Last Updated on March 5, 2024

Small towns hide secrets. They’re typically really good at it too because the smaller the town it seems the darker the secret they are trying to hide. If you grew up in a tiny Midwest town like I did you would know this to be gospel. Southern noir or Southern Gothic is a special sort of genre that when done right shines a sinister light on those secrets. Add some good old good vs evil to the mix and the supernatural and you’ve got something special. In the case of todays series you had the best of all of these mixed into a twisted, beautiful, epic masterpiece that came happened to be co-launched by a master of horror named Sam Raimi and a gent more known for solving mysteries than writing them… a Hardy Boy himself Shaun Cassidy. The show is one of my favorite TV series of all time, American Gothic. And on this episode of Horror TV Shows We Miss, I’m going to give American Gothic all the love it never got when it aired way back in 1995. So let’s drive on into Trinity, South Carolina. But make sure we don’t speed…that Sheriff is a real devil.

American Gothic premiered, surprisingly, on CBS primetime on Sept 22^nd, 1995. The series had a hell of a pedigree having executive producers in the guise of Sam Raimi and Bob Tapert, the gents responsible for Evil Dead. It was the brain child of 70s heartthrob Shaun Cassidy, his first TV pilot and one he had written while performing on Broadway. American Gothic would be the first of many series Cassidy would be the creator for including genre fare like Invasion and Roar.

I say it was a surprising home for the series as it wasn’t normal for a horror genre series to be on the network. This would eventually change with supernatural shows like Ghost Whisperer and Evil. But American Gothic was fairly unique on the channel at the time where the only vaguely comparable show would be Picket Fences which dealt with an oddball town where a lot of strange things happened. American Gothic was the far more metal version of this concept. The story and mythology within the series was unique as well while still using some aspects familiar to fans of the genre.

The show takes place in the already you know something is up named “Trinity” South Carolina. The pilot introduces us immediately to the Temple family (again with the religious overtones) who are poor and broken in spirit and in the wallet. Caleb Temple is celebrating his birthday with a cake he made himself along side his alcoholic father Gage and his mentally scarred sister Merlyn who can only say the words “someone is at the door.” When Merlyn goes into one of her fits her father becomes violent, and Caleb has to hide them both away from him. During a massive rain storm Caleb runs out of the house to find help, leaving Merlyn to be hit in the head by her father. As if by magic, the town sheriff Lucas Buck and his deputy are there and journey to the house. Lucas arrests Gage and while thinking no one is watching, finishes off the still barely alive Merlyn by breaking her neck. This is actually witnessed by his deputy Ben.

As the most horrible birthday ever continues, Caleb is taken to the hospital where he crosses paths with Matt Crower, the big city doctor come to the small town to work. Matt tries to be a friend to the boy which puts him in direct competition with Lucas who has designs on Caleb. Over the course of the series we find out that Matt was responsible for a horrible car crash while driving drunk that cost him his family and his reputation, something Lucas uses a number of times against him.

Strange things start happening to Caleb while at the hospital, noises, voices, and visions. Eventually Caleb sees his sister Merlyn, now an ethereal spirt, perhaps an angel, appearing to him and warning him about Lucas. She can now speak and watch over her brother in a way she couldn’t in life.

At the same time, in another town far away, Caleb’s remaining family Gail Emory wakes from a nightmare knowing that something is wrong back home. She immediately packs up and heads back to her hometown of Trinity to find answers as this was also the town where her parents mysteriously died. It’s her meeting with Lucas which gives us the great line “That’s Lucas Buck…Buck, with a B.”

Meanwhile, Ben is having some issues with the fact he witnessed Lucas kill Merlyn. Lucas threatens him in a fantastic scene and then gives him some money to go get drunk and think about what he saw. It’s at the bar we are introduced to Selena Coombs, a woman with a dual nature that’s deeper than Two Face in Batman. She’s the local sex kitten and also an elementary school teacher. And Lucas uses her to seduce Ben that night.

Lucas appears with Ben’s lucky pen and tells a distraught Gage he needs to give all of his paternal rites to Lucas over Caleb. After a guilt pounding conversation he leaves Gage with the pen and his own broken thoughts. The next morning, Ben is driving home in shame and Doctor Crower discovers on a visit to the jail that Gage is dead, Ben’s pen sticking out of his throat…possibly self-inflicted…possibly not.

