A bearded lady, conjoined twins, strongmen, and a killer clown set the scene for Ryan Murphy’s new season of “American Horror Story.” This chronicle, aptly titled “Freak Show,” has slowly been revealing details of the new season of the critically-acclaimed show.
Stars like Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare, Angela Basset, and Kathy Bates will be returning to the show in new roles. This season takes place in Jupiter, Fla. in 1952, following a freak show struggling to stay in business. The show will return Oct. 8 at 10/9c on FX.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Lange will be staring as Elsa Mars, a German ex-pat who is the ringleader of the dying show. Lange and her band of sideshow acts will be trying to surge popularity back into their show as a killer new antagonist named Twisty the Clown will be out to, “make their lives a living hell” according to Murphy. Besides this psychotic clown, O’Hare alongside returning star, Emma Roberts, will play a pair of con artists out to compete with the circus. It was also announced this week that the show will bring back season two favorite, Pepper, and connect her story to this season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGwySm9nMc
American Horror Story, originally premiering in 2011, is an anthology series. The previous arcs were “The Murder House,” “Asylum,” and “Coven.” Each season is its own self-contained story. Murphy frequently collaborated on each arc with actors from previous seasons as well as bringing in new actors.
After catching onto the show since the initial premiere in 2011, I have been following this show as a big fan of the horror genre. The first season will always be my favorite; it was innovative and had a simple yet strong narrative. “Asylum” had an interesting storyline, but I found it to be too scattered and busy with all the different subjects it covered. “Coven” came back strong, but the second half of the season faltered. Though the past two seasons have had their faults, I still enjoy the show since there aren’t many shows that cater to horror. After watching the first extended trailer and reading up on the plot, I think that this season will be strong visually, and if the story stays as simple as it sounds, then it could have the potential of being great. Regardless of plot, Murphy always keeps the creepy factor up every season, and it will still be a wild ride at the freak show.
