American Horror Story Season 8 Is About the Apocalypse, Which Seems Relevant

It’s *checks calendar* the seventh month in our first year of hell. That means this announcement about the eighth season of American Horror Story is right on time.

Last year’s iteration of Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology series took on the nightmare that was the 2016 election and its aftermath. This year’s theme has been revealed—it’s the apocalypse. American Horror Story: Apocalypse. There’s a rubbery little baby and a black hand with a manicure. It’s our future! It’s now.

In June, Murphy told Deadline that the forthcoming season would be a crossover of the first season and the third, which is an exciting bit of info for AHS devotees like yours truly, who desperately want Murphy’s schlock-horror shtick to work consistently, but find themselves disappointed in recent years.

Season 1’s “Murder House” featured Connie Britton, a man in a gimp suit, and a very scary and beautiful house; Season 3’s “Coven” brought us some basic witchy shit in New Orleans (voodoo, Angela Bassett, a boarding school for wayward girls, blind Sarah Paulson), as well as this iconic scene below, which I think of every so often with pleasure.

“It’s a season unlike anything we’ve done because there’s a big hook to it,” Murphy said, per Deadline. “There’s a huge thing that happens in Episode 5.” Many of Murphy’s old friends will be returning for this season, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, and Adina Porter. A fun twist: Joan Collins will play the grandmother of Peters’ character. Peters is set to play a “comedic hairdresser.”

I have no idea what that means, but you know what, I guess we’ll all find out on September 12.