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Everything We Know So Far About 'American Horror Story: Apocalypse'


After seven seasons of American Horror Story, show-runner Ryan Murphy is pretty much master of the fake-out. In advance of each new season, he keeps fans guessing about what is actually going to go down during the eerily named new series with strategically timed. However, we do one thing about the September premiere of American Horror Story: Apocalypse: It’s going to be the season of long-awaited crossover of AHS‘s Murder House and Coven seasons, meaning Emma Roberts will be back to reprise her Madison Montgomery character. And one other thing: it’s going to get “insane.”

“I’m not allowed to say a word, but . . . it’s so insane. It’s just so insane,” actor Billy Eichner revealed on Twitter at the beginning of August. With just weeks left until the season eight American Horror Story premiere, here are a few things we do know for sure about the return of our favorite scary television show.

1. The “apocalypse” may not be quite what we think.

Alexis Martin Woodall—the show’s executive producer—revealed during the Television Critics Association press tour (TCA) that, “The story begins with the end of the world, and then our world begins. It starts in the real world. It’s very tangible.”

Moreover, actress Adina Porter dropped her own little kernel about what the apocalypse means during an interview with Golden Derby. “I thought, because of The 100 and Apocalypse, that I knew everything about what life after an apocalypse would be—but Ryan Murphy and the writers of American Horror Story have shown a whole other side of an apocalypse,” Porter said. “So, I think people will be surprised and intrigued and yet again, I think, blown away by the performances that I’m seeing.”

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2. A ton of people from the show’s past are returning for this epic season.

During the show’s TCA presentation, actress Sarah Paulson told the crowd, “I have the great pleasure of letting you know [Jessica Lange] will be back.” Paulson also shared that she will be playing both Billie Dean and Cordelia in the upcoming season.

For her part, Roberts noted that her character will get even nastier. “I was told by the director to be bitchier this season,” she said. “So it’s delicious to get to play her this season for sure.”

Beyond Roberts, Eicher, Lang, and Paulson, Vanity Fair reported that Cody Fern, Evan Peters, Connie Britton, Kathy Bates, and Billie Lord are all confirmed to return. Joan Collins and Billy Porter will also make their first appearances this season. And in, a now-deleted tweet Murphy shared, “All the witches are being asked back.” If that is true, it could mean the return of Angela Bassett, Taissa Farmiga, Jamie Brewer, Gabourey Sidibe, and Lily Rabe, though they have yet to be announced.

3. Paulson’s character Cordelia is still the Supreme. “For now.”

According to Paulson herself, Cordeilia will still be the Supreme, at least for episode one.

“At the beginning of our story that is the title she still holds,” she received at the TCA. “I don’t know how long that’s going to last, and enjoyment is not possible at this juncture in the story,” she added. However: “She’s not running around like her mother and snorting cocaine and throwing young witches against the wall.”

4. Season eight will come with lots of hair.

According to the stars of the show, there will be plenty of amazing hair this season. As Entertainment Weekly reported, Bates’ hair will be shaved on the sides and dyed black.

Bates didn’t exactly mind, as she noted at the TCA event: “It’s not essential to the plot. But it’s fun. I turned 70 this summer, around the same time they did this to me, and it certainly eased the blow. So I’m thinking about keeping it.” Paulson added, “You have a birdcage on your head at some point.”

5. The show returns on September 12.

There truly aren’t any more spoilers floating around, but one other thing we do know is the show is set to premiere Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 10 P.M. ET. Set your iCal reminder now, everyone.

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Ryan Murphy Just Revealed the Themes of Season 8 and Season 9 of 'American Horror Story'


The new year might have just started, but American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy is thinking way past 2018. Murphy revealed during the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Pasadena on Friday that season eight of AHS will take place in the—wait for it—future.

“All I’ll say about it is I want to go to the future — still topical, but the future, which I’ve never done,” Murphy said, according to Entertainment Weekly.

This probably means it’ll be years, maybe decades, after season 7’s present-day setting in Trump’s America—but it could be a look at the aftermath. And even though he’s keeping quiet about other details, we do know what the season is not about: outer space, as Murphy confirmed.

