This Wednesday, the eighth season of Ryan Murphy’s hugely popular anthology series, American Horror Story, will premiere on FX. Subtitled Apocalypse, the latest installment in the television horror franchise promises to be one of its best and will also feature a number of returning American Horror Story cast members.
Much of this has to do with the apocalyptic story and setting of the new season, which sees the planet succumb to some kind of world-ending catastrophe that, among other things, entails the rise of the antichrist. Apocalypse is also exciting, however, because it is essentially a crossover of the show’s first and third seasons, Murder House and Coven. This means that many of the same characters who haunted those seasons will be back for more.
Recurring American Horror Story cast members are nothing new in the world of Murphy’s anthology series. Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and many more have starred in many of the previous seasons, often playing wildly different characters. With the Apocalypse crossover, it seems they (and many others) will be playing the same roles they originated in the Murder House and Coven seasons.
American Horror Story cast members returning for Apocalypse
Especially Paulson, who played Cordelia Goode in season three and Billie Dean Howard in season one. Considering the more fanciful elements promised by the Apocalypse storyline, it’s no surprise that Coven member Cordelia is back for another round. It also seems ripe for the return of Billie, the medium from season one who revealed the “Pope’s box” and its foretelling the end of the world.
Peters’ Tate Langdon, a particularly violent ghost from Murder House, will be making an appearance in season eight. The actor will also be playing a brand new character, as evidenced by the first full trailer for Apocalypse, but little is known about him.
Aside from Peters’ Tate, the Langdons are also well-represented by Jessica Lange’s Constance and Cody Fern’s Michael, the latter being the literal antichrist. Constance is the controlling and vengeful mother of Tate, a mass murdered whose ghostly form terrorized the living in Murder House. As for Michael, he is the product of Vivien Harmon’s (Connie Britton) rape by Tate, and therefore the bringer of the end times. Fern is a newcomer to the American Horror Story family, but his character is not.
Speaking of Vivien, both she and her deceased husband, Ben (Dylan McDermott) are back. As victims of the so-called Murder House in season one, they hang on as ethereal spirits and, in Vivien’s case, the mother of the antichrist. Taissa Farmiga’s Violet Harmon from Murder House is also back, as is her Coven character, Zoe Benson. Other returning Coven members include Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts), Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe), Misty Day (Lily Rabe) and Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy), whose association with the third season’s witches academy will no doubt bring them into the Apocalypse fold.
American Horror Story Apocalypse premieres this Wednesday on FX.
