Ryan Murphy is bringing back almost everyone for American Horror Story Season 13, and he wants fans to light their candles and prepare for a supreme surprise. The 13th installment of the anthology series arrives Sept. 24 on FX and Hulu, with 13 half-hour episodes wrapping on Oct. 29.
Murphy and Brad Falchuk created the show in 2011 with Murder House, and it has since zigzagged through witch covens, haunted hotels, freak shows, apocalypses and murder houses. Season 13 pulls the thread that connects all of them.
The Cast That Came Back
The returning roster reads like a list of every person Murphy ever asked to show up. Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, Leslie Grossman, John Carroll Lynch, Mat Fraser, Mena Suvari, Zach Villa and Seth Gabel are all back. The full breakdown:
- Jessica Lange: Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Apocalypse
- Evan Peters: Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, Double Feature
- Sarah Paulson: Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, Double Feature
- Angela Bassett: Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Apocalypse
- Kathy Bates: Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Apocalypse, Double Feature
- Emma Roberts: Coven, Freak Show, Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, Delicate
- Billie Lourd: Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, Double Feature
- Gabourey Sidibe: Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Apocalypse
- Leslie Grossman: Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, Double Feature
- John Carroll Lynch: Freak Show, Hotel, Cult, Apocalypse, 1984
- Mat Fraser: Freak Show
- Mena Suvari: Murder House, Apocalypse
- Zach Villa: 1984
- Seth Gabel: Hotel
The executive producers include Murphy, Falchuk, Ned Martel, Charlie Carver, Eric Kovtun, Nissa Diederich, Scott Robertson, Tanase Popa, Crystle Roberson Dorsey, Jennifer Salt and Tim Minear. The season is produced by 20th Television.
Murphy’s Big Promise
Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter that Season 13 is a thank-you to fans. He also promised Easter eggs hiding in the set design. “We also had a lot of the original costumes still in storage that we got to use,” he said. “So there are little Easter eggs threaded around in the set decoration where fans can be like, ‘Wait, wasn’t that in season two?’ It was.”
The bigger tease came at The Shards premiere in July. Murphy confirmed the season draws from every chapter. “Everybody thinks it’s a Coven season and it’s not,” he said. “It’s all the seasons.” He added that Paulson is playing six or seven roles, Lange is playing all four of her iconic characters, and Peters is playing five. “It is like the Avengers,” he said. “They all come together to defeat the ultimate evil.”
That is a lot of hats.
Lange’s Return
The biggest surprise is Lange herself. She has repeatedly told press over the years that she would not return after leaving in 2015. Murphy changed her mind. He told THR that the pitch started with a story about Broadway.
“She told me a story about how she was doing Broadway last season and she would go out after the show, and there were all of these young people who were there because they all watched her work on American Horror Story,” Murphy said. “And she was very moved by that. I said, ‘Well, that’s funny, because my idea is for you to do all four of your favorite characters.’ And she said, ‘Sign me up. I’d love to do it.'”
Murphy posted first looks of actors in character on his Instagram over the past few months. That includes Lange as Constance Langdon, Paulson as Cordelia Goode, aka The Supreme, and Emma Roberts as Madison Montgomery.
What to Expect
The official logline promises an unrivaled 13th installment that does justice to everyone’s most feared number. It also notes that the series has been streamed more than 700 million hours globally and spawned a legion of dedicated fans. Which iconic horrors will return to haunt the hallowed halls of 13?
Murphy’s answer is simple: all of them.
The season premieres Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on FX and Hulu. Premiere week and week two each feature three episodes, followed by two episodes per Thursday until the finale on Oct. 29.
This is a chaotic, glorious mess of callbacks. Murphy has promised multiple roles for multiple actors across multiple seasons, and the set design is full of Easter eggs. The result could be a masterpiece or a disaster. Fans have been watching for over a decade. Now they get the ultimate thank-you.
Source material: “‘American Horror Story’ Season 13: Everything We Know,” The Hollywood Reporter.
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