For most of American Horror Story’s run, series co-creator Ryan Murphy has always seemed to enjoy keeping details about upcoming seasons as close to the vest as possible for as long as possible. This practice of course reached an infamous new extreme this year, with fans receiving almost no information at all about the show’s sixth season prior to its premiere a couple weeks back. Instead, dozens of unrelated teasers were released, with only one hinting at season 6’s actual theme.
While opinions on whether the newly dubbed American Horror Story: Roanoke (aka My Roanoke Nightmare) has managed to live up to the massive levels of hype generated by that memorable marketing strategy are varied, the ratings are doing fine so far, with the season premiere standing as one of the most watched episodes in series history. Oddly enough, Murphy has hinted that all has still not been revealed concerning season 6, and that Roanoke might yet have more twists up its sleeve for fans.
It would appear that American Horror Story devotees shouldn’t look for this pattern of deception and secrecy to end anytime soon, as Murphy tells EW that he and an unnamed screenwriter are currently hard at work on an installment of AHS that so far only those two people know anything about:
Putting aside the fact that Murphy did just in fact tell somebody about the project, fans shouldn’t necessarily expect to see this “secret season” debut anytime soon. According to Murphy, plans are already in place for American Horror Story season 7, assuming that FX ultimately grants the series another renewal. With the ratings doing as well as they are, it would certainly be hard to imagine that not happening.
“It’s my secret season. I’ve been working with a writer on a season that only he and I know. It’s like a two-year project that we’ll continue to work on the sly and not tell anybody.”
As for the continued development of his clandestine season, Murphy offered the following:
Oe of the most commonly stated criticisms against American Horror Story is that it tends to sometimes feel unfocused, often seemingly indulging in throwing disparate horrific elements at the wall and seeing what sticks. It’ll be interesting to see if having one writer pen an entire season leads to a more unified plot structure that’s easier to follow. That said, fans would never want things to get too predictable, as the insanity is definitely part of the show’s charm.
“I don’t know when it will [air] but it’s also an experiment. It’s a different way of doing it. It’s one person writing all episodes. I don’t know if it’s going to work but it’s like, well, let’s try that. We might get them done and shoot them on the sly and drop it.”
American Horror Story: Roanoke airs Wednesdays at 10pm on FX.
Source: EW