Everything We Know About ‘American Horror Story: Cult’

It’s almost time for another season of American Horror Story, so you know what that means. It’s time to wildly speculate about this critically-acclaimed and wildly popular series because Ryan Murphy loves keeping his fans in the dark until the very last minute.

One of the most fun elements of FX’s horror anthology series is also intensely frustrating. Now in its seventh season, American Horror Story has made it a trend in the last few years to hold back as much information as possible until its premiere. As a fan it’s aggravating, but there’s a sick joy that comes with untangling the mysteries that envelop the series. Becasue you never know what’s going to happen episode to episode (or even minute to minute), anything is possible, and even the most insane fan theories are plausible. To help you in your sleuthing as we approach American Horror Story: Cult, here’s your cheat sheet to everything we know about this extra-creepy season.

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Is this season really going to be about the election?

Yes and no. As with so many other elements in life, American Horror Story: Cult has changed drastically since the election. One of the first Season 7 announcements that gained traction came when Ryan Murphy said this latest season would deal with the 2016 election. Even now, the first episode of American Horror Story: Cult is listed as “Election Night.” However, we now officially know that this latest season won’t directly deal with Trump’s election and Clinton’s loss. Rather, this season will be a reflection of the paranoia the election produced. All that being said, it’s been reported that this season may have a Donald Trump stand-in.

“I would say, honestly, that when Ryan had made the announcement originally that the season was going to deal with Trump, I think it’s more about what’s going on in our world around us. And we talk about the streak of paranoia, that I think that there’s a lot of idea that launches from that point,” Alexis Martin Woodall said. “It’s not necessarily, it’s not what you think it is. And I’m not trying to be cagey. It’s just that I think that, as with all good horror and suspense, knowing less is actually so much more because it’s going to unfold for you, but it’s an element in our launch point.”

What’s with all the white, male clowns?

If you haven’t yet signed up for American Horror Story: Cult’s marketing site, I highly recommend you remedy that mistake. The site teases new footage and puzzles each week, each one becoming increasingly creepier. However, the one thing that remains the same is that AHS: Cult’s marketing is filled with creepy clowns. Does that mean Season 4’s Twisty will be making another appearance? Is Twisty the leader of this violent nonsense? This definitely seems likely as Murphy has confirmed this season will be connected to Freak Show but set in modern day Michigan.

This season may be more planned out than seasons past.

During the show’s panel at TCA 2017, Sarah Paulson, the longtime queen of this beloved series, revealed that she had more scripts prior to the start of this season than ever before. Why did this happen? And what does that mean for Cult? Paulson wouldn’t tell, but she assured critics it was a good thing.

More scripts may indicate that more planning than usual has gone into this new season. If that’s the case, that’s a very good thing indeed. Ryan Murphy’s shows, particularly American Horror Story, have a habit of starting strong and ending as a scrambled mess. Perhaps this tidbit from Paulson indicated that will change in Season 7.

Get ready for explosions and gore.

During FX’s panel on Murphy’s Half Foundation, an initiative that seeks to make sure at least half of Murphy’s projects are directed by women, directors Rachel Goldberg and Maggie Kelly hinted about what we could expect from their AHS: Cult episodes. In Goldberg’s case, look out for explosions. “I’m being given an opportunity in this episode to do visual effects and stunts and special effects, where in the past in my indie work, it’s, like, ‘Okay, we need blood. There’s some chocolate syrup. We’ll do it black and white. Here’s a retractable knife from the Halloween store.’ But now it’s, like, ‘No, I can blow shit up. This is awesome,’” she said. Goldberg directs Episode 7 of this season.

Kiley teased the amount of gore that will be in the fifth episode she directs. Kiley spoke about how frustrating it was to be ignored for action-heavy projects and creatively pigeonholed to dramatic coming-of-age projects because of her gender. “Not that there’s anything wrong with those projects,” she said, “but this episode of American Horror that I’ve just come off of, I think there’s some blood, for sure. So yeah, very grateful for it. Bring on the blood.”

What’s going on with this season’s cast?

Season 7 of American Horror Story will include Ryan Murphy favorite such as Evan Peters (Kai), Sarah Paulson (Ally Mayfair-Richards), Adina Porter (Beverly Hope), Cheyenne Jackson (Dr. Rudy Vincent), Frances Conroy, Mare Winningham, Emma Roberts, and Chaz Bono. Joining them will be AHS newcomers Billie Lourd (Winter Anderson), Billy Eichner (Harrison Wilton), Leslie Grossman (Meadow Wilton), Colton Haynes (Detective Samuels), Alison Pill (Ivy Mayfair-Richards), and Lena Dunham. Here are some other tantalizing details we know:

Sarah Paulson and Alison Pill’s characters are probably married.

This is perhaps the biggest reveal from American Horror Story’s TCA panel. A lot of critical prodding revealed that this season will focus on a married lesbian couple. “There are two women married to each other in that house,” Alison Pill confirmed.

As for who those two people are, they could be Pill and Sarah Paulson, they could be some other actors. “It’s me and Alison,” Paulson said before adding, “That may or may not be true.” It’s probably more likely to be true than not seeing as how Paulson and Pill’s characters share the same last name.

Billie Lourd is not in a comedic role.

One of the more exciting cast additions is Billie Lourd’s return to the world of Ryan Murphy. Lourd first worked with Murphy’s on Fox’s two-season series Scream Queens where she often acted as the ditzy comedic relief in the often-absurd series. However, according to Lourd, there’s very little that’s funny about her new Murphy role. “Yeah, it’s definitely less of my comedic side, more of my real dark side, and I do have emotions this time, which is really exciting for me,” she said.

Lena Dunham will likely only be in one episode.

Though Hannah Horvath’s life just felt like a Millennial horror story, Dunham is about to star in a real on. At the moment it’s unclear who Dunham is going to play. However, according to Deadline, it seems like Dunham will only be involved in one episode.

Adina Porter will be playing a broadcast journalist.

We finally have a rough idea of the character the True Blood star will be playing. Porter will be a broadcast journalist. Conversations with Porter revealed that her character is based off of a well-known on-air personality, but neither Porter nor the AHS cast would tell who it is.

Something big is going to go down at a grocery store.

When the panel was asked for a list of words associated with this season, the secretive cast gave “bloody,” “orange,” “horror,” “chicken,” and “a well-cooked meal.” However, the phrase the elicited the biggest response from the panelists was when Woodall mentioned there would be “an exciting trip to a grocery store.”

“I just think that it is true to our brand, which is, you are going to be in a whole new world all over again and fall in love with these really special characters and hate yourself for watching it right before you go to bed and love yourself in the morning because you are, like, ‘Oh, my God. I made it through the night,’” Woodall said. “So I think that’s what I would say.”

There’s a secret tour that may be coming to you.

Following the release of AHS: Cult’s “Maniacal Mystery Tour” promo, it’s been reported that FX will have a real stunt for the show that will take place in Philadelphia. The secret bus event should take place in Philly tonight (August 11) at 7 p.m.

American Horror Story: Cult premieres on Tuesday, September 5th at 10 p.m. on FX.