Welcome to 'Murder House'

"I guess these guys were into the kinky stuff, huh?"

So said Dan Harmon (Dylan McDermott) upon seeing what his wife, Vivien (Connie Britton) stumbled across in the attic of their new Los Angeles home nicknamed Murder House. That's where the couple, along with their daughter (Taissa Farmiga), moved into in the pilot episode of  "American Horror Story"  that premiered on the FX cable TV channel in early October.

I had no idea the character in the shiny black rubber latex suit the Harmons saw in the attic was called Rubber Man until I read the cover story about the show in the Oct. 28 issue of Entertainment Weekly. Up until that point, the only question I asked myself while watching the series every week was "What's up with the gimp?"

By now I am sure most everyone familiar with the psychologically twisted horror drama knows about Rubber Man, including the identity of the character inside the suit, thanks to the Nov. 23 episode.

Even if they haven't seen the show they might have noticed the TV posters showing a scantily clad and pregnant Britton in black lingerie in a sexy pose. She looks like she is about to be ravaged by the man in black, who seems to pop out of nowhere, like he is on some sort of imaginary sex swing.

If this series was the kind of show the entertainment media can't stop talking about, I could just picture some reporter doing a feature story about how sales in latex rubber fetish gear have jumped at stores specializing in sadomasochistic equipment. It would be similar to how the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has reportedly helped spike sales of nude pantyhose this year thanks to her always being seen in public wearing nylons.

Just don't go mistaking my watching "American Horror Story" as my going back on my word at how I have 400-plus cable stations and still can't find anything to watch.

I still don't know what to make of this series. If I were to call it entertaining and feel compelled to buy the Season 1 box set that will, no doubt, follow in the coming months on Blu-ray, I would feel like I need a shower afterward.

The title lives up to its name, reeking of unpleasantness, exploring subjects that include family dysfunction, ghost sex, infidelity, miscarriages, illegally paid abortions, attempted suicide, high school bullying, mass murder, baby kidnappings, cannibalism (though not in the Hannibal Lecter sense, at least not yet anyway) and, of course, kinky sex.

Then there's the wild assortment of previous deceased tenants who inhabit the home as spirits.

I don't know whether to praise the show for the way it cleverly incorporates ideas and even movie soundtracks from several films in the horror/murder/serial killer genre that include "Dracula" (1992), "Fatal Attraction" (1987), "Hannibal" (2001), "The Haunting in Connecticut" (2009), "Kill Bill" (2003), "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), "The Omen" (1976), "Psycho" (1960), "The Strangers" (2008) and even "The Goonies" (there is some deformed adult baby who also apparently resides in the attic who looks like that abused gentle giant character, Sloth, the kids rescued in that 1985 film).

Or, if I should be a little repulsed by the homosexual undertones and disturbed at how the series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk (the team behind "Glee") use real-life tragic events like the 1999 Columbine High School shootings as inspiration for a couple of the paranormal characters.

There is no denying, however, that all these ingredients are the reason "American Horror Story" has become an unexpected cable network hit. FX has already renewed the show for a second season.

I guess I am of two minds on the subject.

"You may hate this show," said star Dylan McDermott in the Entertainment Weekly article. "You may love the show. But you're going to talk about the show."

Hence the reason I am writing this column.

At the same time, according to the same article, I share the same feelings Britton had after reading the script.

"I read the script and I was like, ‘Um … what?'" Britton said. "I don't understand. I kind of took a leap of faith."

I took that same "leap of faith" with "American Horror Story" upon its October debut and haven't lost interest in the series since.

Is there something wrong in dropping what I am doing for one hour a week on Wednesday nights to watch a show where one of the supernatural characters is a guy in a shiny black rubber suit?