Shared universes and serialized storytelling are everywhere lately. And while Ryan Murphy's horror drama American Horror Story prides itself on being an anthology series, the rate of crossovers between seasons has increased exponentially over the past few years. Hardcore fans were delighted to hear that characters from both Murder House and Coven would be returning for a future season, and now Murphy has given us a few more details on what the mysterious installment will include. Although it's important to note that this isn't the plan for the next two seasons, but one which will be released in a few years time.
American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy recently sat down to speak with the good folks at Entertainment Weekly. When discussing the future of AHS, he revealed more on the upcoming crossover season, and it sounds like a doozy. He said,
It's a character from Season 1 that will be thrust into the world that you are left with at the end of Coven, which is sort of like the male/female/witch academy. And then all of those characters will intertwine, which is confusing because some of them are from Seasons 1 and 3. Like, Sarah Paulson will probably be playing 18 characters.
At least Ryan Murphy has a sense of humor regarding the somewhat confusing nature of his show's crossovers. With the same cast returning for each season, many actors have portrayed a ton of important characters. So if they were to crossover, it might mean that actors have the potential to be playing scenes with themselves. Now that's what I call a crossover.
Bringing back characters from both Murder House and Coven makes a great deal of sense, as they're some of the most popular seasons in American Horror Story's tenure. Murder House has widely been considered the most horrifying season, with the exception possibly being Roanoke. Conversely, Coven was one of the lighter seasons, focusing on elements of camp, music, and mean girl-esque characters. But these seasons both had a modern time setting, meaning they're the most plausible for crossovers in the future.
It should be interesting to see how using Coven's setting functions in the future seasons. The last we saw of Miss Robichaux's Academy, Cordelia has been named the new Supreme, "came out" about witches and the coven on national news. She, alongside Zoe and Queenie, were charged with educating and protecting a new generation of witches. As such, we can assume that both Cordelia and Zoe will return.
Unfortunately, Gabourey Sidibe's Queenie is likely not coming back to AHS, after her crossover appearance in Hotel. Hotel saw Queenie killed and eaten by Ramona Royale, to the chagrin of many Coven fans. This was one of my biggest problems with Hotel. We saw Queenie survive the various misadventures of her season and become a powerful Witch, only to be killed off unceremoniously. But maybe Cordelia will travel to L.A. and resurrect her- it happened every few episodes on Coven.
American Horror Story usually airs on FX every fall. The theme for the next season has not yet been announced.