As Lucas stalks down the halls of the hospital he discovers that Caleb has fled and when no one else can see the bloody written words “Go Home” on the door of his room, Lucas can. At this point we’re pretty much a 100 percent that something is beyond normal with Lucas. Gail and Dr. Crower head off to find Caleb who they have figured out is headed back to his only refuge left, his home. It’s there where Merlyn appears and after speaking with Caleb warns him that someone is at the door, and that’s when Lucas bursts in, coming after the boy once more. Caleb is terrified and runs upstairs. Finding his fathers liquor he eventually sets the house on fire after throwing a match he still had from his birthday candles to ignite the flames. He escapes again, into the rain, as Gail and the Doctor confront Lucas. Lucas cries out for Caleb in anger from the window as the building burns.

That’s a hell of an opening, pun intended. And American Gothic doesn’t let up after that for the entire rest of its run.

Over its 22-episode run (3 of which never aired on CBS) the series evolves into a battle for the soul of Caleb Temple. We learn that Gage wasn’t actually Caleb’s father, but Lucas was due to an attack/rape that was witnessed by Merlyn as a little girl. This was what caused her to become mute and nearly catatonic repeating the phrase “Someone’s at the door” in connection to Lucas. Gage’s abuse to his children intensified over this and Caleb’s mother Judith killed herself after Caleb’s birth.

Merlyn, as an avenging spirit and possible angel tries different ways to stop Lucas who has been in charge of the town of Trinity for a very long time and seemingly doesn’t age during any of this. Funnily enough, no one ever seems to comment or be weirded out that Lucas doesn’t age. But man does he know how to work a long coat like a champ and those vests too. (I was a fan of Midnight Caller…don’t judge me.)

A new doctor arrives in town by the name of Billy Peale when Doctor Crower leaves, who falls in love with Selena and tries to discover Lucas’s secret as well. Things work out about as well as you’d expect with Selena.

American Gothic’s dark heart is human nature and what is good and what is evil. Each of us has both in us and it’s the battle of which side will we let win or if we are strong enough to find a balance. It’s also a tale about who we really are underneath. That’s why a small-town setting is such a perfect place for a story like this to play out as, if you were like me and grew up in one, you know just how full of hypocrisy and lies they can be. The shroud of religion and false piety runs deep as a way to cover up what you are really up to and to wash away any sense of blame. Lucas doesn’t let you off that easy.

Shaun Cassidy and Sam Raimi blended together a great cast, great story, and great mythology within American Gothic. And sadly with the series’ life being cut so short we didn’t get to delve deeper into it. Things weren’t black and white, and everything was a shade of gray in this show because the characters were wonderfully imperfect and that included the children as well as the “good” side of things with Merlyn who has a journey of her own through the season.

Lucas Buck’s powers are mysterious, and we’re only hinted at where they come from. There’s some HP Lovecraft esque things happening here as the theory of what the pineal gland is comes out, black magic is hinted at, and a power that’s born and reborn in the next generation. We see this when Lucas is nearly killed by a blow to his forehead where the gland is, and Caleb is suddenly imbued with his powers.

All of that power within a ten-year-old boy goes about as well as you would think and even doubly so when he realizes there’s another Baby Buck on the way due to a dalliance between Lucas and Gail. This information is brought to him by Selena who, when the king falls in the form of Lucas, zeroes in on the prince. This is probably one of the more eyebrow raising parts of the show as the scenes begins in a Mrs. Robinson esque/Graduate shot which heavily implies that Selena is willing to be around for anything Caleb needs as his powers grow. Yes, he’s 10 and yes, she’s his teacher. It’s as dark and twisted as it sounds. I think this heavier nature in American Gothic was part of why it wasn’t able to last at CBS. It really would have flourished on cable I suspect.

Gail Emory’s story as it played out was also interesting. Gail comes originally to help Caleb but also to find out the truth about her parents deaths. She soon discovers the perfect memories of her parents’ lives aren’t what she remembers. She and Lucas have a dance of love and hate with Lucas actually giving her the thing she was wanting, the truth even though he warns her she won’t like it. He also calls her out on what drives her as a reporter and her desire to find out what secrets lay in hiding within Trinity. I really enjoyed this part of the show because Gail won’t admit that there is an aspect of her that is a voyeur and wants to see what others are hiding. When he shows her that bit of truth about her parents the first time Gail has a very…interesting reaction. It’s a bit of what makes Lucas who he is as well…he knows all the secrets and that’s part of his power.

Let’s talk about Lucas Buck a bit more. Lucas is one of my favorite TV characters and it’s because of how he plays. Ben, when Lucas is possibly dead, realizes just what Lucas actually does for the city of Trinity. There are a lot of deals of course, but Lucas actually does take care of the residence of the town in surprising ways. Keeping them safe, keeping them happy, and keeping Trinity in a way, blissful. Lucas may or may not be the devil. There’s no way to tell how long he’s been around because, like I said, he doesn’t age, and he’s been a part of Trinity for a while. He does do deals, but he also speaks about free will. He doesn’t really “force” anyone into anything. It’s their choice. He makes it very clear he will eventually collect on whatever the bargain was for. Lucas is, oddly enough, fair.

