Welcome to the carnival, American Horror Story fans! The new season of the FX horror anthology, American Horror Story: Freak Show, is set to premier on October 6^th, 2014 on the FX network at 10 pm. The fourth season will be set in Jupiter, Florida in 1952. It will be centered on one of the few remaining freak shows at the time, as its members do anything to keep the business alive. Freak Show will focus on the conflict between the freaks and the ‘evil forces’ who do not understand them.

Emma Roberts, who joined the cast of AHS for their last season, Coven, returns for Freak Show and said that it’s definitely darker than season three.

“I have to say, Freak Show is really scarier…I read the script and I was having nightmares,” she said.

Similarly to previous seasons, our favorite characters are coming back to play. FX has stated that Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, and Emma Roberts will be returning as cast members along with some new faces.

“It was always a concept that Jessica and I talked about really early on,” said Ryan Murphy, director of AHS, when talking about coming up with the idea of Freak Show. “It was always her favorite one, which I thought was funny. I’ve had many different versions that I’ve run by her. I just love it. It feels really right. I thought it was going to be light but it’s turning out to be quite terrifyingly dark, which it feels much more like the Asylum season. But look — if you have a character named the Clown Killer, it’s going to be dark.”

FSA Connection Questions

1. What is a synonym for the word concept?
2. What characteristic most clearly defines the article as nonfiction rather than fiction?
3. How does the title of the article draw in readers?
4. What can you tell about the season from the quotes given?
5. Based on the quotes what kind of personality do the writers of the show have?