American Horror Story: Roanoke

American Horror Story: Roanoke
Season 6
File:American Horror Story, season 6, official art.jpg Official season art
Release
Original network	FX
Season chronology

The upcoming sixth season of the FX horror anthology television series American Horror Story was renewed on November 10, 2015. It is scheduled to premiere on September 14, 2016; the first time the series has debuted outside of October in its history. Details about the season's plot or cast has been kept secret, an unconventional means of publicity, not usually utilized by the series. What is known about the cycle's theme is that it will revolve around children, and in the words of co-creator Ryan Murphy will be "more rogue" and "dark", in contrast to Hotel. After the release of pictures taken from the set in Santa Clarita, it has been widely theorized that the season will incorporate the infamous 1590s Roanoke Colony disappearance. This is the first season to not release a subtitle, before the premiere, since the first season.

Cast

Actors confirmed

• Evan Peters
• Sarah Paulson
• Denis O'Hare
• Kathy Bates
• Angela Bassett
• Finn Wittrock
• Wes Bentley
• Matt Bomer
• Lady Gaga
• Cheyenne Jackson
• Leslie Jordan
• Cuba Gooding Jr.
• Annabell Osorio

Actors not officially confirmed

• Emma Roberts
• Taissa Farmiga
• Mare Winningham
• Celia Weston
• Chaz Bono
• Jayson Blair (actor)

Production

Development

"We just thought it would really be fun to keep it a mystery, so we are; we just thought that would be a nice change after doing things one way for five years"

–FX president and CEO John Landgraf on the enigmatic marketing strategy for the sixth season

On November 10, 2015, the network renewed the series for a sixth cycle; which will premiere September 14, 2016. In August 2015, co-creator Ryan Murphy commented on the sixth year, stating, "The next thing we're crafting up is very very different than [Hotel], not smaller. But just not opulent. More rogue and more dark." In October 2015, when questioned about clues and hints alluding to the sixth season (as has been the status quo since the first season of the series) in Hotel, Murphy revealed he had yet to definitively decide on a theme, "This is an interesting year in that the idea that we’re dealing with I've mentioned in several seasons. It's been there before. We've actually talked about it a lot on the show. I might do that for season 7 but I'm leaning towards that for season 6." In January 2016, FX president John Landgraf revealed that the season will be "principally set in the present", with a dual timeline in "echoes of the past". He also confirmed a fall 2016 premiere. At the 2016 PaleyFest, Murphy divulged that the two previous ideas [the writers] had been considering had been merged into season six, saying it will involve children and operatic themes. The season is expected to consist of 10 episodes, the least in a given cycle, in the show's history.

Set design

Colonial ware and design will be incorporated into the season, which is theorized to be, at least partially, set in 1590 Roanoke, North Carolina. A pioneer cottage is being incorporated in Santa Clarita, California. The set is fully dressed in time-period appropriate dressings, including an etched tree. The production designers have constructed an entire colonial house, that will serve as the seasons cheif setting. The house was constructed in an undisclosed California forest, over the course of four months. The abode is completely functional, furnished and finished inside and out. This is the first time in American Horror Story history that a complete home has been built, and is quite unprecedented for film and television productions in general.

Casting

In October 2015, Murphy later tweeted that he had asked Hotel star Lady Gaga to join the untitled season, but did not expect an answer anytime soon. She later confirmed her involvement in March 2016. Coven star Emma Roberts has stated that she and Murphy have talked about a "devilish" role for her in the season. Murder House and Coven star Taissa Farmiga has been heavily rumoured to be involved with the season in some form. In February 2016, Angela Bassett confirmed her return to the series during an interview on Larry King Now, being the first cast member added to the season 6 roster. At Paleyfest, Murphy invited Kathy Bates, Denis O'Hare, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Wes Bentley, and Matt Bomer to return to the show for its sixth season. In May 2016, Jessica Lange stated, in an interview with Charlie Rose, that she would not be returning for the sixth or any other future season of the series; saying, "No, I had four years with that, four seasons, and each year was a marvelous character, everything changed from one year to another which made it very interesting to me. But no, I think sometimes you come to the end of something..." In June 2016, Coven alum Leslie Jordan announced his return to the series. Later in the month, Bomer, Jackson, and Evan Peters confirmed their involvement with the sixth season. O'Hare stated he would return in some capacity in a May 2016 interview. US Weekly has reported the returns of Bentley, Bates, and Wittrock. TMZ has reported the casting of The People v. O. J. Simpson star Cuba Gooding Jr.. In an early August 2016 interview with Glamour, series veteran Sarah Paulson announced her return for the sixth year. She said of the show, "I just think I have the greatest job on the planet because my TV show [American Horror Story] is going into its sixth season and I'm playing an entirely different character, like nothing I've ever played."

Filming

In March 2016, the series received a major tax credit for filming of the season in Los Angeles, California. Cast alum Angela Bassett and Jennifer Lynch will both be directing episodes during the season, marking the first time women have served in the capacity on the show. In June 2016, cast member Jackson stated that the season had already clandestinely begun principal photography earlier that month. On August 1, 2016, TMZ published photographs of the American Horror Story set in Santa Clarita, California; that contain a small Pioneer home, and a tree with the word "Croatoan" carved into its center. Both of these things are attributed to the 1590 colony of 117 people, in Roanoke, North Carolina, that disappeared without a trace, and the only clue left was the carving - the name being a nearby tribe of Native Americans. Later, TMZ unveiled more set photos from an unknown California forest.

