American Horror Story is opening the doors to its past for lucky — or perhaps very unlucky — Season 13.
FX has released the first teaser and key art for American Horror Story Season 13, offering the biggest look yet at a season that appears ready to bring together characters and nightmares from throughout the anthology’s history.
And FX isn’t being subtle about it.
Constance Langdon. Cordelia Goode. Madison Montgomery. Marie Laveau. Rubber Man. Twisty the Clown. Kai Anderson.
They’re all being teased for a return, with FX promising even more surprises when American Horror Story: 13 premieres Thursday, September 24 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on FX and Hulu. The season will also stream internationally on Disney+.
After 12 installments spent jumping between different eras, locations and flavors of horror, Season 13 increasingly looks like a celebration — and perhaps a collision — of everything that has made American Horror Story such an enduring franchise.
Watch the American Horror Story Season 13 Teaser
The first teaser doesn’t give away exactly how all of these characters fit together, but that’s half the fun.
FX confirms the return of characters stretching across several of the show’s most memorable seasons, including Jessica Lange’s Constance Langdon from Murder House, Sarah Paulson’s Cordelia Goode and Emma Roberts’ Madison Montgomery from Coven, and Angela Bassett’s Marie Laveau.
They’re joined by some considerably less friendly familiar faces.
Rubber Man is returning. So is Twisty the Clown, while Evan Peters’ Kai Anderson is also among the characters specifically named by FX.
For longtime AHS fans, that’s quite a collection.
And considering FX’s careful wording that these returns come “among other surprises,” there’s every reason to believe Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk aren’t finished digging through the franchise’s history.
American Horror Story Season 13 Has a Massive Cast
The returning-character reveals come alongside an appropriately enormous ensemble.
American Horror Story Season 13 stars Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, Leslie Grossman, Joey Pollari and Jessica Lange.
The expanded cast also includes Avantika, Jamie Brewer, Elle Chapman, Berto Colon, Alex Consani, Frances Conroy, Mat Fraser, Seth Gabel, Orlando Jones, Paul Anthony Kelly, John Carroll Lynch, Tig Notaro, Madelaine Petsch, Fedor Steer, Mena Suvari, Zach Villa, John Waters and more.
That collection of AHS veterans alone would be enough to make Season 13 feel like an event.
Jessica Lange’s involvement is particularly notable. One of the defining performers of the franchise’s early years, Lange starred in its first four seasons before making a memorable return as Constance Langdon in American Horror Story: Apocalypse.
Now Constance is coming back again.
Season 13 Is Leaning Into American Horror Story History
The number 13 was always going to be difficult for American Horror Story to resist.
Rather than treating it as just another season number, FX appears to be turning the franchise’s 13th installment into an opportunity to revisit its own mythology.
Over the years, American Horror Story has taken audiences from the Murder House to Briarcliff, a coven of witches in New Orleans, a traveling freak show, the Hotel Cortez, Roanoke, an apocalyptic wasteland and plenty of other places where checking in has generally proven considerably easier than checking out.
Season 13 appears ready to start opening some of those doors again.
The return of Cordelia, Madison and Marie Laveau immediately establishes a significant Coven presence, while Constance and Rubber Man bring Murder House back into play. Twisty reaches all the way back to Freak Show, while Kai represents Cult.
Exactly why characters from such different corners of the AHS universe are returning remains the big mystery.
And that’s probably something FX intends to keep secret for a while longer.
American Horror Story Season 13 Release Schedule
FX is also doing something different with the release schedule.
AHS: 13 will consist of 13 half-hour episodes, beginning Thursday, September 24.
Premiere week will feature three episodes, followed by another three episodes in week two. FX will then release two episodes each Thursday, leading into the 13th and final episode on October 29.
Yes, American Horror Story is finishing its 13-episode 13th season immediately before Halloween.
Some things are simply meant to be.
The half-hour format is an especially interesting change for a franchise that has traditionally operated with hour-long episodes. Combined with the accelerated release schedule, Season 13 could have a very different rhythm from previous installments.
American Horror Story Remains an FX Horror Institution
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, American Horror Story debuted in 2011 and has since accumulated more than 100 Emmy nominations while becoming the longest-running hour-long series in FX history.
According to FX, the anthology has also generated more than 700 million hours streamed worldwide.
Season 13 now gets the opportunity to turn that history into part of the story itself.
The returning characters make this feel less like another isolated chapter and more like American Horror Story looking backward at the universe it has spent more than a decade building.
Whether that means another interconnected story in the spirit of Apocalypse, something entirely different, or a few tricks FX hasn’t revealed yet remains to be seen.
But bringing Constance Langdon, Cordelia Goode, Madison Montgomery, Marie Laveau, Rubber Man, Twisty the Clown and Kai Anderson together is one hell of a way to get everyone’s attention.
When Does American Horror Story Season 13 Premiere?
American Horror Story Season 13 premieres Thursday, September 24 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on FX and Hulu.The season will also stream internationally on Disney+.
The first two weeks will each feature three episodes, followed by two episodes every Thursday before the Season 13 finale arrives October 29, just in time for Halloween.
American Horror Story: 13 is created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Ned Martel and Charlie Carver also serve as executive producers, alongside Eric Kovtun, Nissa Diederich, Scott Robertson, Tanase Popa, Crystle Roberson Dorsey, Jennifer Salt and Tim Minear. The series is produced by 20th Television.
Editor-in-Chief | Seat42F, a leading source of entertainment news, information, television and movie resources.