The writers won’t start working on the script until February, but the storyline has been approved by FX. “I pitched it to [FX chief] John Landgraf today right after his TCA panel, and he loved it, but he’s asked me not to say what it is,” Murphy said. “I told him, and he fell out of his chair with joy. I think people will like it; it’s different from what we’ve done before, but I always try and do the opposite of what I’ve done on that show.”

Given that the show had literally just been pitched, Murphy says he hasn’t started casting yet, but he hopes that Evan Peters—who is also working on Murphy’s new FX drama Pose—will come back for another season. “It’s conceivable that they could overlap. I mean, Sarah Paulson has done two shows for me that were shooting at the same time,” he explained. “Usually, with the actors, I think of a role and then go to them and they either want to do it or not, so I haven’t even talked to Evan about what the role might be, but I would hope so. I think so.”

Surprisingly, even though season eight is in the early stages of coming together, season nine of AHS has actually already been in the works. The season will be the much-anticipated crossover between Murder House and Coven from seasons 1 and 3. “We’re working on it, but it’s not going to be the next season,” Murphy said. “Next season is season eight, and it’ll probably be the one after that. “We’ve already met about it and outlined it, but it won’t be next, because some of the people are not available.”

Murphy wants all of the original cast members back together for the crossover including Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Jessica Lang, and Kathy Bates. “Everybody who is involved in the show has always said, ‘Yeah, that sounds like fun, let’s get the band back together again.’ So that is one of the reasons why the writing process of that season is taking longer because it’s literally 25 people’s schedules. But I’m hopeful they will all be back.”

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'American Horror Story: Cult' Is a Terrifying, Completely Cathartic Look at Trump-Era America


PHOTO: Copyright 2017, FX Networks. All rights reserved.

When people find out I’m interested in horror, the first question is usually, “Why?” Depending on who’s asking and how much time we have, I may give a surface-level answer (“Jump scares are fun!”), a semi-autobiographical answer (“I’ve always been interested in the creepy and macabre.”), or the real, let’s-get-into-this answer: because it’s cathartic to confront what scares you, which is why horror tends to reflect present-day society’s biggest fears. It’s why movies like The Purge: Election Year and Get Out have been so successful in Trump’s America. It’s also why American Horror Story: Cult, which premiered last night, is so fascinating.

From the start, the episode felt like a 2016-2017 time capsule that’s been dumped open far too soon. It opens with a montage of election highlights (or lowlights, depending on how you voted): Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton announcing their presidential campaigns, Trump’s rallies, the riots, talking heads on Fox News discussing “the emails,” even Trump declaring, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose voters.” By the time a title card informs us it’s election night, a feeling of dread (well, again, depending how you voted) has set in.

Then the show cuts between two very different election nights taking place in a small Michigan town. At the comfortable, upper-middle class home of life partners Ally and Ivy (played by Sarah Paulson and Allison Pill, respectively), a group of diverse friends pace the room and nervously say things like, “I won’t believe anything until I hear Rachel Maddow say it. She’s the only one I trust!” Contrast that with Kai Anderson (Evan Peters), a 20-something, greasy white dude sitting alone in a drab basement. When Trump is announced as our next President, Kai cheers, humps the TV, and yells, “The revolution has begun!”; Ally wails as if she’s physically being harmed. Meanwhile, upstairs at Kai’s, Winter Anderson (Billie Lourd) watches the news on her laptop and calls her friend to ask, “Why did CNN not give us a trigger warning!?”

It’s a cutting satirical take on progressives and the alt-right alike—Hillary voters may be emotional snowflakes, but Trump supporters are angry losers living in their mom’s basement—that might immediately turn off people who aren’t willing to look in the mirror too long. But this is American Horror Story—and a Ryan Murphy production at that—which means you’ll never have to sit too long in a moment before it’s on to the next atrocity. This time, it’s a scene in which Kai, still reveling in the glory of Trump’s win, throws a bag of Cheetos in a blender and smears the orange goop onto his face as he whispers, “it’s gonna be huuuuggeee” into the mirror. It’s campy, disgusting, and grotesque—but, hey, this show has never been described as “subtle.”

And that’s just what happens before the opening credits. The rest of the episode continues to capitalize on the fears of both the left and the right, with Ally and Kai serving as tropes of their respective parties. Post election night, Ally’s coulrophobia (fear of clowns) and trypophobia (fear of tiny holes) have flared up. Even the most basic places are no longer safe: A trip to the grocery store starts off ominously when a MAGA hat-wearing cashier declares, “We finally got a real leader in Washington.” That alone would trigger Ally, but then a group of people in clown masks wielding knives and metal music start terrorizing her. Ally defends herself by throwing bottles of Rosé (yes, really) until she makes it to her Prius, where she breaks down. Later, back at home, she’s told by the cops it was just a hallucination. Was it really? Or is she being gaslighted? We don’t know yet—but if this season really is an allegory for our current politics, I think we all know what the answer will be.

Kai, meanwhile, may seem more confident than Ally on the surface, but his actions reflect the insecurities and fears that are currently driving many Trump supporters, like the moment when he picks a fight with Mexican workers, telling them, “You wetbacks aren’t welcome here no more.” Most revealing, though, is a speech he gives at a city council meeting that ends with this line: “There’s nothing more dangerous in this world than a humiliated man.” It’s chilling—all he’s missing is a tiki torch.

By the episode’s end, I started to wonder: Is there anything both sides can agree is universally scary? North Korea making good on its threats? Trump’s Twitter feed? Clowns? Maybe clowns—but then again, given Trump’s orange hue, exaggerated facial expressions, and funny hair…maybe not. Maybe that’s what we’re supposed to discover by the season finale.

All I know is this: We’re in for a wild, fucked-up ride. And I’m ready for it.

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A Donald Trump Supporter Terrorizes a Lesbian Couple in the First 'American Horror Story: Cult' Trailer


The seventh season of American Horror Story has just been one, big conundrum. Ryan Murphy revealed in February 2017 the next installment of AHS is election-themed, but then he seemingly took that back a few months later when he said Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton characters don’t appear in it. Then, a bunch of promos with bees and clowns started airing, which confused the AHS fanbase even more. WTF do bees or clowns have to do with politics? Is Murphy saying Trump’s actually a reincarnated clown? Did bees rig the election?

People really lost it in mid-August when a promo featuring eerie Trump and Clinton masks hit the Internet. O.K., so the presidential candidates are a part of this season? It became clear after this TV spot Murphy is intentionally trying to throw us off, as he’s apt to do. He’s gas-lighting the fans—and apparently the cast, too, who didn’t even know the name of the season until Comic-Con. (If you’re living under a rock, it’s called AHS: Cult.) Why all the secrecy? Why all the lies? Why. All. The. Clowns?

Well, we finally have some answers—kinda. The first full trailer for AHS: Cult just dropped, and, as it turns out, Murphy’s wishy-washy responses about its connection to politics are spot-on. This season has both everything and nothing to do with the election. Do Trump and Clinton characters make an appearance? No—not in this trailer, at least—but a Trump supporter does terrorize the hell out of a lesbian couple. Yup.

Here’s what we know for sure from this trailer: Sarah Paulson plays Ally, a queer woman with a female partner, Ivy (Alison Pill), and a young son. Ally and Ivy are devastated by the election results, so much that Ally’s fear of clowns kicks into overdrive. She starts seeing them everywhere, and even her therapist (Cheyenne Jackson) can’t help.

Now cue Kai (Evan Peters), a blue-haired Trump supporter who seemingly wants to push Ally over the edge. He coerces a young woman named Winter (Billie Lourd) into becoming Ally and Ivy’s nanny—and that’s where the real terror begins. Translation? Winter starts filling Ally’s house with clowns, including Twisty the Clown from AHS: Freak Show! Shook.

Watch the trailer for yourself, below.

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AHS: Cult premieres September 5 on FX.

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