Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

‘American Horror Story’ to explore the real-life horrors of the 2016 election

american horror story season 7 election 6
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Donald Trump naysayers have often referred to the 2016 presidential election as a horror story. And now, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy is taking that idea and running with it by confirming that the seventh season of the popular FX series will indeed be inspired by the political events that transpired late last year.

Murphy noted on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live that while he doesn’t yet have a title, the season will be about “the election that we just went through … I think that will be interesting for a lot of people.” His answer to if there would be a Trump character in the series: “Maybe.”

This marks a major shift for the series, which has typically centered on science fiction and supernatural-type themes. It’s easy to argue that delving into the election would make far more sense for another Murphy series, American Crime Story, which highlights real-life events, like the O.J. Simpson trial. But perhaps Murphy wanted to make this seem more far-fetched and less like reality. So we still might see demons, vampires, and other sinister, supernatural characters.

Interestingly, both Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters are confirmed to return as leads for the upcoming season. Might the former make a good Hillary Clinton-type character? And the latter a Jared Kushner-inspired character, or maybe even a young Trump-esque presidential candidate?

Filming is set to start in June, and season seven of American Horror Story will premiere this September. Murphy had previously said it would be connected in some way to the fourth season, called Freak Show. Actors who appeared in that season include Angela Bassett (who would make a great Michelle Obama), Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange (Hillary, perhaps?), and Grace Gummer, a great option for Ivanka Trump. None of these actors, however, are confirmed for season 7, and Lange, who was absent from season 6, has said in the past that she would not return to the franchise.

The anthology series, which debuted in 2011, has garnered consistently good ratings, and racked up tons of accolades, including winning 59 of its 230 award nominations, with 28 Emmy Awards in all, and nine Golden Globe nominations. The direction for this season, however, might be a risky — and polarizing — choice for Murphy.

Editors' Recommendations

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
Deadpool & Wolverine: Everything we know about the film formerly known as Deadpool 3
Deadpool and Wolverine stand together in Deadpool & Wolverine.

In retrospect, we should have suspected that Deadpool & Wolverine wouldn't keep its most famous co-star out of the title. In 2022, Ryan Reynolds coaxed Hugh Jackman into reprising his role as Wolverine for the first time since 2017's Logan. Once that happened, the name Deadpool 3 didn't fully convey how monumental this film would be.

So Marvel Studios has officially retitled it as Deadpool & Wolverine. Jackman has also humorously rebranded the film as Wolverine & [expletive], which would make this R-rated flick a lot harder to market!

Read more
5 years ago, Game of Thrones aired its last great episode. Here’s why it still holds up
Jamie knights Brienne in episode 2 of Game of Thrones season 8.

Many fans would likely agree that Game of Thrones went out not with a bang, but a profound whimper. After dominating pop culture for nearly 10 years, the hit HBO series concluded with a trio of episodes that were universally reviled by both fans and critics alike. The show's lackluster, ham-fisted finale led to its popularity seemingly vanishing into thin air. In the five years since it aired, time hasn't been kind to Game of Thrones season 8.

To this day, many people still discuss the series' final season with a mix of bitterness and disbelief, and those fans won't find any disagreement about the quality of Game of Thrones' last few chapters here. As disappointing as its eighth season remains, though, April 21 marked the five-year anniversary of its noteworthy second episode, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The fan-favorite installment ranks not only as its season's best chapter, but also as the last great episode that Game of Thrones ever produced.

Read more
Everything coming to Netflix in May 2024
Two men look at each other in Bodkin.

Unfrosted | Official Trailer | Netflix

It's sad to see April end. Not only was the weather nice, but Netflix was killing it with a lot of its original programming like the thriller series Ripley with Andrew Scott, the true-life story Scoop, and the cathartic drama Baby Reindeer, which became a surprise hit late in the month.

Read more