American Horror Story: 13 is set to be quite the clusterfuck. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing…only time will tell.
It’s hard to believe, but the cultural phenomenon of American Horror Story started 15 years ago with the season retroactively called Murder House. It was groundbreaking and scary and dramatic and unlike most things we had seen on TV before. Its success launched a franchise that has attracted wide audiences and a truly bonkers array of celebrity guest stars, from Kim Kardashian to Angela Bassett to Patti LuPone. The show has also seen plenty of LGBTQ+ actors come through its ranks, including but definitely not limited to Lady Gaga, Cara Delevingne, Angelica Ross, and of course, Sarah Paulson, who has been in 10 of the show’s 13 seasons, including this upcoming one.
In fact, a lot of actors from previous seasons will be reprising their roles for Season 13, with Sarah Paulson playing SIX of her characters. Jessica Lange will return as some combination of the four character she has played throughout the series, Ryan Murphy having pulled her back in despite explicitly stating she wasn’t going to return to the series. Plus, some new faces will show up; for example, Tig Notaro!
It does seem like, from the trailer, they’re pulling from the early days of AHS, aka truly the best seasons. I personally watched and enjoyed Murder House, Asylum, Coven, and Hotel, but had to quit Freak Show, Roanoke, and Apocalypse before they were over. I stopped 1984 after one episode because Will Schuster was in short shorts and it hurt my eyes. I never even attempted Double Feature, NYC, or Delicate. I watched but did not particularly enjoy the anthology spinoff, American Horror Stories. So I’m torn about this, if I’m honest. On one hand, Coven was my second favorite season and the trailer has the titular coven reassembling, which could be epic. On the other hand, it’s Ryan Murphy. And you never really know what you’re going to get with him. So, I hope that this is either surprisingly amazing, or at least so bad it’s fun to watch. I feel like you can’t REALLY go wrong with Sarah Paulson Tatiana Maslany-ing all over the place, but there’s only one way to find out.
If you also aren’t fully up to date on your AHS lore but don’t have time for any full-season rewatches, the official account has provided a handy dandy rewatch list of 13 episodes to prepare you for AHS: 13.
You can check out the trailer now, and the first episode will air on September 24th. It will take us right into spooky season, with the finale airing the Thursday before Halloween.
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+ Bisexual actress Anna Camp is hosting a new HGTV show called A Very Haunted Renovation that starts tomorrow, September 15th; one of the designers SK Stokes Kennedy, is queer
+ We’ve known Gillian Anderson was queer for a while, but now she’s sharing about identifying specifically as pansexual
+ The newest season of Monster that will focus on Lizzie Borden, alleged axe murderer and potentially queer historical figure, comes out this week (and I’ll be writing about it here on this very website page, so keep an eye out for that!)
+ Cynthia Erivo stars in Prima Facie, a movie adaptation of the one-woman show; I saw the play and think the movie will be worse for having men in it (or really multiple characters at all) but I’m sure Cynthia Erivo shines
+ Megan Rapinoe talks about the end of her relationship and the end of her soccer career and benign ready for new beginnings
+ Kate Berlant is in the new Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen movie, Babies, about a couple who is second-guessing their decision to be child-free, but it does appear she might be playing straight (womp)
+ Tessa Thompson will star in a “death row drama” called Last Meals as a food critic
+ Chloë Grace Moretz celebrates one year of being married to her wife, model Kate Harrison
+ Queer author of Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel, is adding another book to her “Mandelverse”
+ Model Kai Schreiber, daughter of Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, has become the first trans girl to win Breakthrough Model of the Year at New York Fashion Week
+ Lady Gaga may have added a little monster to her family
+ The Emmys tonight may not end up having a ton of queer winners, but you know what definitely does? The Autostraddle TV Awards. And the results are IN.
