Was That American Horror Story Scene an Homage to Zodiac?

Did you tune in for last night's premiere of American Horror Story: Freak Show? First of all, it was amazing in so many ways, but there is one scene in particular that caught my interest. We see a couple of teenagers/young adults fooling around on a blanket by a lake. It's midday, and the guy gets up to get a condom from the car. While he's gone, this season's villain, Twisty the Clown, wordlessly appears in the not-so-far-off distance. He's petrifying. He walks up to the girl and presents a little clown routine, but when the boy comes back and the girl realizes that he didn't hire Twisty, the clown bashes them both on the head. She wakes up to see Twisty repeatedly stabbing her boyfriend, over and over.

Now, here's a scene from David Fincher's 2007 film about the Zodiac killer.

Lake: check. Young lovers: check. Picnic blanket: check. Silent killer approaching: check. Death by stabbing: check.

It's so similar, even down to the woman watching the killer stab the man. And here's the kicker: John Carroll Lynch played the main suspect in Zodiac, and he plays Twisty the Clown in American Horror Story! Am I the only one who noticed this? And do you think it was an intentional nod?