American Horror Story Season 2 (or American Horror Story: Asylum as it likes to be called) is roughly two thirds of its way through the season, taking a couple of weeks break for the Holiday (Happy Holidays by the way), but even though this season has yet to reach a conclusion, the show has already been picked up for a Season 3 to air next October.
I don’t know about you, but something feels just a little off with the show this Season. Don’t get me wrong, I am still almost completely hooked and still can’t wait to see how Ryan Murphy and co. wrap up the many horror ideas and conventions the show has set up so far, but personally, the setting this year of an Insane Asylum run by Nuns is beginning to get just a little bit boring. The premise was a good one, and the idea sure sounded like it would be a lot of fun before the season started off, but nine episodes in and like the patients/inmates at Briarcliff, I am longing for a change of scenery.
The good thing about American Horror Story unlike most other shows on air is that at the end of this current Season we will never have to see Briarcliff again, and can begin to get excited by a new setting conventional of the Horror genre next year, though as of yet Ryan Murphy and co. have kept their lips tightly sealed as to what that setting will be.
So far we have had the “Haunted House” setting and the “Insane Asylum” setting… I don’t know about you but personally next year I’d like to see something a little more fun, and not so dark, depressing and gloomy. The Horror genre can be a hell of a lot of fun when it wants to be… just think of the film, Cabin in the Woods if you don’t believe me.
The following list names what I believe would be the 10 funnest Horror settings for the new Season and also the 10 most likely.
7. Carnival/ Fun Fair/Theme-park
This is what I consider to be the most likely setting for the new season of American Horror Story and personally what I consider to be one of the most fun options open to Ryan Murphy and co. The “Fun Fair” has a long tradition and connection with the Horror genre. Not only is it used in many Horror themed films for example “Zombieland” but Theme-parks are also a popular destination for teenagers at Halloween, and most good Carnivals or Theme-parks will have their own “House of Horror” attraction.
This would be a great setting for the new season for a whole host of different reasons. First of all, American Horror Story has a huge ensemble of characters, and this setting would need to be populated by a whole host of interesting and quirky characters to control and manage each individual ride on the site, not to mention all the paying customers that would be needed to visit the attraction. Secondly, most shows are structured to begin their stories in the Autumn and finish at Spring, and it is very rare that we will ever see our favorite TV characters enjoying the Summer Season. This setting would be ideal to change the dark and depressing pace of this last gloomy season, and could break free from a claustrophobic indoor setting and explore the open airs of outdoors a little more.
Perhaps in keeping with the American Horror Conventions of the previous seasons, I would have the Fun Fair built on top of an ancient Native American burial ground. I’d also probably set it in the 70s, just so I could enjoy all the crazy hairstyles of the decade.
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25 Comments
I thinking a travelling circus set in the early 1900′s would be best. Although a space station would be interesting… maybe season 4?
Yes, I agree… the traveling circus idea would probably work the best and would fit quite nicely with the other two seasons. In fact, the picture I put underneath the circus idea looks like it could itself be concept art for the series. I think this is probably the most likely and would even go as far to say this is probably where season 3 will be set. I personally would love to see the space station idea too, just because I love the space/horror genre, but I doubt we will ever see this.
Thanks for reading.
A Hotel or a retreat…but considering the last ep. of AHS, “The Name Game,” I think Season 3 will take place in a Circus or Carnival of sorts. Definitely some witchcraft in there.. when sister Mary Eunice played ‘i’ll put a spell on you’ MY IMAGINATION IS RUNNING WILD!
It is strange that no one has said Hotel or Motel yet. I thought that would be the obvious choice.
Personally I think the American Horror story should take place in a hotel that was once a world war 2 hospital
I considered a World War 2 setting and considered even more a Vietnam War setting but I personally don’t think Ryan Murphy could pull off wars all that well… still, something to consider.
As for the hotel suggestion, and the motel suggestion above, these too could be interesting, and they are ideas I didn’t really consider. However, I know that next year the show “Bates Motel” is airing, which is a Psycho prequel set at Norman Bates mothers Motel, so I doubt Ryan Murphy would want to set his show in a spooky Motel setting because of this.
Thanks for reading.
All of these suggestions are really good !
Thanks man. I find it hard to believe you like all of the suggestions… The Gay Cruise idea would definitely need a lot of work to make it suit the show, and there is zero way Ryan Murphy would ever do this idea any way… though I do really like the idea of setting it at sea due to the cool monsters you could introduce, and the Bermuda triangle angle could be really fascinating. If you research lots of popular culture myths about the Bermuda Triangle it sounds exactly like the kind of think American Horror Story is all about.
Thanks for reading. If you have any other suggestions I’d love to hear them.
I would say no the the Carnival idea as it would seem like a riff on Carnivale that would never be as good
Yes, this is a good point which may result in this idea not being used… but American Horror Story could definitely bring something new to the genre especially if they set it in the modern days or the 1970s for example. A traveling circus set in the early 1900′s is a much better suggestion for this type of show anyway.
Thanks for reading.
I think a manor. Or a plantation. I still choose the manor though. Kind of like taking place in two time periods, maybe add in like a reincarnation or two and grisly murder.
I like some of the ideas I would want it to be like a Salem inspired colony with a cult like leader and witches trying to get revenge for a fellow witch burned at the stake and also take place in the 70′s too like in a jonestown like cult and there is more to the story then just witches and cults
I was thinking that it would be interesting to have season 3 set in New Orleans and explore the culture of voodoo (like the movie Skeleton Key). There are many ideas that can be explored including reincarnation, conjuring up spirits, voodoo dolls, snakes, Mardi Gras, Ouija boards, spells, ghosts…. Not sure how to put it together but it seems like there is something there.
