Here’s what Ryan Murphy just revealed about American Horror Story season 10

28th October 2019

“Every season has a runner-up idea.”

Ryan Murphy has revealed some details about the future of American Horror Story.

At the celebratory bash for the horror anthology’s milestone 100th episode at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the series creator told Variety that he has “a week” to decide the theme of the show’s upcoming 10th season.

“I always have the next season decided by Halloween, so I have a week. But now I’m sort of dealing with two ideas and I lean towards whichever is more in my brain right now,” shared Murphy.

“Every season has a runner-up idea, but the runner-ups have never made it on screen. I’ve never gone back to the second choice, although I should. Sometimes the choice just pops into my brain. I can’t explain it.”

Murphy said the 10th season is the last season that has been ordered for American Horror Story. However, when he was shooting the fifth instalment, Hotel, he realised that the show “is so beloved that maybe it could keep on going”.

“And now in its ninth season, in terms of worldwide… it’s one of the most popular shows in the world, so I will continue to have an appetite to do it as long as John wants to do it,” he explained. “So, we have been talking about should we end it?

“Or should we keep moving forward? But I hope we can move forward.”

Last week in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy said the show could run for at least 11 more years.

The Emmy-winning writer said the show’s divided sixth season, Roanoke, was the first time he realised American Horror Story’s staying power. “This was the season that made me think “Ok, this show can go for 20 years,”” he admitted.

“Because we can keep playing with the format, the form. It proved to me we didn’t have to have every season be a grand spectacle. We could be raw and rough and verité. It reinvigorated me in some way, after the operas we had done.”

He added: “This felt like an independent film approach. It felt like, “Ok…season 20? Bring it on.”

The ninth season of American Horror Story, 1984, aired earlier this month and received praise for providing the show’s usual combination of camp and horror, and for paying homage to iconic slasher films such as Sleepaway Camp and Halloween.

1984 follows five teenagers – played by Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Gus Kenworthy and DeRon Horton – who become camp counsellors for the summer to escape the wrath of a Los Angeles serial killer called The Night Stalker.

There, they encounter a lunatic called Mr Jingles who slaughtered nine people at the camp 14 years prior.

It stars Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Gus Kenworthy (in his acting debut), DeRon Horton, Matthew Morrison, Zach Villa, Angelica Ross, John Carroll Lynch, Orla Brady and Tara Karsian.

1984 is the first season without series mainstays Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson, which was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from fans. Maybe they’ll pop up in seasons 10-20? We hope so!