Is a secret season of American Horror Story in development?

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

American Horror Story is debatably getting its mojo back this season (let's wait a couple more episodes before we commit to that statement), which has inspired showrunner Ryan Murphy to reveal one more experimental twist they've been playing with. There might just be a secret season of the show on its way!

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy says he's been working on another season behind the scenes. It won't be season 7, which is already planned out, but he says:

It’s my secret season. I’ve been working with a writer on a season that only he and I know. It’s like a two-year project that we’ll continue to work on the sly and not tell anybody.

I don’t know when it will [air] but it’s also an experiment. It’s a different way of doing it. It’s one person writing all episodes. I don’t know if it’s going to work but it’s like, well, let’s try that. We might get them done and shoot them on the sly and drop it.

It sounds like a combination of the Netflix distribution model and the single writer/director concept of the first season of HBO's True Detective. This could actually be really interesting. With one writer at the helm, the season might actually be consistent. If they can capture the bonkers tone that people love about the show but apply it to a story with a satisfying ending and a comprehensible throughline, it might just redefine American Horror Story. We'll have to see if this idea actually comes to fruition.

The season that we do know about is American Horror Story: Roanoke, starring Lady Gaga, Kathy Bates, Denis O’Hare, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wittrock, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson, Leslie Jordan, Jacob Artist, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lily Rabe, Chaz Bono, Evan Peters, and Matt Bomer. It airs on FX Wednesdays at 10PM.