The day American Horror Story announces its theme for the upcoming season is essentially a holiday for my horror-loving heart. This year I am celebrating by speculating wildly about what the newly-named season 8 could be about. And when I say "speculating wildly," I mean I absolutely think I am correct about this Evan Peters-centric theory.
On Friday, American Horror Story's official Instagram revealed the subtitle of the highly-anticipated Murder House and Coven crossover. According to the brand-new poster, season 8's official title is Apocalypse.
Despite some fans placing money on Radioactive as the moniker of season 8 (Twentieth Century Fox allegedly trademarked it), the title is not exactly a shock. The end of days was long rumoured to be the subject of the show's next instalment, mostly because the series has already burned through most of our other fears. (They even tackled the anxieties surrounding the 2016 election!)
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Instead, it's how this apocalypse comes about might change everything we know about American Horror Story as one cohesive series. Let me break it down.
Though AHS is technically an anthology, there have been multiple crossovers with characters from one season to another, with this Murder House/Coven season the most ambitious attempt to connect seasons together. The poster, which features a blood-red baby, suggests exactly how this could happen: By bringing back the Antichrist born at the end of Murder House... as an adult played by Evan Peters.
For the uninitiated: Murder House ghost Tate (Peters) raped and impregnated his girlfriend's living mum Vivian (Connie Britton), who then gave birth to the Antichrist, a.k.a. "Michael." Tate's mum Constance (Jessica Lange) cared for the murderous imp, and we last saw Michael as a toddler, making a bloody mess of his poor housekeeper.
We know very little about season 8 of AHS, but it seems highly likely that we'll see Michael again. I just doubt we'll see Michael as a baby. Creator Ryan Murphy stated at the TCA that season 8 would take place in the future, which could mean we'll see Michael as an adult, readying the apocalypse. And who better to play Michael than Peters, who portrayed his dad?
We already know that Peters will play a hairdresser and the grandson of Joan Collins' new character in the new season, but that doesn't mean that hairdresser isn't Michael. A lot could have happened to Michael within the show's time jump. Since Jessica Lange likely won't return for season 8 (she parted ways with the series after Freak Show), it's possible that Michael was adopted by someone else following Constance's presumed death/imprisonment/etc. That could be how he ended up in Collins' care.
It's also possible that Peters' hairdresser is completely unaware of his murderous past or hellish future, a la Damien from The Omen. That is, until his scissor slips and he remembers just how fun killing people is. But now I'm just vamping.
When it comes to American Horror Story season 8, it's all for you, Michael. Can't wait to see what scares you conjure up.