I agree with the New Orleans setting. There are so many beautiful old houses and graveyards there, and you are right about voodoo. New Orleans would be great!
Something tells me this will be the setting of American Horror Story Season 3 based on the clues I have heard so far from the upcoming season. If this is the case, well done for guessing (this or Salem). What ever it is, it is bound to feature spell casting of some-kind.
I say the next season will take place in a prison. What leads me to believe this is a hint left in season one. In the episode “Birth,” the character of Billie Dean Howard, played by Sarah Paulson talks about psychic energy and how it is released and absorbed into the environments making sinister locations. She says, “You will see it(dark energy) all the time in places like prisons and asylums. Negative energy feeds on trauma and pain.” Was this a hint at what is to come? So far it is. We will see next fall.
Maybe Salem…. There could be several avenues for that.
I like the plantation/ Slave ship idea. Bring some voodoo. The African culture has that rich culture of demonology that Murphy could exploit, the only problem with that might be the casting.
Why would casting be an issue?
I think he means that because Ryan Murphy likes to use the same characters but for different parts over and over in the American Horror Story Series, because the returning cast are all white, he would probably choose not to do something with a cast primarily filled with African American cast members because then his cast members so far would have fairly small roles to play, if any role at all.
That said, it would be nice for his cast members to be more diverse in this series, and I think the slave ship idea would be a really fun and historically fascinating area to explore. The returning cast (Jessica Lange, Zachery Quinto, Sarah Paulson) for example could still all be used, just not all of them could be central characters like they have been this season.
The circus and the gay cruise are my favorites (although the gay part seems very arbitrary).
I do like the circus picture as the concept art. I could easily see Jessica as the company owner, and with a necessary dark side of course. Chloe’s already been a nymphomaniac-turned-abomination, why not be a killer acrobat (and you could take that both ways). Evan could be the fire-breather and maybe Cromwell or Denis O’Hare from season 1 could be a lion tamer that feeds people to their lions as a twist. All random ideas, but the circus theme seems fun.
As for the gay cruise, I do see the possibilities in a cruise. And you don’t need much to sell this gay man on the idea of Evan Peters with an equally gorgeous boyfriend. But as you mentioned, that is very divisive and some of the audience would be lost. Also, like the slave ship, it would loose some of it’s key players simply because they wouldn’t fit into a gay cruise theme. But a simple cruise? Yes, there are endless possibilities in that.
In reality, neither of these will happen, seeing as there was a hint in tonight’s episode and neither pointed to a ship or a circus (except maybe for Pepper’s bit on freaks having a hard time-freak show maybe). Running ideas seem to be government (Congress record), something magical/witches (the Put a Spell On You number), or New Orleans (French singer seen in jukebox, maybe older New Orleans). There doesn’t seem to be a bad idea posed and I’m game for anything.
I could see a really good horror story built around Alcatraz Island, or some fictional equivalent. The history of Alcatraz is so rich that it’s practically begging for something like this: early Native Americans believed the island to be cursed; Civil War prisoners held there; Hopi Indians held there in the 1870s; World War I objectors were imprisoned there, and all that before it became a Federal penitentiary. Stories continue: Al Capone claimed he saw ghosts of his victims there, along with all the stories about hauntings there today (the most famous ghosts being “Machine Gun” Kelly and Alvin “Creepy” Karpis), and the legends about long-abandoned dungeons under the main cellblock… there’s TONS of material to be mined, plenty for one TV show season. The possibilities are endless. Maybe set the episode in the early ’60s, just before Alcatraz closed its doors, and maybe incorporate the real-life escape from the island (the one where the prisoners never were seen again) into it; maybe they didn’t drown in the bay; maybe a curse got to ‘em somehow? The escape attempt could form the backbone of the season; it would just need to be flavored with some supernatural elements and/or subplots. Then, when we got to the escape attempt itself, we could REALLY have some fun :)
Great article to read! I love the circus idea, and even the high school one. I like Glee too so can only imagine what RM could do with a AHS meets Glee season. It would be like a whole show of Sue Sylvesters and Quinn Fabrays. I wonder if they are planning on using some of the same cast again for Season 3 of AHS? Jessica Lang needs to come back, I think.
Another setting could be a Agatha Christie-esque manor, maybe on an small island or something? That might be too similar to Season 1 though.
Thanks for enjoying the article. Personally my favorite is probably the theme park idea (something along the lines of Zombieland)… though I hear they are actually making Zombieland into a TV series so I guess this wouldn’t be the best idea for AHS.
As for whether or not they are planning on using the same cast, pretty much every regular on AHS is back in Season 3… so yes, Jessica Lange is back, along with Evan Peters , Sarah Paulson and Tarrisa Farmiga from Season 1 plus others.
Based on what Ryan Murphy has hinted it, it seems that next year will either be something to do with the Salem Witch Trials or be set in New Orleans and involve voodoo and magic of some kind. It is almost guaranteed that Witches will be involved… so unfortunately none of my predictions were correct… though fingers crossed one of these shows up in Season 4 or 5.
Thanks for reading.
That’s good to hear, that the old cast is going back. I think Jessica Lange makes the show. I don’t think this sort of set-up has really been done before on a TV series, making AHS quite unique. Really, it could go on for several seasons without getting tiresome or repetitive. I like the idea of the Salem Witch Trials as well. But yeah, fingers crossed that Ryan Murphy finds this article and takes on some of your ideas for Season Four :D