American Horror Story [1]: Hotel has been over for months, and we still don't have details on the plot of the next season! We're still getting over the dreary, blood-filled season finale, but it's never too soon to get excited about what's next. (Especially when we have far-flung theories [2]!) That's right, the chilling anthology show has been renewed for a sixth season [3], meaning another year of fresh, scarring horror for fans. But where will next season go? Keep reading, because we've got a handful of ideas.
Related:
- 10 Ways the American Horror Story Seasons Are Connected [4]
- The True Stories Behind 14 American Horror Story Characters [5]
- 54 American Horror Story Lines You Can Use in Real Life [6]
- 5 American Horror Story Characters Who Have Appeared on More Than 1 Season [7]
- 15 Books That Are Just as Twisted as American Horror Story [8]
American Horror Story: Space
- The Setting: Anywhere outside the planet Earth, in the past century. There's something horrifying and unsettling about the vast vacuum of outer space. The isolation could drive anyone mad. Plus, Evan Peters is totally down [9] for a season in space, so that's one person on board — literally and figuratively.
- The Premise: There are a few ways AHS could explore this territory. Maybe a group of astronauts is living in a space station when something goes terribly wrong. Maybe someone goes insane. Or maybe they go to explore a foreign planet and find horrors so much worse than their nightmares.
American Horror Story: Cruise Ship
- The Setting: Think about a month-long cruise to Hawaii, except it's not quite the paradise you once envisioned. Through a sinister lens, you're trapped on open water with upwards of a thousand strangers. So much could go wrong if the ship lost connection to dry land.
- The Premise: There are plenty of ways to make a cruise ship horrific. What if the whole crew was secretly evil? What if there was a serial killer on board? What if a crazy sea monster tried to eat everyone? No one would be able to help. You'd be freaked out and you know it.
American Horror Story: Shipwreck
- The Setting: Imagine that cruise to Hawaii from "Cruise Ship," except gone horribly wrong. What happens if that boat goes down? There are many terrifying possibilities built in, including the sinking of the ship. But think about the depths of the ocean, and what happens once the cast reaches a seemingly uninhabited island.
- The Premise: If the boat went down in the very first episode, they'd have to worry about sharks, other sea monsters, and whatever awaited them once they found land. It could be packed with creatures, or a savage tribe of native dwellers. We're having trouble imagining any survivors.
American Horror Story: Ruins
- The Setting: While the ancient ruins of the Mayans or the Aztecs aren't on US soil, there are plenty of similar places in America that are just as terrifying. Not to mention the other sorts of horror tropes we've seen over the years, like Indian burial grounds or cursed crypts.
- The Premise: We all know it's a bad idea to mess with these sorts of old world magic. What if a group of didn't-know-any-betters trampled or defiled once sacred land? What if they disturbed a flock of old, dormant spirits? It would make for such a bleak, chilling, and ultimately brutal season to see them get plucked off one by one.
American Horror Story: Backwoods
- The Setting: So much happens when you go deep into the woods. The remote cabin concept is one of the oldest horror standbys. Plus, who knows what kind of horrifying creatures exist in the bowels of a dense forest. There are human monsters, like hermits, but think about actual monsters, too. Like Bigfoot.
- The Premise: So many compelling storylines would make the backwoods a mesmerizing season. The plot could focus on a group of outsiders going in, like newlyweds on a honeymoon, college kids blowing off steam, or a whole family. It would also be interesting to examine a culture that exists within. Is there a village or community buried deep that punishes those who disturb it? We sure hope not, but we'd watch it anyway.
American Horror Story: Cult
- The Setting: The cult culture yields some of the most compelling fodder in the modern world. The entire Paranormal Activity franchise involves a cult determined to bring a demon back from Hell. Even religious organizations, like Scientology, have been scrutinized in engrossing documentaries in recent years.
- The Premise: Ryan Murphy is notorious for going off the deep end on AHS, so we imagine he could really cross the line by examining the inner workings of a seriously misguided cult. It might be on the fringe of witchcraft, which is really close to Coven, but it could be so much more real. Think about the sacrificial ceremonies, the summonings, the strict rules and punishments. It would be like a horror gold mine.
American Horror Story: Roswell
- The Setting: Murphy himself revealed that he has considered Santa Fe as a possible filming location [10], so it's extremely likely we could wind up there at some point. A lot has happened in the Southwest, most notably Area 51 in Roswell, NM, which many believe to be a government cover-up for an alien crash site.
- The Premise: The season could either explore the inner-workings of the government officials working to keep everything top secret, or a group of infiltrators determined to expose everything. On the inside, we could see what really goes on or goes wrong. On the outside, we can see what happens when you find the cracks in the outer shell and rip them wide open. Sure, Ryan Murphy touched on aliens in Asylum, but this would be his chance to really blow it out of the water.
American Horror Story: Arctic Tundra
- The Setting: Why not take it all the way up to Alaska? There's something terrifying about a place where it's sometimes dark for 24 straight hours. Plus it's cold and isolated.
- The Premise: You could go in a lot of directions. A snowed-in cabin, a haunted ski lodge, or even a creepy ice cave. The season could have a lot to say about human isolation, or disintegration of the mind in the face of confinement. Who can you trust when you're no longer sure who's inherently good?
American Horror Story: Colony
- The Setting: Let's throw it all the way back to when settlers were building the America we know today. There are a lot of things to consider: the presence of the Native Americans, the vast, terrifying unknown of the unexplored land, and the inability to rely on technology for help.
- The Premise: The installment could focus on settling America from either the point of view of the colonists or the Native Americans. Or both. It would make for a tense season, and that's not even taking into account the other kinds of horrors that era held. Salem witch trials, anyone? A tie-in to AHS: Coven, perhaps? Talk about mind-blowing.