On Friday Ryan Murphy and company took the stage at PaleyFest and made come major announcements concerning the upcoming third season of his horror anthology series American Horror Story. First, we’ve got the subtitle: Coven. And yes, the new season will be about witches. “It’s a really cool story we’ve been talking about for a couple of years, and this seemed the year to do it.” We were told in the past that AHS 3 will shoot on location in three different cities across the country; Murphy revealed that one of those locales will be New Orleans. “The fun thing is researching what are the really haunted places in America, and we have a couple doozy locales,” he said.
As previously announced, Jessica Lange will lead an ensemble cast that includes returning AHS actors Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, and Taissa Farmiga. A surprise guest joined the cast and creators on stage at PaleyFest: veteran actresss Kathy Bates is joining the cast to play a “cuckoo-for-Cocoa Puffs character” that is at odds with Lange’s new character. “I wanted to see a lot of scenes with Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates going at it,” Murphy said, “so that’s what you’re going to see.” Despite playing the villain in the 1990 psychological thriller Misery (a role that won her an Oscar), Murphy promises that her AHS role is even worse. “Oh, Kathy’s never [played] someone this bad. Her [character] is a bad, bad woman,” he exclaimed. “When I pitched this to Kathy, her mouth was drop-jawed because what I was pitching actually happened,” he went on. “It’s a true event…You’ll see. It’s some good stuff.”
American Horror Story: Coven is really starting to take shape now. With an all-star cast and exciting new locations planned, anticipation is as high as ever for the FX drama. AHS returns for more spooks this fall.