Meet the Twisted Characters of American Horror Story: Hotel

It's primetime for American Horror Story spoilers. The new season, Hotel, is premiering on Oct. 7, and already we have several teasers, in addition to set pictures, and tons of details. Even better, the new issue of Entertainment Weekly unveiled a bunch of character descriptions, including news about who Evan Peters is playing. Yes, there's even a connection to the first season! Before we go to deeply into that wormhole, let's review what we know about each of the new characters.

Sarah Paulson as Hypodermic Sally
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Sarah Paulson as Hypodermic Sally

At the Summer TCA panel, Paulson said that her "sort of dark" character Sally is a drug addict who is "unlike anything I’ve ever done on the show," and very sexy. Sally lives at the hotel and revealed that she has "a kind of budding something with Wes’s character." She also has a very clear enemy: Sally hates Kathy Bates's character Iris "in a rather ancient way for reasons that are revealed quickly." Paulson also told EW that Sally "will put a stiletto in your face if it means she can get what she needs. But she’s also like a broken rag doll."

Kathy Bates as Iris
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Kathy Bates as Iris

Bates revealed at the Summer TCA that Iris runs the hotel and has relationships with characters played by Wes Bentley, Denis O'Hare, but the feeling of hatred Iris gets from Paulson's character Sally is mutual. Iris "can’t stand" Sally. She also happens to be the mother of Matt Bomer's character Donovan. "Iris is overprotective with a capital O, especially now since her son is ill," Bates told EW. "She wants to be there every day to make sure he’s all right, and she’s very controlling that way.

Lady Gaga as Elizabeth
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Lady Gaga as Elizabeth

Ryan Murphy filled us in on Gaga's character since she was not at the Summer TCA panel. Her name is Elizabeth, and she's the hotel owner who is a "very wealthy social doyenne" who is "consumed with art and fashion and people." Murphy said that she "has a nefarious plan that is revealed in the first episode." According to EW, she is known by the Countess, and she in the middle of a love triangle with Donovan and male model Tristan (Finn Wittrock). Oh, she also drinks blood.

Matt Bomer as Donovan
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Matt Bomer as Donovan

Donovan is a denizen of the Hotel Cortez, Bomer revealed at the TCA panel, and he's "closely associated with Gaga, Ms. Bates, and Mr. Wittrock." Look for his connections for them to be weird, to say the least: he has "interesting relationships with the ladyfolk in his life," Bomer teased. He further revealed to EW that he's the Countess's longtime lover, who happens to also drink blood. "He’s very interested in domesticity and sort of nesting and hunkering down and having her to himself every now and then, and that doesn’t go over so well with her limitless hunger."

Finn Wittrock as Tristan Duffy
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Finn Wittrock as Tristan Duffy

During the TCA panel, Wittrock said his character Tristan is a male model who's always "looking for the next high," and he finds the "biggest high in Lady Gaga's [character]." He also said, "she sees all of me." Um, is that a promise of nudity? "He’s got an addictive personality," he told EW. "I think he’s hypersexual also. It makes him a prime candidate for the Countess’s charms and he is very willingly seduced and then turned by her."

Angela Bassett as Ramona Royale
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Angela Bassett as Ramona Royale

Bassett told the crowd at TCA that her character Ramona is a "fabulous actress of the day," who doesn't live at the hotel but visits very often. She also used to have a romantic relationship with the Countess, and according to EW, Ramona and Donovan team up to team revenge out on the Countess.

Cheyenne Jackson as Will Drake
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Cheyenne Jackson as Will Drake

During the TCA panel, Jackson said that his character, Will Drake, is a fashion icon who is "trying to creatively re-establish himself," which is why he moves from New York to LA and into the hotel. He's also "a little desperate," Jackson added. In a really awesome twist, he also visits the Murder House from the first season!

Wes Bentley as Detective John Lowe
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Wes Bentley as Detective John Lowe

Bentley revealed during the TCA panel that his character is suffering from a recent "great loss in [his] family." He's throwing himself in his work, living at the Hotel Cortez while trying to find the Ten Commandments Killers, according to EW.

Chloë Sevigny as Alex Lowe
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Chloë Sevigny as Alex Lowe

Sevigny's character, a pediatrician, is the wife of Bentley's character. EW says that the couple will "get sucked into the Cortez's darkness."

Denis O'Hare as Elizabeth Taylor
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Denis O'Hare as Elizabeth Taylor

Yes, you read that name right. O'Hare is not actually playing the iconic actress, but a character who is inspired by her and the "awesomeness of things like Butterfield 8 and Cleopatra." He revealed during TCA that he shaved his head for the part, "and other body parts." "Liz" is an employee of the hotel who works in the bar, called the Blue Parrot Lounge.

Lily Rabe as Aileen Wuornos
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Lily Rabe as Aileen Wuornos

Rabe is returning to the show for the Halloween episode, which is titled "Devil's Night." She's playing Aileen Wuornos, the murderous prostitute who Charlize Theron portrayed in the 2003 drama Monster.

Evan Peters as James March
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Evan Peters as James March

Recurring cast member Peters is playing James March, the intensely disturbed man who builds the Hotel Cortez in the 1930s. "He’s designed a hotel to cater to his specific needs," Peters told EW. "Which tend toward the dark evil."

Naomi Campbell as Claudia
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Naomi Campbell as Claudia

EW got the scoop on Claudia, a Vogue editor who ends up regretting her stay at the Hotel Cortez. "She’s kind of outlandish,"Campbell revealed. "She thinks she’s indestructible and nothing’s going to hurt her."

Max Greenfield as Gabriel
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Max Greenfield as Gabriel

Though Greenfield's character was originally supposed to be preppy, he told EW that Murphy transformed Gabriel into a more rock and roll kind of guy. He also described the character as a "Hollywood Junkie."