What Those Biblical Hints Could Mean For American Horror Story: Apocalypse

Updated on 8/11/2018 at 2:50 PM

Ever since Ryan Murphy revealed that American Horror Story's upcoming eighth installment would be titled Apocalypse, my mind has been spinning with theories. Almost immediately, I was absorbed in trying to figure out how the end would come about and whether Murder House's creepy Antichrist may play a role. (He will!) By the time the first teaser dropped, I'd already kind of, sort of convinced myself that the new season was going to somehow involve a take on the Bible. And once I honed in on the top moments from the teaser, it all started to make sense. Ready for the most bonkers Apocalypse theory yet? Here's why the Book of Revelation could be the key to the season and what, exactly, this particular piece of the Bible foretells.

The Biblical Hints We've Received So Far

When the first teaser for season eight dropped in early August, one scene in particular struck me. In the vignette, a demon hand slices open a fig with a single nail and two scorpions spill out, like guts, onto the ground. One is black and one is white, and they proceed to mercilessly attack each other.

Here's why I'm getting crazy Bible vibes from this part: both the fig and the scorpion are specifically mentioned in the Bible. Even more interestingly, the fig appears in Genesis — Adam and Eve make clothing out of fig leaves after they've committed Original Sin — and the scorpion is mentioned in the Book of Revelations: "And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man; and in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

If you take the symbols and run with it, we're seeing the beginning and the end. It's a pretty solid hint that the Book of Revelation aka the Bible's version of the apocalypse may come into play as the eighth season of AHS unfolds.

The Figures and Events of the Book of Revelation

Suffice it to say, the Book of Revelation is wild. There are crazy-epic plagues, armies of angels, and gargantuan beasts that lay waste to the land. I'd assume, in order to ground it, we'll see a modern take on the biggest figures featured in the text.

The Lamb: Yeah. There's a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes which basically sets everything into motion. It's got a big ol' scroll with seven seals, and each of the seven seals has a pretty devastating effect. No idea how AHS might interpret this one.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The first four seals of that aforementioned scroll unleash these four. They're pretty prominent in the Bible, and they've definitely crossed over into pop culture, appearing in places like X-Men and Supernatural. The horsemen ride a white, a red, a black, and a pale horse. Respectively, they represent pestilence, war, famine, and death. These horsemen could appear as characters that have already been introduced. Madison Montgomery, for instance, could represent Death; after all, she comes back from her untimely demise in Coven, and she'll have to resurrect again for her confirmed appearance in Apocalypse. They could also be new characters as well!
The Sixth Seal: I'm mentioning this one because it really goes into detail describing how f*cked up the Earth is going to be during the apocalypse. This seal causes a great earthquake that turns the sun black and turns the moon blood red, the stars to fall out of the heavens, the displacement of every mountain and island, and mankind's massive retreat into caves. Hello, AHS: Apocalypse setting!
The Woman in White: There's a woman in a white robe with the sun at her back and the moon under her feet, wearing a crown of 12 stars. It would all fit right in with AHS sensibilities, right? Also, she's pregnant with a male child.
The Whore of Babylon: She doesn't show up until later, but she is definitely a pretty big name in the Book of Revelation. She's quite evil: she wears purple and scarlet robes, gold jewelry, and pearls. She holds a golden cup filled with abominations and the impurities of her fornication. And she's drunk on the blood of saints. Could a witch fill this role? The Supreme or someone much more malevolent? We could see it.
Miscellaneous Stuff: There's obviously a ton in the book, but a few random occurrences also seem ripe for AHS's picking. There's a lake of fire, which sounds a lot like a nuclear apocalypse. There's a point where all the seas and all fresh water turn to blood. There's a part where the sun's heat scorches the Earth (nuclear fallout!). There's total darkness. There's even a bottomless pit. And there's another huge earthquake that destroys all the mountains.

The Antichrist and the Other Beasts

Well, it wouldn't be a real romp without an antagonist, right? Luckily, the Book of Revelation has quite the cast of evil characters.

The Antichrist: Most often, the Antichrist is Satan himself, and in this context, he's described as a great red dragon. He has seven heads, seven crowns, and 10 horns. He has an entire army that he uses to fight the angels up in heaven before they're all cast down to Earth for good. Michael Langdon has already been confirmed to appear in Apocalypse, and he's already been identified as the Antichrist. We don't imagine he'll show up as a literal dragon, but knowing AHS, his demon form is not going to be pretty.
The Beast of the Sea: Another beast, which looks quite similar to the dragon, emerges from the sea. It blasphemes God's name and wages war against the saints. Perhaps Michael will recruit someone (a witch?) to do his evil bidding with him.
The Beast of the Land: Yeah, there's one more! This one has two horns like a lamb. The beast bears the classic insignia of the devil that we're all so familiar with: "666." This could be another recruit of Michael Langdon, in all likelihood.

How It Ties Into American Horror Story

As we said, there are lots of ways this could go down, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of connections between the Bible and American Horror Story. Given the fact that the season will kick off with the apocalypse, as we learned at FX's Summer TCA panel, we'll find out pretty quickly whether or not the end of the world will be a biblical affair.

All the stuff is there, though, right? It would be pretty awesome to see AHS's interpretations of all the monsters and natural disasters and mythology. We've already seen a minotaur, an angel of death, an "addiction demon," the original Supreme, the evil spirit of a butcher, the "Infantata," and so many more monsters in the AHS universe. These new creatures would fit right in.

Plus, everything else is already set up! We have the stakes of the season, including a massive war between good and evil — and again, the dueling black and white scorpions could absolutely represent the great war between good and evil or even Heaven and Hell. And you have to admit: with the religious iconography and the fact that the Antichrist already exists in the AHS universe, it would be pretty cool to see a true horror take on the end of the world through this lens. Are you sold yet?