American Horror Story Season 13: More Coven, Returning Series Stars, And Everything Else We Know

American Horror Story is coming back for its 13th season after a three-year hiatus, filling fans with relief after an awkward 12th season and a rather painful wait. Delicate, the 12th season of the never-ending anthology series that aired back in 2023, was a major departure from the norm for the Ryan Murphy-created series. That season was based on a book instead of being an original tale, neither Murphy nor co-creator Brad Falchuk served as showrunner, and we didn't see many of the actors we usually expect to pop up in a new season of AHS. 

But after taking a couple of years off, the upcoming Season 13 is pivoting back to the old way. Murphy seems to be once again running things on the creative side, the vast majority of the cast is made up of folks who have appeared in at least four different seasons of the show, and it looks like the story will be focused on the the continuing adventures of the witches from Coven, the third season of the series.

But, as is so often the case with AHS, the specifics of the story are being kept under wraps for as long as possible. We probably won't learn much about the season's premise until much closer to its premiere. But, in the meantime, there are a few things we do know. Let's dive in.

American Horror Story Season 13 latest news

We've got a more returning cast members, plus a notable new face as well. According to Deadline, John Carroll Lynch and Mat Fraser will be returning in their roles from Freak Show — Twisty the Clown and Paul the Illustrated Seal. Lynch also has some other past AHS roles he might bring back for this greatest hits season, including the murderous Mr. Jingles from 1984. Deadline also reported that Mena Suvari is joining the cast, and while there's no word on who Suvari will be playing, our best guess is the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short, the role she held in Murder House.

Those three are reportedly joined by Berto Colon as a new character called Joe the Doorman.

When does American Horror Story Season 13 come out? 

Season 13 of American Horror Story will, according to the cast reveal teasers released thus far, premiere in September 2026.

American Horror Story Season 13 teasers

We don't have any real, serious teasers yet, just little Instagram posts on the Ryan Murphy Productions account. The teasers started dropping once production began in April 2026, and they include one with Jessica Lange standing next to a window and two with Sarah Paulson and Emma Roberts revealing they'll be playing their Coven characters again.

American Horror Story Season 13 cast list

The list of actors showing up for Season 13 is a who's who list of AHS stars — the new season will feature eight of the top 11 actors in terms of the franchise's overall episode count, only missing out on Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, and Denis O'Hare. Alongside the many returning folks, we've also got some new major names to add, with Wicked star Ariana Grande, cult filmmaker John Waters, American Crime Story's Joe Pollari, and Love Story's Paul Anthony Kelly joining the cast. Their roles remain unknown for now.

• Sarah Paulson as Cordelia Goode
• Evan Peters
• Angela Bassett
• Kathy Bates
• Ariana Grande
• Emma Roberts as Madison Montgomery
• Billie Lourd
• Gabourey Sidibe
• Leslie Grossman
• Jessica Lange
• John Waters
• Paul Anthony Kelly
• John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown
• Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal
• Mena Suvari
• Berto Colon as Joe the Doorman

Even beyond Conroy and Rabe, there are some pretty notable absences here, like Taissa Farmiga — Farmiga and Rabe were both main cast members during Coven. And if we're going to get a cameo by Stevie Nicks, we'll apparently have to wait to find out about it. 

Whatever the case, while the above list probably includes most of the main cast, we'd still expect to see more familiar American Horror Story faces in smaller parts come September. Ryan Murphy loves to surprise his fans.

Could this be the final season of American Horror Story?

Given that Season 12 looked an awful lot like an attempt by Murphy and Falchuk to move on from the series they created more than a decade ago, and the show's multi-year hiatus after, fans already had reason to wonder if the series had ended before Season 13 was officially announced last October. And while there's nothing in the marketing for Season 13 that makes it sound like "one last ride" before the end, bringing back all these old hats for a kind of all-star season is exactly the sort of thing a series like this would do in preparation for the end.

So, yes, Season 13 certainly could be the end for American Horror Story, and given the occult flavoring of the franchise, it would make sense to end it with unlucky number 13. But Murphy has not actually teased or otherwise indicated that Season 13 will be the last. Let's not make any assumptions.

American Horror Story Season 13 potential storylines

We could be looking at another season like Apocalypse, which was a sequel to both Murder House and Coven about the Antichrist ushering in the end of the world. That story ended with the Coven going back in time and murdering the Antichrist before he could do all those Antichrist-y things, so there's no need to worry about the continuity — not that that's ever been something American Horror Story was overly concerned with anyway.

Either way, the fact that we're seeing the Coven folks again doesn't preclude characters from other seasons also showing up. In fact, with Evan Peters referring to it as a "greatest-hits season," we'd say it's very likely that characters from other seasons will appear. But until we learn something about the plot, or more specific characters are revealed, this is something that's pretty much impossible to predict, because every returning cast member listed above has appeared in at least four different seasons.

And keep in mind that these returning actors aren't limited to just one role each. During Apocalypse, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters both played four different roles, some being returning characters and some being new ones. So the return of the characters from Coven doesn't preclude those actors from also bringing back other characters.

Where to watch American Horror Story

The entire run of American Horror Story is available on Hulu and Disney+.