FX has kept disarmingly quiet on American Horror Story Season 6, and the anthology nature of the series has meant that we really have no way to predict what's coming next. We've had a few brief glimpses at what's in store this fall when the show returns to the airwaves, and the latest teaser to hit the web is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. In fact, it's so creepy that the faint of heart may not want to watch after dark. Brace yourself for some serious shivers and check it out:
I can't say I knew that only fifteen seconds of vague teaser could be as creepy as this glimpse of American Horror Story Season 6. Even without context for what the hell is happening, I had to shudder just a little bit. What can I say? A mysterious figure using a staple gun on somebody's head is enough to unnerve me.
The clip is labelled "Post Op," which gives the impression that whatever happened to the poor guy with the head full of staples was deliberate rather than an accident. He didn't just take a nasty fall and have his flesh reconnected via stapler because it was the only thing available; stitches are evidently not the flesh-binders of choice after medical procedures wherever Season 6 takes place.
Unfortunately, this latest teaser doesn't give away much of specifically where the action of Season 6 will occur or what it will be about. When taken in conjunction with images from some of the other teasers that have been released, however, we can do a bit of guesswork.
One teaser showed a farmhouse with a suspicious amount of black smoke billowing out of the chimney. We should assume that Season 6 isn't a surprise small screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd based on unnatural smoke alone, but all signs point to some body parts burning inside that farmhouse. The inhabitants could be murderers disposing of evidence or cannibals cooking up a feast or just thrifty folks who cremate their dead themselves. Whatever the cause for that smoke, it's probably good that the people inside don't seem to have any close neighbors.
Another teaser showed what appeared to be a spinning mobile. Instead of featuring cars or airplanes or spaceships, however, this mobile dangles knives and other sharp objects above whatever unlucky person ends up under them. The creepy hand reaching up doesn't look like it belongs to a normal human; somebody is either wearing a very weird skin glove or we should anticipate a new type of monster in Season 6.
A third teaser shows somebody walking down a stairway that has slots behind each step to allow another person to reach out and snatch at the ankles of any unwary passerby. The staircase looks like one that would fit right in with a farmhouse filled with knife mobiles and weird fires.
Taken all together, the teasers for American Horror Story Season 6 don't paint a clear picture of what to expect for the next chapter of the anthology series. Personally, I have to say that I'm getting a sort of Ed Gein/Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel from the footage so far. Gein's biggest claim to notoriety is the fact that he liked to flay the bodies of humans and repurpose the skin for things like chair seat covers and clothing. He lived in an isolated farmhouse and used a combination of murder and exhumation to do his dastardly deeds. One of his victims was even strung up from the ceiling like an animal. Between the teasers with the farmhouse, the suspended knives, and the poor guy with staples binding the skin on his head, I'd say that an American Horror Story take on Ed Gein is quite possible.
Check out our breakdown of what we know so far about American Horror Story Season 6, and take a look at our fall TV premiere schedule to see what else you'll be able to watch this autumn.
