[Major spoilers inside] On Wednesday FX’s hit new show American Horror Story came to a dramatic conclusion, leaving most of its main cast members dead. The entire Harmon family passed on (including Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, and Taissa Farmiga) and they linger in the haunted house as ghosts with their dead child and the sweet maid Moira played by Frances Conroy. The only series regular that managed to survive the whole ordeal is Jessica Lange, who was recently nominated a Golden Globe for her portrayal as the neighborly Constance. So with the Harmon story complete, where does the show go from here? Today AHS co-creator Ryan Murphy led a conference call with members of the press and explained that the show was originally built as an anthology meaning that each season will be “radically different” from the last.

“Every season of the show will be a different haunting,” Murphy explains. “That’s always been the plan. Every season of the show will have a beginning, middle and end, and all new characters and setting … and we’ll have a new overriding theme.” So does this mean McDermott, Britton, Farmiga, Conroy, Lange, and even Rubber Man himself Evan Peters will not be returning for season 2? Not necessarily. “We’re still negotiating with a handful [of the cast members] about returning,” Murphy says. “We’re also meeting with new actors whom we’ve targeted roles for. I will say that Connie and Dylan will not be playing the leads of the show in the second season. We’d love for them to come back and do something, maybe a smaller role or a cameo.” He continued, “There will be familiar faces and some new faces. People that are coming back will be playing completely new characters… Getting to tell a different aspect of what an American horror story can be [every season] is fascinating.”

And with that it is confirmed from the man at the top that AHS season 2 will tell an entirely new story and introduce to viewers a new slate of characters that will have new issues to deal with. Murphy went on to tease what may be in store for season 2. “There are all kinds of different American horror stories to tell. There are serial killing stories, prison stories, true crime stories…Each year of the show is designed to be a little miniseries unto itself. The only thing we’re not open to doing is a season on vampires.” Phew. More: “The second season of the show will [feature] a brand new home or building to haunt,” so in addition to the main cast you can also kiss goodbye the haunted manor you’ve become accustomed to during season one. Itching to find out what exactly the next American Horror Story will be about? “There’s a clue in the last three episodes where we say what the second season will be,” Murphy teases.

Jump after the break for more.

Now that that’s been laid out for you, let’s dive into why Murphy and co-creator Brad Falchuk ultimately decided to make AHS into an anthology series to feature new casts, locations, and stories each year–an unconventional approach for cable and network TV these days. Murphy says, “There are a lot of actors who have their own careers and don’t want to make a five-year commitment. This gives people who haven’t done TV before an opportunity. Our shooting schedule is like three or four months every season, so it’s like commiting to a film really. I get a lot of calls from film actors who want to dabble in TV but don’t know how to do it. Being on a series where all of the characters’ stories are done after a season is a way in for them. That’s been the plan from the beginning with this show.” New talent each year will surely keep things fresh, but how is Murphy going to deal with the fallout from people who have invested their time getting to know the Harmons? Today he’s expressing his thoughts like this: “We too loved those characters and will mourn them and miss them. But the aspects of the show that people love, including the mystery and love story, will be there, albeit with new actors and characters. But you know, this has always been the plan from day one. We just weren’t interested in doing another season with those people trapped in the house…I’ve always wanted to do a kind of Mercury Theater approach, with a [rotating cast] and each year do kind of like a little novella.” He went on to offer an example of how this applied in season 1. “When we met with Connie, Dylan, and Jessica, they were interested because the story had a beginning, middle and an end. Connie just came off of Friday Night Lights and was not interesting in going back into the grind of a 5-year commitment. When I told her she only had to do a 1-year run, she was excited by that.”

What do you think about all this? Though this week’s season finale ended with a cliffhanger of sorts involving Constance and her murderous demon grandchild, will you be able to let go and move on as the anthology series introduces us to a new family with different problems to be addressed and haunted? Also, one wonders how a “reboot” will affect the series’ ratings. The finale was the most watched episode of the season which averaged 4.4 million viewers since its October debut. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. American Horror Story returns fall 2012 and you can expect to hear more about the new cast and additional information about season 2 in February.

[Via Deadline; TVLine; EW]