Marketing

Campaign

The marketing campaign for the season had been one of mystery. On June 6, 2016, all of the series' social media pages displayed a teaser image of a red number six, with a question mark superimposed. Little is known about plot details or casting, which seems to be a deliberate ploy of publicity. The show built a virtual reality experience (that featured footage and sets from the past five cycles of the series, not the sixth) for the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International, in lieu of a panel or cast appearance, like all seasons prior, furthering the enigmatic public image of the season. Zap2it has reported that the theme will remain unconfirmed by FX until the seasons' premiere, seemingly dismissing the notion of a season subtitle. A marketing tool not employed by the network since the first cycle, American Horror Story: Murder House.

On July 27, 2016, three teaser promos for the show were released on Snapchat. The first features a bassinet with a baby wailing, and a knife, sickle, and other deadly objects hanging from its mobile, a monstrous hand clutches the knife. The second shows a small girl screaming and running down a flight of stairs, with hands reaching from underneath, attempting to grab her ankles; similar to a previous Asylum teaser. The final trailer features a desolate farm house, with black smoke arising out of its chimney to form the number six, a revving chainsaw engine is heard, followed by a blood curdling screech. All promos incorporate the number six and a question mark. Later that same day three more trailers were unveiled. The first showcases a large, silky millipede crawling along top of, who is assumed to be, Lady Gaga's head. The second sees a decrepit man having his scalp stitched by a trenchcoated man, the stitcher states, "Try and keep it dry." The third trailer shows a presumed family of three, a father, mother, and daughter, walking eerily toward the camera, on a meadowland, at dusk. Their eyes shutter with an inhuman glow. The network unveiled the season's official promotional art on August 5, 2016; that features a pasty, grey toned woman, with burgundy lipstick, and spiders prying out of her closed eyes. The now infamous "?6" is also incorporated. Then, another teaser was released on August 12, 2016 where a creature is on a railroad track. The creature walks towards slowly before it cuts to the "?6".

At the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, on August 9, 2016, FX chief John Landgraf announced that all, but one, of the teaser trailers released thus far have been deliberate misdirects by the network. Explaining, "[Murphy and Stephanie Gibbons, FX head of marketing and on-air promotions] went out and made many more trailers than you’ve actually seen for hypothetical seasons of American Horror Story, meaning different genres and different places". Landgraf also reiterated what had been previously reported, that the official theme of the cycle will not be revealed until the airing of the first episode.

Plot theories

One of the earliest season hypothesis was that of Slender Man, the 2009 phenomenon, a man with a blank face, tractable arms, and killer of children. However, sources working on the show confirmed to Entertainment Weekly, in January 2016, that the myth would not be appearing, and that a theme had already been established for the season, and would be revealed in March. Though, this did not come to pass. Based on the teaser trailers and several interviews given by Murphy, popular theory, concerning the plot of the season, is dealing with a cult, farm, orphanage, colony, or the storyline of the Antichrist, which has already been touched on by the series in season one (Vivian and Tate's child, Michael, that Constance took as her own, was considered to be the titular figure). Deadline Hollywood's Ross A. Lincoln has posited the theory that the cycle will revolve around the infamous Bloody Benders family. They owned an inn and general store in rural 1800s Kansas. They would ultimately be responsible for the deaths of 11 passerbyers. The Benders mysteriously disappeared just as authorities were closing in. Details as to why they killed and who they really were, exactly, are unknown to this day. After photos of one of the sets for the season were taken and released by TMZ, confirming that the season will incoporate colonial aspects, Vulture theorized further. Assuming the set is indicating the incorporation of the notorious Roanoke Colony, the website's Jordan Crucchiola states that Murphy is likely to adapt the historical explanation of the settlers disappearance due to being murdered by the natives for being white invaders of the New World, rather than other possible archaeological explanations. The Huffington Post added that another story avenue Murphy might venture on is the colloquial belief that the colonist vanished under supernatural circumstances. It is also worth noting that this colony was mentioned by Billie Dean Howard in Murder House; further alluding to the possible Antichrist or supernatural presence in the sixth season. Zap2it also mentioned that the history of the word "Croatoan", is vast and unnerving. Days before the death of famed author Edgar Allen Poe he is said to have muttered the cryptic word as his final. Furthermore, in 1937, the word was found scribbled in fated pilot Amelia Earhart's journal. New York Daily News has speculated that the season will revolve around the Manson family; citing iconography in a teaser, Charles Manson's fascination with spiders (i.e. official poster for season), Evan Peters' appearance resembling Manson, and Murphy's previous comments stating that the series had considered the theme for the third year, which ultimately shifted to Coven. FX has yet to confirm any official details concerning the plot of the season.

External links

• Official website
• American Horror Story at IMDb
• List of American Horror Story episodes at TV.com