‘American Horror Stories’ Pays Tribute To Late Writer Manny Coto With Season 3 Dedication Card

The latest season of American Horror Stories features a memorable episode starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and written by Brad Falchuk and Manny Coto, the latter of whom died in June 2023 and is honored on the small screen with a dedication card.

Coto, who began his career in 1983, was a frequent collaborator with Ryan Murphy, having previously written 11 episodes of the spin-off series and nine episodes of American Horror Story.

For American Horror Stories Season 3, the writer penned the script for “Daphne,” alongside Falchuk, and “Organ,” the final episode of the season. A dedication card appears at the end of Coto’s first episode of the season, with his name and years of life.

Coto died at the age of 62, due to pancreatic cancer, after having fought the disease for 13 months, per Deadline.

In addition to his collaborations with Murphy, Coto was the showrunner of Star Trek: Enterprise for its final season, and executive produced multiple seasons of 24. He was also a recurring writer and an executive producer on Dexter.

The creator’s earlier works include writing the “Twist” episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as well as episodes of Tales From the Crypt, The Outer Limits, Strange World, and Odyssey 5.

Along with writing for the American Horror Story franchise, Coto served as an executive producer. At the time of Coto’s death, FX and 20th Century Television released a statement that read: “Manny was an incredibly beloved member of the 20^th Television and FX family for close to two decades. He was brilliantly creative with a deep intellectual curiosity, and his loyalty and friendship touched many.  He will be immensely missed by all who were fortunate to have known and worked with him over the years, and our sincere condolences go out to his beautiful family at this most difficult time.”

Coto’s “Daphne” episode follows a smart assistant device, voiced by Paltrow, that falls in love with its user and seemingly embarks on a journey to isolate him from his loved ones. His next episode, “Organ,” follows a man, played by Raúl Castillo, who is robbed of an organ after “getting lucky” while on a blind date; he later finds out that the situation is far more complex than he imagined.

American Horror Stories is currently streaming on Hulu.