, entangling herself with voodoo in a quest for immortality. Ultimately, nothing she does is enough, and she dies of her disease in her daughter's arms.
Misty Day
At first, death isn't a huge problem for Misty, whose particular brand of magic lends itself to healing and reviving. She even lends her powers to save several of her classmates and manages to survive when several of her fellow witches [6] die (either temporarily or permanently). But a test to discover the next Supreme proves to be too much for her. When she's unable to escape her "personal hell" — a magically induced bad memory from the past — her real body dissolves into ash.
Joan Ramsey
OK, so Joan wasn't exactly a major character, but when you have the deeply fabulous Patti LuPone [7] around, you can't just ignore her! Joan is a fundamentalist who clashes with the witches at the Academy, especially after Madison tries to seduce her son Luke. Although her role is small, she does get the honour of dying twice: first, shot by witch hunters, after which she's revived by Misty, and then permanently after Nan, another young Academy witch, uses her powers to force her to commit suicide.
Madison Montgomery
Another American Horror Story [8] regular, Emma Roberts, played murderous mega star Madison [9] (who will join Cordelia, Fiona, Zoe, and others in the upcoming Apocalypse). After the group discovers she's the next Supreme, a furious and jealous Fiona murders her. Misty revives her, but she's left without physical sensations — which doesn't stop her from ending up in a love triangle with fellow witch Zoe [10] and college student Kyle. She refuses to revive a recently killed Zoe during a challenge, and Kyle later chokes her to death over this betrayal.
Marie Laveau
Voodoo high priestess Marie Laveau is not someone whose bad side you ever want to be on. Unfortunately for the coven witches, their groups have been at war for centuries. Marie gained immortality through a deal with a voodoo spirit, which makes her a person of interest to the rapidly declining Fiona Goode [11]. When Marie is attacked and dismembered, her body parts are scattered and she's unable to continue her deal with the spirit, allowing her to finally die for real.
Spalding
Every creepy old academy [12] needs a creepy old butler, and Spalding fulfils the role to a tee. Mute, doll-obsessed, and with a stalker-ish crush on Fiona, he's nothing if not loyal to Fiona. When Madison is murdered and her body is found among his "dolls," the other girls interrogate him. Zoe returns his tongue to him and magically compels him to tell the truth, and when he admits Fiona was behind the murder, Zoe stabs him to death.
The Axeman
What's a horror show [13] without a really good killer? The nameless serial killer was killed a century ago by an earlier coven to stop his killing spree, but his spirit has remained trapped and restless. Zoe releases his spirit, and he becomes a pawn in Fiona's plan to fake her own death when she creates a false memory of him killing her. Zoe, Misty, Queenie, and Madison eventually send him packing by stabbing him in the exact same way the previous coven dispatched him back in 1919.