Cassidy and Raimi were a great team with this series with Raimi bringing his signature flair for weird camera angles, surprisingly terrifying images (Gail’s parents erupting from their graves was REALLY effective and very Army of Darkness/Evil Dead) and using sound to add to the unease. There’s a country quality to the music but also a rumbly, digeridoo type sound that’s similar to a growl and snorting of a bull combined that’s used I really think is neat. Cassidy wrote a number of the episodes himself besides creating the show and producing and I love the fact that he worked in a Hardy Boys reference from Lucas when his coffin is opened.

Let’s talk about the actors who really helped make this show special. Gary Cole simply ruled as Lucas Buck. He brought a sense of style to the role and also could go from charming to terrifying with just a glance. You never really knew where Lucas’s heart might lay. Was he truly wanting to be Caleb’s father or use him? Did he love Gail or was she just a corruptible soul who could give him a baby if he needed it. You never really were sure but that’s why it worked. And did I mention the swagger?

Everyone knows Sarah Paulson thanks to her massive career in shows like American Horror Story, but she showed in American Gothic the level of acting that would become her signature. She was fantastic as Merlyn in this and was a great foil for Lucas. She and Lucas Black had great chemistry and I really loved her role here as the avenging angel who never got to truly live. It’s interesting to me that American Gothic was also the first horror series I can think of that involved resurrecting the ghost of a serial killer and having them run amuck…something that would happen in later seasons of American Horror Story. Here it would be Paulson’s Merlyn who has to take on The Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo. Speaking of Lucas Black, my god that kid was great in this. You probably know him best from his film work in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and his role on NCIS New Orleans, but I first saw him in this series. I mean his name is Lucas Black…. he was meant to be in this. And he was perfect as Lucas’s son who was torn between the light and the darkness.

Paige Turco was fantastic as Gail Emory. Again, her journey was an interesting one that would have been great to see proceed as she seems to have inherited a bit of power herself. And I think that’s something that Lucas probably knew and would be interested in.

Jake Weber as Doctor Matt Crower was also great as the tortured doctor who is just trying to make up for the tragedy his drinking cost. Weber would wind up in another supernatural based series with Medium starring alongside Patricia Arquette but a lot of you probably remember him more for his turn in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake in 2004.

Nick Searcy as Lucas’s deputy Ben always looked like he was going to be sick due to the amount of anxiety he was dealing with and that’s about perfect for the character. Searcy was great in this and has been in a ton of films and TV over the years, but you probably known him best from his work in Justified opposite the crazy Tarantino film student Timothy Olyphant.

Last but certainly not least when it comes to series regulars is Brenda Bakke who played Selena Coombs. She brought it with this role, bringing an old-fashioned type of sultry that was Mae West and Femme Fatale from hell combined. Bakke is another actor who has a ton of work under her belt including an episode of Brisco County Jr.

Speaking of Brisco…guest stars were a plenty on American Gothic and this would include a number of regulars from Raimi’s cadre of regular collaborators. Bruce Campbell would appear as an ill-fated police officer. Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother, would appear as well as Arnold Vosloo. Vosloo is more known for his role in The Mummy as said Mummy. But he and Raimi would work together when he took over the role of Peyton Westlake in the Darkman direct to DVD films as well as his role in Hard Target. Other notable guest stars would include Amy Steele, Veronica Cartright, Melissa McBride, and W Morgan Sheppard, all of them genre vets.

As I said, CBS didn’t keep American Gothic around and it would suffer a fate similar to Firefly years later. Episodes would be shown out of sequence, when they were shown at all. Fans like myself were left confused when the supposed finale was aired as a sort of special on CBS for the summer. But what they showed wasn’t even the final episodes of the season, those weren’t actually aired. After that the show was gone forever.

I actually never got to see the entire run of the series until it was released on DVD in 2005 which I immediately bought, and which is out of print now. And even here with all the episodes together they actually aren’t in order…at least on the American release. You can find the actual listing of how the episodes should be viewed online.

American Gothic is available to purchase on Vudu as well as Amazon Prime and AppleTV to stream and if you can’t tell I highly HIGHLY recommend it. It deserved far better than it got, and we viewers deserved a lot more of it. It’s gotten a cult following now as more and more people discover it. It’s touching, disturbing, scary, and naughty as all get out. You should definitely take a visit to Trinity some time soon and say howdy to the sheriff, he’s no Andy Griffith but he’ll make sure you have a hell of a time.

A couple previous episodes of Horror TV Shows We Miss can be seen below. If you’d like to see more, and check out the other shows we have to offer, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!