PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Last summer, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk surprised their fans with the first ever season of American Horror Stories, a seven-episode spinoff series of American Horror Story (AHS). Unlike the ten seasons of AHS, American Horror Stories features a new tale of horror in each episode, with new and reoccurring cast members and uniquely horrifying plot lines that leave viewers wishing for more.
The first season of American Horror Stories debuted with a two-episode narrative, “Rubber (Wo)man: Part 1” and “Rubber (Wo)man: Part 2,” featuring the first appearance of actress Sierra McCormick as Scarlett, a queer red-headed teenager who moves into the legendary Murder House with her two fathers, played by returning AHS actor Matt Bomer (Freakshow, Hotel) and newcomer Gavin Creel. In the third episode, “Drive-In,” iconic actors Naomi Grossman (famously known as Pepper in the AHS seasons Asylum and Freakshow) as well as John Carroll Lynch (AHS seasons Freakshow, Hotel, 1984) return when a forbidden film unleashes madness among the audience at a small drive-in theater.
We saw new cast members such as Nico Greetham (The Prom) and Dyllon Burnside (Pose) in the Christmas-themed reality TV mockup in episode four, “The Naughty List,” while Billie Lourd (AHS seasons Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, Double Feature) returns in episode five, “Ba’al,” as she summons an ancient fertility god to aid in her pregnancy attempts. Antichrist heart throb from Apocalypse, Cody Fern, dons his natural Australian accent in episode six, “Feral,” playing a U.S. Park Ranger who harbors dark secrets about the national park system. Finally, episode seven, “Game Over,” features an Inception-like twist ending as struggling game developer Michelle (Mercedes Mason) attempts to win her son’s affections by creating a video game based off his favorite television series, which just happens to be American Horror Story.
According to FX Networks, the first season of American Horror Stories was the most successful launch of any FX series on Hulu and was announced in August 2021 to be renewed for a second season. As all AHS seasons are filmed under a code name before their titles are officially released, the secret moniker for the second season of American Horror Stories is Scared Again. Based off reports from AHS fan pages such as AHS Crave, AHS Eleven, and AHS Daily, this is what we know about the first three episodes of the second season of Stories.
EPISODE ONE
American-Norwegian actress Kristine Froseth (The Society, Looking for Alaska) is set to star in the first episode of American Horror Stories which was filmed at the Andrew McNally house in Altadena, California. The episode is directed by Loni Peristere who previously directed the first two episodes of Stories season one. To much fan excitement, Denis O’ Hare, anthology actor in AHS seasons Murder House, Coven, Freakshow, Hotel, Roanoke, and Double Feature, has joined the cast of episode one. His role is connected to a previous season of AHS, so fans have been hypothesizing if he’ll be reprising one of his original characters from the show and who that character would be. AHS: Cult actor Matt Lasky has also been cast in episode one, along with recording artist Kenia Arias, actress/director Abby Corrigan (Castle Rock), Emily Morales-Cabrera (This Is Us), actress/producer Simone Recasner (The Big Leap), Maryssa Menendez, as well as child actor Houston Towe (Animal Kingdom).
EPISODE TWO
The second episode of American Horror Stories will be directed by Logan Kibens (Snowfall, I Know What You Did Last Summer) and is rumored to include scenes at a funeral filmed at a cemetery in Altadena, California, as well as a wedding filmed at Pasadena City Hall. The episode will feature the relationship between two main characters, Sam and Jesse, with Sam being played by Madison Iseman (Jumanji, Annabelle Comes Home, I Know What You Did Last Summer). Other cast members include Spencer Neville (AHS: 1984), Cameron Cowperthwaite (AHS: Cult), and Jessika Van (Awkward MTV).
EPISODE THREE
AHS star Gabourey Sidibe is supposed to star in the third episode of American Horror Stories. Sidibe played Queenie, a witch with the power of a human voodoo doll, in both Coven and Apocalypse, as well as Regina, the daughter of the Mott family’s maid in the fourth season, Freakshow. The plot of episode three centers around a suburban wife and her husband as she becomes “the target of a dangerous individual.” Other cast members include Nancy Linehan Charles (Minority Report, Bram Stoker’s Dracula) in a supporting role as a nosy neighbor type, along with Max Greenfield (AHS: Hotel), Freddie Basnight (Aftermath), and Sarah Paust (Cuddly Toys). Episode three will be filmed at Golden Oak Ranch in Newhall, California, and will be directed by Max Winkler, who directed the fourth episode of Stories season one, “The Naughty List,” as well as episode seven of AHS: Double Feature, “Take Me To Your Leader.”
