Michael Winslow

Michael Winslow is a family man who dreams of running a haunted B&B before becoming one of its main attractions. He is a character in American Horror Stories portrayed by Matt Bomer.

Background[]

Michael and Troy have been together for twenty years, welcoming a daughter into their marriage. When Scarlett was three, she was kidnapped for ten days and this left her parents extremely protective and overbearing.^[2]

Personality and Appearance[]

Michael is an easygoing gay man with a rational but open mindedness. Unlike his husband, Michael is loyal and honest. Between the two, he is the one who has a closer relationship with Scarlett, even going so far as to find justifications for her more disturbing behavior. Confronted with the supernatural, Michael is willing to relocate as soon as he is frightened by the reality of the haunted house he used to make fun of. Despite his worries about his daughter's obsession with violent porn, Michael doesn't deny having a racy background. As if to make sure she doesn't feel ashamed of her sexuality.

Michael is a handsome man with brunette hair, icy blue eyes and an attractive athletic build. He dresses in comfortable clothes that enhance his appearance, favoring dark colors that highlight his complexion and eyes.

Story[]

The Winslow family move into their new Los Angeles residence — the infamous Murder House. Michael and Troy want to renovate the house to turn it into a haunted venue offering a variety of horror-themed options for guests. Scarlett doesn't seem thrilled with the idea given the macabre history of the house.

Michael and Troy continue the remodeling, uncovering the disturbing mural on the walls of the old music room. Scarlett enters the room just in time for an awkward conversation. Michael and Troy are concerned because Scarlett continues to watch hardcore porn online, despite her promise she stopped. They ground her for lying about stopping, but she quickly begs to have therapy in exchange for allowance to go to Maya's slumber party.

That night, Michael and Troy are scared to death in their bedroom by Scarlett wearing a rubber suit and wielding a kitchen knife with which she inadvertently injures Troy's arm.

Next day, they are visited by Dr. Andi Grant for a family therapy session in the parlor. She is worried not about Scarlett watching porn, but about her behavior from the previous night. Michael quickly chip in, justifying it as a prank. After Troy explained Scarlett's kidnapping when she was 3, Dr. Grant surmises the history of the house is behind the disturbing behavior. As she leaves, Michael stops Scarlett from going to the sleepover. Later, Michael encounters the empty and bloodied Rubber Man suit, which he and Troy burn in the fireplace. The next morning, finding Scarlett remodeling, they think she turned a new leaf.^[2]

It's Halloween. The Winslow's are visited by Detectives Juarez and Chapman looking for the missing girls. Cell phone positioning shows them all driving to the Murder House the night they disappeared. The detectives hints that Scarlett is guilty, and her parents may have helped her. They say they will be in touch. Scarlett's fathers ask her if there's something she wants to tell them, but Scarlett suggests a ghost killed them.

Another therapy session. Michael expresses his frustration and Troy makes fun of him for seeing the "Piggy Man", who conveniently disappeared when he looked for it. Michael wants to move, but Scarlett and Troy want to stay.

The situation escalates when Michael catches Troy flirting with Adam, the constructor. They banter before Adam leaves to compose a bid. Michael accuses Troy of being cruel. When the stench of decay leads to the discovery of the bodies of the missing girls, Adam kills the builder. He wants the gig and also sexual benefits from them. Michael lashes out and slams Adam out of the house, where he is stabbed by the Rubber Man on the doorstep. They try to flee, and find they can not leave the house. In fact, they are dead — killed by Scarlett's girlfriend. When Scarlett comes home and discovers all the dead bodies and ghosts around her, the dads are waiting for her sitting opposite their corpses in the bedroom.

In a surprise session with Dr. Grant, the parents are surprised that they did not remember being murdered; the therapist explains that it's common to repress the trauma of their own murders. She muses that she and the other therapist of the house are working on a book about the phenomenon. Scarlett explains to the ghosts that her girlfriend killed them to keep her around; while they may think it is not safe for her, she has no intention of leaving.

Scarlett decides to leave and greets her parents. Having no more worries about the future and no danger from ghosts, they go their separate ways with a promise to stay in touch and visit every Halloween. And if they get bored, Troy says, they always have Adam.

10 months later, the ghosts have gotten used to their new status by haunting the mansion that continues to claim victims.^[2]