American Horror Story alumni Evan Peters and Ryan Murphy win Golden Globe awards

There weren’t a lot of Golden Globe winners (or even nominees) for horror this year, but two pretty significant artists did win big. We’re talking about Evan Peters and Ryan Murphy, both of whom have connections to hardcore horror with American Horror Story.

Let’s start with Evan Peters, who won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series/Made for TV Movie for his truly jaw-dropping appearance in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. If you watched the Netflix series, you probably agree that the award was well-deserved.

Peters starred as notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered at least 17 men between 1978 and 1991. The series presented Dahmer’s crimes truthfully (including cannibalism), so it was often a hard watch, and some of the real-life victims’ families spoke out against it. But, honestly, I thought the material was handled respectfully. It was not unnecessarily gory, and the story took an unflinching look at the way the Wisconsin police bungled the case repeatedly.

Peters played Dahmer perfectly. One of the characteristics that set Dahmer apart from most captured serial killers was the fact that he did not try to deny the facts. He admitted to the murders he committed, and proclaimed that he was glad he had been captured so he couldn’t do it again.

Evan Peters earned his Golden Globe for playing Jeffrey Dahmer

It’s a difficult task to make a brutal killer appear at all sympathetic, but Peters managed to project the life traumas that went into Dahmer’s psychological makeup. So, even while I didn’t exactly feel sorry for him, I did wish someone had helped him during his childhood.

In his acceptance speech, Evan Peters thanked the viewers, saying of the show: “It was a difficult one to make, a difficult one to watch, but I sincerely hope some good came out of it.”

Evan Peters mostly came to fame due to his appearance on multiple seasons of American Horror Story, which allowed him to play a variety of characters. His roles included a high school shooter turned ghost, a dead frat boy resurrected by a coven of witches, a circus freak show performer known as “Lobster Boy,” Andy Warhol, Charles Manson and even Jesus Christ.

All of which brings us to the creator of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy. Murphy won a very coveted Golden Globe, the Carol Burnett award. It’s an honorary word given by the Hollywood Foreign Press association for “outstanding contributions to television on or off the screen.”

In addition to 11 seasons of American Horror Story, Murphy also gave us Scream Queens, Nip/Tuck and Glee, as well as Dahmer – Monster. He has 16 prior Golden Globe nomination to his credit, including American Horror Story: Murder House, American Horror Story: Hotel and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Even though horror was mostly ignored (as usual) this year, both Evan Peters and Ryan Murphy definitely deserved the Golden Globes they were awarded.

What are your favorite Evan Peters performances? Tell us about it in the comments section.