Magazine Analysis: American Horror Story - Hotel

The magazine front cover features Lady Gaga on the front cover. She is wearing and open neck robe-like dress which shows the reader a blood coated/scratched neck. The white robe-like dress symbolises purity and innocence and this parallels the blood coated neck and blood/red have connotations of death and violence. These contrasts could make the inference that looks are deceiving for what is to be innocent could possibly be a violent. The contrast suggests deception. She is wearing a black sequined glove with pointy golden nails. She has her finger tugging the bottom lip in a seductive inviting manner.

In addition, the clear make-up helps to show a semblance of innocence. The smoky eyes suggest a darkness which is faded to reveal yet conceal at the same time. The lipstick is the same shade as the blood which means that she drains blood. The lipstick is heavily coated which means she drains blood for the blood around the neck is an intertextual link to the lore of vampires and how they drain blood from their victims by attacking their neck. This could infer that Lady Gaga is a vampire or a succubus (Biblical Lilith creatures that lure men with seduction before killing them). This links to the notion of deception for the pale make-up contrasts a sinister meaning to the image.

The anchor model helps to convey the genre of the media which is horror. There are two colours used in the magazine and it helps with the circle layout. The white comes from Lady Gaga’s robe in order to stand out against the dark background. The second colour is blue because it stands out yet it does not like to the magazine. Blue is a colour that Entertainment Weekly use as a part of their official logo and so the front cover uses blue. The magazine name has a san serif font in order to provide more focus to the story. The serif font suggests a sophisticated approach to the interview. A button is placed to the left to highlight the specialty of the magazine front cover.

The magazine has a universal audience. This magazine cover leans towards the older range of 18 – 49 year olds both male and female for various topics. The film magazine covers mostly film and often to niche audiences. AHS is a cult TV show with a niche following and the magazine attracts a wider audience due to the critical acclaim the TV show has. The poster helps to convey the horror through the blood and deception.