Around this time last year, Season 6 of American Horror Story was still shrouded in mystery, its theme still a carefully guarded secret and its marketing campaign made up of a series of teasers designed to confuse and misdirect. This year, however, we already know quite a bit about Season 7 of the FX show, which is subtitled Cult. According to creator Ryan Murphy, the season will take place in the aftermath of the 2016 election.
It seems fitting, then, that a season about last year’s presidential circus has a marketing campaign that’s full of clowns. FX has been releasing teasers for the past two weeks, and one thing they almost have in common is some very unfunny-looking, white-faced jokers.
There are dancing clowns, bathtub clowns—even a clown queen of some sort. You might be able to spot some members of this season’s cast, which include Billy Eichner, Colton Haynes, Cheyenne Jackson, Billie Lourd, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Alison Pill, Adina Porterunder, Emma Roberts, and Lena Dunham, although it’s difficult to be sure who’s who under all that makeup.
Ryan Murphy has hinted on Instagram that Twisty, the clown from American Horror Story: Freak Show (and the star of your nightmares for weeks afterward), may be returning in some capacity. Between this and the new adaptation of Stephen King’s It, job security for murderous clowns seems to be at an all-time high.
