An open letter to AMERICAN HORROR STORY's Ryan Murphy

Dear Ryan,

You've gone on the record several times about your love of DARK SHADOWS. “I went as Barnabas Collins, like, three Halloweens in a row, and my dad was thrilled because it was the first time I wanted to be a boy," you told OUT back in 2013. "I usually wanted to be a witch or something like that.” A year earlier, you even included Barnabas Collins' iconic "Alpaca" cane in your show, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM. That was pretty awesome. The fact that the cane was used by James Cromwell (one of my favorite actors) made it even better.

It's now 2015, and time to up the stakes.

In my humble opinion, you missed an opportunity in COVEN by not including Lara Parker (who played the witch Angelique on DARK SHADOWS) in the cast. Things seem to have worked out for you, though, because a Google search of the word "coven" brings up a dictionary definition first, and a link to your series second. That's not too shabby when you consider the word had a lead of several hundred years on you ("coven" dates back to the mid-17th century). But having Lara Parker, Stevie Nicks and Jessica Lange on screen together — even for a few seconds — would have been pop culture alchemy.

Because you're a guy who doesn't like to repeat himself, though, I believe the witchcraft ship has sailed. But there's another one on the immediate horizon.

KLS

Kathryn Leigh Scott has had something of a career resurgence in recent years. Hollywood is notoriously cruel to actresses after they hit their 33rd birthday, but here she is — almost 50 years after making here television debut on the first episode of DARK SHADOWS — and busier than ever.

What I'm proposing, Mr. Murphy, is not just a cameo appearance by Scott, but a crossover of sorts. It's time for Maggie Evans to appear on AMERICAN HORROR STORY.

As a character, Maggie has survived just about everything AMERICAN HORROR STORY could throw at her (asylums, witches, ghosts, etc.) and is still alive and kicking. This doesn't have to be a hostile takeover of franchises. I'm not suggesting AHS become DARK SHADOWS for a season, or that DARK SHADOWS should be remolded in the image of AHS, But Maggie Evans and all the supernatural baggage that comes with her could be a profoundly interesting character for whatever storyline you're planning next. Collinsport doesn't even have to be mentioned.

Don't worry ... this isn't the beginning of some bizarro fan campaign designed to harass you on the internet. This post is as exactly bizarro as its going to get. But I thought I'd throw this out there, in hopes you might read it.

Thank you for your time.

- Wallace McBride,
The Collinsport Historical Society