Is ‘American Horror Story: The Mist’ Really The Theme Of AHS Season 6?
American Horror Story has managed to keep a tight lid on its theme for Season 6, but this week we have news that it may be “The Mist.” The news didn’t come through an announcement from AHS itself, however, and given Ryan Murphy’s strategy of intentionally misdirecting fans who are eagerly awaiting the big news from American Horror Story, it may turn out not to be true. But the evidence of its validity is pretty strong, so viewers are feeling pretty confident. Is their certainty misplaced?
Here’s how we got the news. There are two different sources that published the title American Horror Story: The Mist. As Entertainment Weekly reported, the website Rotten Tomatoes listed AHS Season 6 with the title. Then there was TV Guide, who also listed the upcoming season as American Horror Story: The Mist. A few weeks ago, FX CEO John Landgraf commented on the many teasers that have been released.
“One is accurate. The others are all misdirects.”
There is a teaser that was titled “The Mist,” so maybe that’s one that is accurate. Check it out.
There are a couple of things worth noting about this possible American Horror Story theme. One is that, as noted by Screen Rant, mist isn’t really a location like a coven, a murder house, a hotel, or the other places that have been used as titles of previous seasons of AHS. Second is that “The Mist” is the name of a Stephen King novella. While its subject matter, a mist that hides monsters, contains lots of creepy possibilities for American Horror Story, it wouldn’t be a very original idea for the FX anthology series to just copy what Stephen King has already done.
You can't run from us… #AHS6 pic.twitter.com/vmBIbGcZsw
— AmericanHorrorStory (@AHSFX) August 30, 2016
We also can’t forget that there is a very deliberate move by AHS to mislead fans right up until the premiere of American Horror Story Season 6 on September 15. So this could have been another deliberate misdirection orchestrated by the show itself. Or, on the flip side of the argument, maybe the title really is American Horror Story: The Mist. You have to admit it’s a pretty vague title. It’s possible that FX anticipated that the title may be leaked given the drive of viewers to discover the theme of Season 6. So they may have chosen an intentionally vague title.
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Also worth noting is a sweepstakes contest that American Horror Story is currently running. It asks that you select one of six teasers that “you believe will be represented in the premiere episode.” The teaser titled “The Mist” is not among those six. But all that really means is that “The Mist” won’t be part of the Season 6 premiere. It doesn’t mean it won’t be a central element of the rest of the season.
SIX days to guess the mystery of six. The AHS sweepstakes is waiting for you… https://t.co/mgqbYHhTjs pic.twitter.com/tNWwbs3OyN
— AmericanHorrorStory (@AHSFX) September 2, 2016
It’s also possible, given the number and frequency of teasers being released, that the real one hasn’t been released yet. It’s possible that none of the AHS teasers released so far tell us the theme of Season 6. It’s possible that the season title won’t be American Horror Story: The Mist or American Horror Story: Spiders or anything else related to the teasers we’ve seen so far.
You see how every time you think you have American Horror Story figured out, you get a curve thrown at you? Well done, Ryan Murphy and all your co-conspirators.
We do know a couple of things about the new AHS season. Ryan Murphy has said that it will involve children as well as two ideas he has had running around in his brain for a while. This suggests that the teaser with the baby in a bassinet reaching for a knife could be the real deal.
And a few weeks ago, TMZ released photos of an American Horror Story set that includes a colonial-era farm and a tree with the word CROATOAN carved on it, a reference to the disappearing colony in North Carolina in the late 1500s. There are numerous trailers that support this theme.
If you really want to take a deep dive into further analyzing what Season 6 of American Horror Story may hold, take a look at this video about theories about how all the seasons are connected.
[Image via FX]
