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

A cast of AHS all-stars is assembling for what Evan Peters refers to as a 'greatest-hits season'

Sept. 10, 2026 at 3:39 p.m. PT

American Horror Story is coming back for its 13th season, finally, after taking off more than two years, a gap which led many fans to wonder whether the long-running series would ever be back. But back it is, and the upcoming season — dubbed simply American Horror Story: 13 — is apparently playing the hits from many past seasons of the Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk series

The vast majority of the cast of AHS: 13 is made up of series 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. Expect this season to have pretty much everything.

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 teaser

On Sept. 10, with two weeks to go before the season premiere, FX finally gave us a real trailer made up of actual clips from the upcoming episodes. It's impossible to say what the plot is from this trailer, since everything is so out of context that it's like a two-minute-long "next week on Mad Men" segment. But those of us who've been watching this show for a long time will be treated to a lot of familiar faces wearing familiar outfits, including Evan Peters in several different parts. Take a look.

**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.

American Horror Story Season 13's strange release schedule

AHS: 13 is adopting an unusual schedule. The season will have 13 episodes, with each episode taking a half-hour timeslot. But even though that's pretty weird by itself, the release schedule is even odder. We'll get three episodes each on Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, then two episodes each on Oct. 8, Oct. 15, and Oct. 22, and then a single half-hour slot for the season finale on Oct. 29.

American Horror Story Season 13 cast list

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Murder House — Jessica Lange, *American Horror Story: Murder House*
FX

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:

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.

But Ryan Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter on Aug. 7 that they absolutely do plan to make a 14th season of American Horror Story.

"I have a great passion for that show, and [FX chairman] John Landgraf has a great passion for that show. It's a very important show in my career. It's something that John said, 'As long as you want to keep making them, I'll keep airing them.' That's always been the idea behind it, which is very empowering," Murphy said. "Season 13 is not the end; I'm working on Season 14 as we speak in terms of, 'What's the idea?' and 'Who wants to be in it?'"

Where to watch American Horror Story

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

Watch on Hulu