The upcoming season of American Horror Story finally has a title: Cult.
This seventh installment of the hit FX series falls in perfect alignment with the previously named seasons, all with vaguely ominous titles, beginning with Murder House, followed by Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, and most recently Roanoke.
Season 7’s theme was announced at Comic-Con Thursday night, in a particularly creepy and elaborate fashion, at the San Diego waterfront. Images were projected out onto the water, showing a collection of clowns marching in unison while the AHS soundtrack played, prompting some serious Twisty the Clown flashbacks, I’m sure. As the presentation continued, performers dressed as clowns scattered themselves amongst the crowd, encouraging them to “join us” and giving them pins with “AHS7” stamped on them.
Creator Ryan Murphy has made it something of a tradition to keep each new season’s theme a secret, teasing fans with clues to decode, before announcing it officially. This year was no different. He began to allude to season 7 earlier this year when he told Bravo’s Andy Cohen that the theme would have something to do with the presidential election.
Since then, Murphy has dropped actual hints for fans to decipher, though good luck with that:
AHS Season 7: Red, white and blue clue
A post shared by Ryan Murphy (@mrrpmurphy) on
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
We still don’t know much, but following the announcement at Comic-Con, Murphy took to Twitter to answer questions. He revealed that AHS regular Evan Peters will have “his heaviest season yet,” as a character named Kai, while Sarah Paulson would play a woman named Ally. He also shared that Cult would be set in Michigan.
In addition to Paulson and Peters, season 7’s cast will also include AHS alums Mare Winningham, Francis Conroy, and Cheyenne Jackson, as well as newcomers Billie Lourd, Billy Eichner, Colton Haynes, Alison Pill, Adina Howard, and the recently announced Lena Dunham.
What else can we expect from Cult? Much remains a mystery, though it seems safe to say that Twisty the Clown will be making some sort of comeback.
Other than that, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait too long: American Horror Story: Cult will premiere on FX on September 5.