‘American Horror Story’ Celebrates Lucky 13 With Unholy Fan Service

If there is one thing we know about the 13th installment of this always stylish horror anthology is that we know very little about it, aside from being the 13th installment and most likely, very stylish. And that is how it’s always been. Like a jump scare, we never know what is coming because American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has mastered the art of not spoiling each season’s theme or how it may (or may not) be connected to previous seasons until it’s unleashed on the world.

“They are so secretive,” agrees Leslie Grossman, who first joined the AHS universe in Season 7’s “Cult” and is one of the confirmed actors back this time around. “We do get full scripts, but also things change and things turn and things twist [throughout filming].”

Of course, there are some tidbits that are smartly fed to the fans. So far, it’s been revealed that Jessica Lange is returning to the franchise for the first time since her 2019 cameo in “Apocalypse” to reprise all of her roles from the first four seasons — Constance Langdon, the adoptive mother of the Anti-Christ in “Murder House,” abusive nun Sister Jude Martin in “Asylum,” volatile Supreme witch Fiona Goode in “Coven,” and monstrous German performer Elsa Mars in “Freak Show” — and that fellow utility players Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson would also be reviving multiple characters from their various runs. Look for visits from alums Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, and John Carroll Lynch as well.

In addition, Murphy has confirmed that Lange would be having a musical number in what he’s called his “Greatest Hits” season and slipped to Vogue that the 13th arc is fittingly demonic. “In many seasons, the [characters] have battled the Antichrist. The only hint I’ll say is, ‘Let’s go above his pay grade for this.’ That’s my clue.”

So, it’s very possible the forces of good (of Goode?) and evil are preparing for battle, especially given those pics from the New York location shoot featuring “Coven” powerhouses Paulson, Emma Roberts‘s Madison Montgomery, Frances Conroy‘s Myrtle Snow, and Gabourey Sidibe‘s Queenie, along with Grossman’s Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt and AHS newbies Avantika Vandanapu (Not Suitable for Work), Grace Dumdaw (And Just Like That), and model Alex Consani.

Just don’t assume that this is all about the witches. “Ryan has made it very clear [that] this is not a ‘Coven’ season,” asserts Grossman, a Murphy treasure since her days as sociopathic cheerleader Mary Cherry in The WB’s Popular. “This is a season that is very expansive, but there is a lot of good, meaty Coven stuff that happens.”

Admitting with a laugh that it’s impossible to preview the new season without ruining the surprises to come —  “There’s only so much I can say and I always feel so guilty about it, but I will speak to it as much as I can without getting put in American Horror Story jail” — Grossman does admit that keeping track of which older storylines and characters intersect with the newer ones requires its own sort of sorcery.

“When so many things are layered in together, there would be times where it’d be like, ‘Wait, how do we orient ourselves in this scene? Oh, right!’” she shares.

Thankfully, “we have Sarah Paulson, who is a fearless leader in so many ways,” she continues. “And the thing that’s so great about Sarah is when we’re in the thick of it…she has it all sorted out because she also has such a heavy lift [this season]. She really is so keyed in.” Additionally, Grossman credits AHS13 showrunners Ned Martel and Charlie Carver (who also starred in and wrote for Season 11’s “NYC”), Murphy, and co-creator Brad Falchuk for having “very clear ideas” of how each piece of the story fits together and how to keep the shocks coming.

“I have to say, there were things that when I would read a script, I was like, ‘No way…wow!’ There are really clever and smart connections that are deeply satisfying,” she says. “And for me, again, just as a fan was like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome,’ or, ‘That’s so smart,’ or, ‘Oh, no way, of course!’ So, there’s a million Easter eggs and a lot of cool stuff that gets layered in together that’s really fun to follow.”

And that attention to details isn’t just reflected in the writing. “On set, there is an enormous amount of reverence for the history and the lore of the material and how connected fans are to this show,” the perpetual scene-stealer reports. “And I know that everybody works so hard to stay true to all of that and to really be careful about connecting all of those threads and making sure that it’s honest to the material and honors the past of what these stories and characters were, but then to [also] craft it in a way that is fresh and different and new and to balance those things out.”

She adds, “A lot of care is taken every single day at work to make sure that we were getting it right.”

Now, that is the American way.

American Horror Story, Season 13 Premiere, Thursday, September 24, 9/8c, FX