Every time another season of FX's scary anthology series American Horror Story wraps up, fans wonder what the premise or theme of the next season will be.
As always, Ryan Murphy likes to tease us with subtle hints to build up the suspense, months in advance.
Based on the latest trailer for the show's ninth season, it appears to be a period piece that will pay tribute to the slasher films of the 80s.
1984, to be exact.
The AHS: 1984 teaser captures a popular genre trope: A teenage victim is running away from her masked stalker who manages to catch up to his prey even when keeping a leisurely pace.
American Horror Story: 1984 Season 9 Teaser | 'The Woods' | Rotten Tomatoes TVwww.youtube.com
And because it takes place in the 80s, the damsel in distress is dressed for the part with boots that are not fit for sprinting, denim shorty-shorts and a Peruvian alpaca sweater tying the totally rad look together.
The nostalgic twist on the show sure looks like campy fun, just like all the other 80s cult classics, including, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Silent Night, Deadly Night.
What surprises are in store?
FX teased, "Don't put anything past us."
Not every AHS chapter was a home run with fans. Some complained a lot of the horror from Horror Story was dropped in favor of more bitchiness and sass.
However, the show does not appear to be stopping and curious viewers are sucked right back in, in the hopes of a redemptive new season.
The label of anthology series was challenged since the previous AHS: Apocalypse tied all the story lines together through a time warp involving witches from the 2013 season, Coven.
According to fansite, American Horror Story Wiki, all the seasons are intentionally interconnected.
The 1984 timeline indicates:
- Constance and her children move out of the house.
- Nick Pryor checks into the Hotel Cortez on a business trip. She meets The Countess who helps her transform into Liz Taylor.
- Liz Taylor is hired to work at the Hotel Cortez so she doesn't have to go back to Topeka
Hopes are high for something more simplistic with the slasher genre as the main draw.
Emma Roberts and Gus Kenworthy are so far confirmed for 1984.
Unfortunately, series regular Evan Peters, who proved season after season to be a versatile powerhouse of an actor, announced at WonderCon that he will not be returning this fall.
Tabloid speculation for his exit pointed to his breakup with AHS costar Roberts.
In typical fashion at this point in the year, not much is known about the new season.
But we can pretty much rely on squishing in our earplugs for a lot of this.
Disenchanted fans think AHS is running out of steam after the last couple of okay seasons, but 1984 looks promising.
With the Cabbage Patch kids, smoking on airplanes, Alf and New Coke, being a part of the Yuppie Decade, there are plenty of scary inspirations to draw from for the show's ninth season.
Let's hope they take a good stab at it, come fall.
And if you want to catch up on some of the better received seasons, American Horror Story seasons 1-6 are available here.
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads