American Horror Story Season 13: More Coven, Returning Series Stars, and Everything Else We Know

American Horror Story is coming back for its 13th season after a hiatus of over two years, filling fans with relief after an awkward 12th season and a rather painful wait. American Horror Story: Delicate, the most recent season of the never-ending anthology series, which premiered in 2023 and paused at midseason before concluding in 2024, was a major departure from the norm for the Ryan Murphy-created series. That season was based on a book instead of being an original tale, neither Murphy nor co-creator Brad Falchuk served as showrunner, and we didn't see many of the actors we usually expect to pop up in a new season of AHS. 

But after taking a couple of years off, the show is pivoting back to the old formula for its upcoming thirteenth season. Murphy will once again run things on the creative side as showrunner, the vast majority of the cast is made up of vets who have appeared in at least four different seasons of the show, and it looks like the story will at least be partially focused on the continuing adventures of the witches from Coven, the third season of the series.

But, as is so often the case with AHS, the specifics of the story are being kept under wraps for as long as possible. We can expect to learn more about this season's premise as the premiere gets closer. But, in the meantime, there are a few things we do know. Let's dive in.

American Horror Story Season 13 latest news

American Horror Story: 13 will be a little less wicked than expected. In bummer news, superstar Ariana Grande will no longer join the cast due to scheduling conflicts, according to Deadline. More details are in the cast section below. 

When does American Horror Story Season 13 come out? 

Season 13 of American Horror Story — officially known as American Horror Story: 13 — will premiere Sept. 24 at 9/8c on both FX and Hulu. FX announced the news on July 9 while revealing its presence at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, which will include a fleet of ice cream trucks. 

American Horror Story Season 13 teasers

We don't have any real, serious teasers yet, just little Instagram posts on the Ryan Murphy Productions account. The teasers started dropping once production began in April 2026, and they include a look at Jessica Lange standing at a window and Sarah Paulson and Emma Roberts revealing that they'll be playing their Coven characters again.

American Horror Story Season 13 cast list

The list of actors showing up for Season 13 is a who's who of AHS stars — the new season will feature nine of the top 11 actors in terms of the franchise's overall episode count, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy, and Emma Roberts — only missing out on Lily Rabe and Denis O'Hare so far. 

According to Deadline, John Carroll Lynch and Mat Fraser will be returning in their roles from Freak Show — Twisty the Clown and Paul the Illustrated Seal, respectively. Lynch also has some other past AHS roles he might bring back for this greatest hits season, including the murderous Mr. Jingles from 1984. Deadline also reported that Mena Suvari is joining the cast, and while there's no word on who Suvari will be playing, our best guess is the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short, the role she held in Murder House and Apocalypse. Those three are reportedly joined by Berto Colon as a new character called Joe the Doorman.

Alongside the many returning folks, we've also got some major new names to add, with cult filmmaker John Waters, Monster's Joey Pollari, and Love Story's Paul Anthony Kelly joining the cast. Their roles are still officially under wraps.

Wicked star Ariana Grande was supposed to appear in this season but backed out in July due to scheduling conflicts with her rescheduled summer music tour. Grande shifted some dates of multiple stops on her Eternal Sunshine Tour, interfering with the shooting of American Horror Story. Grande had not yet filmed any scenes when she backed out, according to Deadline.

American Horror Story: 13 cast:

• Sarah Paulson as Cordelia Goode
• Evan Peters
• Angela Bassett
• Kathy Bates
• Frances Conroy
• Emma Roberts as Madison Montgomery
• Billie Lourd
• Gabourey Sidibe
• Leslie Grossman
• Jessica Lange
• John Waters
• Paul Anthony Kelly
• Joey Pollari 
• John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown
• Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal
• Mena Suvari
• Berto Colon as Joe the Doorman

Could this be the final season of American Horror Story?

Given that Season 12 looked an awful lot like an attempt by Murphy and Falchuk to move on from the series they created more than a decade ago, and the show's multi-year hiatus after that, fans had reason to wonder if the series had ended before Season 13 was officially announced last October. And while there's nothing in the marketing for Season 13 that makes it sound like "one last ride" before the end, bringing back all these old hats for a kind of all-star season is exactly the sort of thing a series like this would do in preparation for the end.

So, yes, Season 13 certainly could be the end for American Horror Story, and given the occult flavoring of the franchise, it would make sense to end it with unlucky number 13. But Murphy has not actually teased or otherwise indicated that Season 13 will be the last. Let's not make any assumptions.

Where to watch American Horror Story

The entire run of American Horror Story is available on Hulu.