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Nora Montgomery

My baby... Where is my baby?
Portrayed by	Lily Rabe
First Appearance	"Murder House"
Last Appearance	"Afterbirth"
Species	Ghost
Cause of Death	Suicide
Relationships	Charles Montgomery (husband) Thaddeus (son)

Nora Montgomery is a regular character in Season 1 of American Horror Story. She was the socialite wife of a doctor and former owner of the Murder House, where she now resides as a ghost.

Background Edit

Nora moved from Philadelphia after marrying Charles Montgomery. Due to her wealthy origin, she was increasingly disappointed because their lifestyle was not as lavish as she felt it could be, and because Charles was squandering his talent.

Personality and Appearance Edit

While alive, Nora often pestered her husband. She would always be infuriated by him, telling him how much of a disappointment he is.

She also treated their maid with a bad attitude, scolding her for not immediately taking care of her crying son. It is also obvious that she is an unfit mother, refusing to take care of him when he begins crying.

Her husband custom built their home in Los Angeles during 1922, even modeling the glass fixtures after her blue eyes.

However, as a ghost, her personality depicts her as sad, horrified and confused, just as she was when she died. Upon first meeting Vivien, she is more soft-spoken, and while in awe of the house, speaks as if on the verge of crying. This appears to have been the result of her first encounter with her reanimated son.

She seems to be fascinated with Vivien's pregnancy. After Tate tells her she can no longer have the baby because he doesn't want Violet's family to get hurt, she becomes stern and threatening, saying she will take it no matter what.

As a ghost, she appears with a gaping gunshot exit wound on the back of her head, since she committed suicide. It looks like she also has some memory problems as a result, making her unable to recognize other residents of Murder House who she's already met (i.e. Tate).

Nora goes through swings of being unaware that she is a ghost and why the house looks different.

Story Edit

In "Halloween: Part 1", Tate elaborates on Nora's history. Nora and Charles' son Thaddeus was kidnapped by the boyfriend of one of the girls Charles performed an abortion for. The police bring Charles and Nora evidence of what happened: glass jars filled with the dismembered body parts of their son. Distraught, Nora brings Charles a lace gown to bury their son in. To her horror, she finds Charles stitching a hoof onto their child's arm and then performing a Frankenstein-esque procedure.

When Tate was a young boy, Nora once rescued him from being devoured by the Infantata and taught him how to make ghosts go away and promised to protect him. Tate saw her as a surrogate mother due to his dysfunctional relationship with his own mother. He promised to get her a baby when Chad and Patrick were living in the House, because he could not bear her crying over her loss of Thaddeus.

In the episode "Murder House", Nora's story is first described by Stan, the guide of the Eternal Darkness Tour.

As a ghost, she encounters Vivien in the present. She is pleased that the house has been largely restored to the grandeur in which it was built. She is dismayed by the modernization of the kitchen and its contemporary devices. She has a fixation on Vivien's unborn baby, which is evident given her apparition later in Ben and Vivien's bedroom, almost touching Vivien's belly.

In the episode "Halloween Part 2", she appears in the basement, saving Ben from almost being killed by Larry. She cuts the bonds holding him, and reprimands him for unsuccessfully protecting his wife and children.

At the conclusion of "Open House", Vivien recognizes Nora as the woman who came to see the house after seeing a picture of the first owners that Tate gave to Violet, surprising and worrying her.

It is revealed that Thaddeus became a demonic creature that tried to bite Nora while she tried to breastfeed him. Recognizing how horrific their lives had become, Nora shoots Charles in the head, then turned the gun on herself.

In the episode "Rubber Man", it is revealed that Tate has a close relationship to Nora. He kills Chad and Patrick after they decide to not have a child together so that a new family could inhabit it, then later impregnates Vivien in order to fulfill Nora's longing for a child. We also find out that she does not know that she is a ghost. When Hayden tells her this, Nora is very volatile and upset. She cries a lot and is very confused about the situation. Hayden and Nora decide to work together, since both want to have a child, and they finally agree to take Vivien's twins.

In Birth it's 1984 and Tate is playing in the basement, when he is attacked by Thaddeus, but before he could be harmed, Nora appears and saves him. She comforts him when he is scared, wipes his tears, teaches him how to scare Thaddeus away and tells him she will protect him. Tate tells her "I wish you were my mommy."

In 2011 Tate tells Nora that she can no longer have the baby since he doesn't want Violet's family to suffer, apologizing for falling in love. Nora, however, becomes stern and forcefully tells him she's taking the baby no matter what.

As Vivien goes into labor, Nora's husband jumps into action to deliver the babies. He and Nora opt to take the stillborn son of Ben.

In "Afterbirth" Nora is found by Vivien in the basement rocking the cradle of the Harmon's baby boy, who has been crying inconsolably for days. Nora thinks that Vivien is the new nanny, and starts giving her some orders and house rules. When she sees Vivian face, she recognizes her as the baby's birth mother and she reminds her that "arrangements have been done". Nora is rude and petulant, she is clearly back to her old self. She claims she is too tired because of the "little monster" so she asks Vivian to take care of the baby while she takes a long rest. Nora is gone after this, and not seen again on the episode.

Quotes Edit

To Charles: "I wanna bury our son in this...Charles, what are you doing? What have you done to our baby?"
To Charles: "Of course, I'm proud of you Charles. You are a man after all."
To Hayden: "What you are saying is madness. I'm not dead."
To Vivien: "I'm not entirely sure if I have the patience to be a mother"
To Tate: "But I can... And I will... The baby is mine."
To Charles: "You are going to support this family one way or the other."
To Vivien: "I don't like this, this is not right, is not what I want..."
To Ben: "I will not permit another failure in this house... Save the baby."
To Tate: "Life's too short for so much sorrow."
To Vivien: "Little noisy monster..."