Culture of Pop

‘American Horror Story’ Season 4: Bring on the Freaks

The Freak Show is coming to town and we’re expecting nothing less than a twisted tale that’ll leave us tossing and turning at 4 a.m. The fourth season of American Horror Story: Freak Show premieres tonight on FX.

American Horror Story fans have learned to expect the unexpected and embrace it – the crazier the better, right? The new opening credit montage is creepier than ever, with disfigured toys, clowns, and other strange beings showcasing their freakish abnormalities. Some even appear to be partaking in sexual acts together.

Freak Show takes us back to 1952, to the small town of Jupiter, Florida. We follow one of the few remaining traveling freak shows struggling to survive in the dying world of carney.

The show is going broke and the group is under tremendous pressure to perform their circus-like acts, with German expatriate Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) at the helm. Elsa, like many of Lange’s past AHS characters, is a seductive enigma – we’re unsure whether she’ll end up murdering half the cast or save them from the real psychos threatening their world.

Last season’s Supreme Witch Sarah Paulson, is now playing conjoined twins, Bette and Dot. The season starts with Elsa looking to recruit the two-headed woman – a win-win for all parties. The show needs headlining talent and Bette and Dot long for a place to belong. “Dear Diary, I have found my future. It is pink and wrapped in silk,” Paulson is heard fantasizing in the trailer.

But this is  American Horror Story, and anything pink and wrapped in silk would either be worn by the always-glamorous Jessica Lange, or shredded and splattered with blood.

We still don’t know what this misfit crew is capable of, with a three-breasted woman, a man with lobster-like hands, and the infamous bearded lady on board. But we’ll find out soon enough. The freaks have enemies. And who knows what internal enemies they might have too.

But the show must go on, and it will, with many of our favorite returning cast members, including Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts and Kathy Bates. A full cast list can be found here.

We catch our first glimpse of Twisty the murderous clown (John Carroll Lynch), near the end of the trailer, as he approaches a sleeping woman. The grotesque clown is the season’s most obvious villain thus far, with co-creator Ryan Murphy calling Twisty the scariest jester ever created – perhaps making up for last season’s lack of horror. Nothing like a ruthless clown killer to keep us up all night.

Freak Show premieres tonight on FX at 10 p.m. EST.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGwySm9nMc[/youtube]

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