What The New Normal is to Modern Family, 666 Park Avenue is to American Horror Story. After its season premiere on September 30, the new ABC show seems to have, perhaps coincidentally, a lot of plot and literary resemblances to the highly successful American Horror Story which is currently in its off-season.  It is no surprise that a network may frame a television show after one that has garnered much success. It just wouldn’t be Hollywood without these kinds of shows. However, 666 Park Avenue may be perfect for picking up the large group of fans anxiously waiting for the newest season of American Horror Story to begin again. Complete with evil spirits, a static and striking violin-infused soundtrack and cinematic clues, 666 Park Avenue has certainly made its mark as a strong prime-time show. Even in its first episode, 666 Park Avenue cues down every suspenseful twist and shutter one might find in your classic horror movie. 666 Park Avenue may also have come at the perfect time when scary and horror television shows are becoming more popular across networks. As crime shows such as CSI and Law & Order enter their double-digit seasons, fans and viewers might be looking for a new fix on the classic murder show.

Similarities? Both television shows center around the lives of a working class couple, who are introduced moving in to their new and haunted home. Their marriage appears to be full of happiness, but as the first episode gives, we get the sense that this won’t be happiness forever.  A declining and breaking marriage is something both American Horror Story and 666 Park Avenue undertake to further create the disparage of horror. Seeing the characters going insane and venturing into dark and creepy basements alone, without any sort of weapon a normal person might cautiously and smartly carry, is alone what has made the first episode of 666 Park Avenue a “page turner” of television shows. Once again, similar to American Horror Story, the evil haunting takes physical form as the home. In American Horror Story, the first family of the season is haunted by the trapped ghosts of their newly purchased home. Of course, it’s a completely wonderful and modern home that the characters seemed to acquire by chance and luck, either because it was an inexpensive find or because everyone else in the neighborhood knew exactly why not to buy it. Chances are someone died or was killed in it, as is horror story-convention. In 666 Park Avenue, snazzy NYC apartment building whose rent payment you couldn’t even imagine, the newest couple, Dave and Annable, have been hired as co-managers of the building, The Drake. In both television shows, the producers and writers use the spirit of the building to build the backbone of the plot within each episode. All ghosts and evil spirits are constrained to the physical perimeters of the house. Every night is just another opportunity for these haunted things to inflict their vengeful spirits.

However, 666 Park Avenue seems to be more tame in terms of horror and gore than American Horror Story. Based on the novel with the same name by Gabriella Price, 666 Park Avenue keeps the violence, disturbing actions, and blood to a minimum, the perfect horror show for a viewer who finds American Horror Story out of their comfort zone. 666 Park Avenue also has a clear plot line, unlike American Horror Story where each episode is inter-weaved with complex ghost series and narrations.