Let’s do the time warp: ‘American Horror Story’ heads to the future for season 8

During the Television Critics Association press tour, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy was asked where he’d like to see the FX network series go for its eighth season. Murphy indicated that moving beyond the current time period could be in the hit show’s, well … future.

“All I’ll say about it is I want to go to the future — still topical, but the future, which I’ve never done,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

Renewed for its eighth and ninth seasons in January 2017, American Horror Story has taken its anthology approach to various time periods across its first seven seasons. The fourth season went as far back as the year 1952 for a story following one of the few remaining freak shows in the U.S., while the most recent season’s story was set in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election.

“I pitched it to [FX chief] John Landgraf today right after his TCA panel, and he loved it, but he’s asked me not to say what it is,” continued Murphy. “I told him and he fell out of his chair with joy. I think people will like it, it’s different from what we’ve done before, but I always try and do the opposite of what I’ve done on that show.”

The report indicates that Murphy has no plans to set the season in space or deal with more sci-fi fare, only that it will be set in the future.

Over the course of its first seven seasons, American Horror Story has received 28 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning four times. Actress Jessica Lange took home two Emmy Awards for her performances in the series, with James Cromwell and Kathy Bates each earning one Emmy. The series is one of the highest-rated shows on the FX network.

Although the majority of the cast, story, and setting changes with each season, two actors — Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson — have appeared in all seven of the show’s seasons so far.