The Next Season of American Horror Story Will Be Carnival-Themed

Ladies and gentleman! Boys and girls! Step right up for the spookiest spectacle you’ll ever behold! It’s long been rumored and now we have confirmation from American Horror Story writer Douglas Petrie — the next season of AHS will be set at a carnival.

When asked about the carnival rumors on the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast, Petrie confirmed:

“Yes. It doesn’t have a title, but that’s the idea. Very roughly, that’s the idea.”

Other facts we know about season 4: It’s set in the 1950s, actress Jessica Lange — in her final season with the show — has been working to perfect her German accent and Sarah Paulson has been training for a very special, secret skill. (Trapeze? Contortionism? McCarthyism? Nazi hunting? It’s anyone’s guess!)

A carnival seems like the perfect scary setting for American Horror Story and it’ll be interesting to see how they try to set themselves apart from HBO’s short-lived Carnivàle, a beautifully crafted series that managed to weave together subplots about prophecies, good vs. evil, resurrection, old women with no eyes who punish you by sewing your mouth shut and towns inhabited by ghosts — all while never losing sight of the journey that their characters were on.

Comparatively, American Horror Story tends to introduce too much at once and often leaves things unresolved. Oh, well. At least it’s always fun along the way. To the carnival we go!