It’s always exciting when FX releases the first trailer for their ongoing anthology television series, “American Horror Story”. It’s usually the time the cable channel and creator Ryan Murphy reveal the show’s season theme, and we all begin to speculate what it will be about. Then they assault us with dozens of promos that make us wish we could block them all until the show finally airs.
Only, for this year’s return, they made it even more tumultuous as they decided to hold their cards close to their chest and make us guess what the sixth season’s theme would be. In fact, when they started blasting out the promos, FX CEO John Landgraf explained that, “One is accurate; all the rest are misdirect.” He continued, “We decided, Ryan [Murphy] and I and [marketing president] Stephanie Gibbons, that it would be really fun this year…to keep it a mystery. There is a theme and a setting and a place and time, but we’re not going to reveal it.”
While TMZ uncovered clues that revealed the Roanoke backdrop, nobody could figure out which of the 25/26 promos were real. We all made great embarrassing guesses, while I was convinced the show would be bug-themed with Lady Gaga using the insects to control children in a small town. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now five episode deep into “My Roanoke Nightmare”, I think we can now look back at the mass of promos and pick out the ONE that was real, and you’ll never believe which one it was.
The Descent
First, before we get to the real teaser, in the promo “The Descent” someone runs to the cellar while hands reach out and grab their ankles. This sort of kind of happens in the show, when Shelby (Sarah Paulson) and Lee (Angela Bassett) are locked in the basement only to come out and see Blair Witch-esque relics hanging all over their house. In this past Wednesday’s episode, Shelby and Matt (Cuba Gooding Jr.) are trapped in the basement and led out by Evan Peters’ ghost. It could be the real promo, but I’m quite sure it’s just a coincidence.
Wind Chimes
This promo, well, I have to think that Syfy and the creators of “Channel Zero: Candle Cove” had to be literally freaking out. We now know their show is based on the tale of a tooth monster, and the creators of “American Horror Story” have a knack for lifting from pop culture – would it have been so far-fetched that “AHS” would have stolen from a creepypasta? Not all all. i just had to share this because, in retrospect, it’s hilarious. Consider this the opening act…
What’s Cooking?
Okay, so, here’s the real promo that was teased. The irony? Well, it was the very first one that FX released! What you see is a house in the middle of nowhere, smoke rising from the chimney and a chainsaw revs up in the background. While this isn’t wholly representational of the season, the first five episodes take place in such a house, while Kathy Bates’ character is apparently butchering trespassers and cooking them at a bonfire (there’s a ton of shots of a man in a pig’s head roasting over a fire). Even more notable is that the last episode (Chapter 5) had Shelby and Matt abducted by a family of cannibals who had been cutting up and “cooking” one of the previous owners (Denis O’Hare). This was the real promo.
