‘American Horror Story: 13’ Trailer: Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters Reprise Iconic Roles in Ryan Murphy’s Horror Anthology
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A new trailer for "American Horror Story: 13" has confirmed the premiere date and format for the anthology's reunion season, set to launch on 24 September on FX and Hulu, with creator Ryan Murphy revealing he is already developing a 14th season. The teaser features returning stars delivering lines as their classic characters, including Evan Peters as Hotel's James Patrick March, Sarah Paulson as Coven's Cordelia Foxx and Jessica Lange as Murder House's Constance Langdon, alongside John Waters, who suggests the number 13 represents "instability, chaos."
The season will run for 13 half-hour episodes, with three episodes airing in each of the first two weeks before dropping to two a week, building to a finale on 29 October. Murphy reiterated that the season unites characters from every previous instalment rather than focusing solely on "Coven," with Paulson playing six or seven roles, Lange all four of her past characters and Peters five; he also said he would not have made the season without Lange's involvement. The wider ensemble includes Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, Emma Roberts, Frances Conroy, Gabourey Sidibe, Mena Suvari and Angela Bassett, among others.
- New "AHS: 13" trailer confirms 24 September premiere on FX and Hulu.
- Season spans 13 half-hour episodes, ending 29 October.
- Ryan Murphy says a 14th season is already in development.
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Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story" has run as an anthology since 2011, meaning each season tells a self-contained story with a new setting and characters, though many roles are played by the same rotating cast. Actors such as Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters became closely associated with the show during its earlier, most acclaimed seasons before stepping back from more recent instalments.
Season 13 brings many of these performers back to revisit characters from the show's past rather than launching an entirely new concept, alongside longer-running cast members like Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts and Jamie Brewer. It also introduces new faces to the franchise. The show has been a major presence in US television for over a decade, drawing large audiences and dozens of Emmy nominations along the way.
This reunion matters to fans because it reconnects the series with characters and eras many consider its high points, at a time when the anthology format means every season is effectively a fresh gamble on whether audiences will respond.
Full account
FX has released the full trailer for the thirteenth season of American Horror Story, confirming that Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters will all return to play multiple characters drawn from across the anthology series' history. The new run, styled AHS: 13, is set to begin on Thursday 24 September at 9pm ET/6pm PT on FX and Hulu, following on from a shorter teaser released in mid-August that centred on the return of Twisty the Clown, played by John Carroll Lynch.
The footage brings together figures from several previous instalments, including Emma Roberts' Madison Montgomery and Paulson's Cordelia from Coven, Peters' James Patrick March from Hotel, Billie Lourd and Peters' Kai Anderson from Cult, and Lange's Constance Langdon from the original Murder House season, whose closing line about needing 'a damn sense of humour' to rule the world rounds off the trailer. Other cast members reprising or joining the ensemble include Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Gabourey Sidibe, Leslie Grossman, Frances Conroy, Mena Suvari, Orlando Jones, Tig Notaro and film-maker John Waters, who appears in the trailer suggesting that the number thirteen itself represents instability and chaos.
Series co-creator Ryan Murphy has been keen to stress that the season should not be read simply as a return to the Coven witches, describing it instead as a coming-together of the whole franchise in comments made to entertainment press ahead of the trailer's release. He has said Paulson takes on six or seven roles and Peters around five, while Lange reprises all four of her best-known characters, likening the ensemble crossover to a team-up along the lines of the Avengers films, with the assembled characters uniting against a shared threat. Murphy has also indicated that this will not be the anthology's final outing, saying he is already developing ideas for a fourteenth season, and has credited Lange's willingness to return as central to the project going ahead at all.
The new season will run to thirteen episodes, broadcast in half-hour instalments rather than the hour-long format used in earlier seasons, with three episodes airing in each of the first two weeks before settling into a twice-weekly pattern through to a finale on 29 October. The production is credited to 20th Television, with Murphy among a large group of executive producers including long-time collaborators Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear. Coverage of the announcement diverged somewhat in focus: one outlet leaned more heavily on cataloguing the full guest cast and airdate logistics, and noted some fan pushback in reader reactions over the shorter episode lengths compared with past seasons, while another placed greater emphasis on Murphy's own remarks about the season's concept and the promise of further seasons to come, along with more extensive quotations from the trailer's dialogue.
Where outlets differ
Deadline (Source 1) focuses on the release logistics — premiere date, episode/scheduling breakdown, executive producer credits and production company — and includes reader comments expressing disappointment that episodes have been shortened to roughly half-hour format compared with earlier hour-long seasons.
The Hollywood Reporter (Source 2) emphasises the trailer's actual dialogue and characters' lines in more detail, and includes extended quotes from Ryan Murphy explaining the season's 'all seasons together'/Avengers-style concept, confirming a 14th season is already in development, and crediting Jessica Lange's involvement as decisive to the project happening.
Only Source 1 details the earlier August teaser centred on Twisty the Clown and lists the full supporting cast from that teaser specifically.
Only Source 2 attributes specific numbers of roles to Paulson, Lange and Peters (six-seven, four and five respectively) via Murphy's comments.
More coverage
- Deadline — ‘American Horror Story’ Season 13 Trailer: “It’s Witch-Hunting Season”
- The Hollywood Reporter — ‘AHS’ Season 13 Trailer Returns Jessica Lange, Evan Peters and More to Iconic Franchise Roles: “It’s Witch-Hunting Season”