[ad_1]
Fans have been patiently waiting for news about season 11 of American Horror Story since the end of Double Feature, and news has finally dropped. The new season will be labeled American Horror Story: New York City, and rumors suggest that it will focus on the AIDS epidemic, as well as the sprees of violent crime that got the city nicknamed “Fear City.” The new season is expected to begin October 19, 2022.
With information finally available just three weeks before the season airs, fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts. As usual, they discussed plots, the cast, and horror conventions, but they also compared the synopsis to Ryan Murphy’s other work. Soon enough, fans will know for sure what American Horror Story: NYC has to offer.
Impatience For Information
Normally, AHS fans can expect information about the upcoming season to be revealed in advance, allowing them to build expectations while they wait. However, virtually no information was available about this season until very late September, when the title, posters, and release date were revealed in rapid succession.
Twitter user @campyhorror had a fun take on the delay, posting a video clip that describes keeping control as winning. They suggest that Ryan Murphy kept the information from the fans on purpose so that he could ‘win.’ While that might sound silly, it could be a test of the fans’ loyalty after season 10’s disappointing back half. If so, he won.
AHS Naming Conventions
AHS fans can get picky about how the show represents itself, and many fans responded to the new season’s theme with derision. Each season of American Horror Story gets its own subtitle that tells audiences what to expect, but “New York City” could mean anything. The title doesn’t give away a time period or a genre of horror, and it also feels a little bland.
With that being said, @AHS_Source gently pushes back on the negative reaction by pointing to former seasons Hotel and 1984. While neither was as well-liked as the first three seasons, those AHS seasons did receive high ratings on IMDb. Many fans wanted the more specific title “Fear City,” but they should keep in mind that a simple title does not foreshadow a bad season.
New Yorkers Roasting The City
Without a trailer or an opening theme to go off of, many Twitter users worked with what little they had: the name. While there were certainly horrific things that happened in New York City, many fans chose to look at it satirically, calling out the horror of trying to survive in the city itself. From high rent prices to complicated public transit, there’s a lot to mock.
While this obviously isn’t going to be what the season focuses on, it would be nice to see the writers throw in a few nods to common complaints about the city. While the 70s are the focus of a lot of horror movies, it could be interesting to see more mundane struggles from the modern day since familiar torments are so much more personal.
Let’s Talk About The Posters
Along with the announcement of season 11’s title, posters were released that showed men and women posed provocatively, wearing leather, chains, and spikes. The images highlight fetish culture and camp, both of which have traditionally been important parts of American Horror Story.
While many fans tune in to AHS for the fear factor, others enjoy how far it will go past what is normally considered acceptable. These posters are sexual and disconcerting, both showing off the human body and transforming it into something else. This Tweet praises the show’s boldness for doing so as well as the consistency for pulling off this camp.
Mocking Glee
Ryan Murphy is well-known for his horror shows as well as for his high school drama, Glee. While musical elements have been part of American Horror Story many times, the worlds truly began to mix when Matthew Morrison was featured in 1984. Twitter user @Iongweave makes further connections by sharing a clip from season four.
In the clip, Rachel Berry, Kurt Hummel, and Isabelle Wright perform “Let’s Have A Kiki/ Turkey Lurkey Time.” The song was not one of Glee‘s best, with a chaotic merger of lyrics and many cringe-worthy moments. Because of that, it’s a perfect representation of how fans think the season might go. After all, some of the choices the characters made after moving to NYC border on the horrific.
Connections To Pose
While some fans thought about Glee, others connected the NYC theme with one of Murphy’s other shows, Pose. The series focused on Black and Latinx branches of the LGBTQ+ community in 1980s New York City. Much of that description is similar to what fans expect season 11 to focus on.
Pose was actually Ryan Murphy’s best-rated series, but it was canceled after three seasons. However, fans see the potential for this season to merge the two worlds, with AHS: NYC possibly functioning as Pose season four. The posters are a specific reason for this hope, as they are reminiscent of LGBTQ+ kink communities that, like Pose‘s drag houses, faced violent homophobia and were blamed for the rise of AIDS. Both communities were critical to the queer landscape of New York City and could serve as a good connection point.
The Newer Cast
For the first several years, fans expected Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters to be in every season of American Horror Story, along with other fan favorites like Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Lily Rabe. However, season 11 is notable for not listing a single one of these actors.
While this upset many fans who had come to love the traditional AHS cast, @mattdilfon looked at it more optimistically. 1984 was a great season, as was the first half of Double Feature (Red Tide). Neither of these featured as many of the original actors as the seasons before them. AHS: NYC is set to feature fantastic actors like Patti LuPone, Billie Lourd, and Zachary Quinto, so the show is in good hands.
AHS/Scream Crossover?
Every season of American Horror Story has specific horror movies that inspired it, but one fan, @vpdfg, has made a connection with a horror movie that has yet to come out. The Twitter user noticed that both AHS: NYC and Scream 6 are going to be set in New York City, which suggests an interesting urban shift in the genre.
While there have been horror movies set in big cities before, they aren’t as common as rural or suburban settings. In the city, a person can be surrounded by people and yet completely vulnerable at the same time. It’s highly unlikely that the two horror franchises will have anything to do with each other, but it might suggest a bigger change to the horror landscape moving forward.
Son of Sam
While Ryan Murphy and AHS alum Evan Peters are currently getting a lot of attention for Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a different serial killer might be featured in the new season of American Horror Story. AHS has featured real-world serial killers before, so looking at which killers were active in New York City in the 70s might tell audiences what to expect.
There were two main serial killers active at that time and place: Richard Cottingham and David Berkowitz. Berkowitz, known more colloquially as “Son of Sam,” was active in 1976 and 1977 before being arrested, confessed, and convicted over the course of the next year. He was the more intriguing killer from a storytelling perspective, so Twitter users wonder how the show handles his story’s potentially supernatural aspects.
Eager To Get Started
At the end of the day, these crumbs of information have gotten fans excited for the new season and eager to see where it goes. Fans like @EnigmaTess have faith in the cast and crew to make a great show, so they are more focused on what they will see rather than whether it will be good.
New York City could just be the setting, or it could be central to the type of horror fans will get to experience. While there are many infamous serial killers from the city, it could also feature ghosts, demons, or any number of other supernatural creatures that might have made the city their home. While others criticized the title for being too vague, @EnigmaTess sees all the possibilities it brings for the upcoming season.
[ad_2]
Source link
