‘American Horror Story’ Season 7 Teaser Photo Reveals Very Creepy Creature

Executive producer Ryan Murphy has posted a new tease for American Horror Story Season 7, and it already has social media abuzz.

Murphy posted a photo on his Instagram account Friday of a sketch for Season 7 of American Horror Story. The sketch features an elephant with a huge, menacing red smile looking downward, with the caption simply stating, “American Horror Story Season 7 tease.”

This is the first visual tease thus far for Season 7. It remains to be seen if this elephant creature will show up in American Horror Story Season 7, considering the show has promoted creatures like the White Nun for Asylum and the screaming clown for Freak Show in the past, neither of which showed up on the actual series. However, a different-looking clown did show up on American Horror Story: Freak Show(John Carroll Lynch’s Twisty), who actually has a similar smile to the elephant’s.

Murphy teased in February that Season 7 of American Horror Story would be about the 2016 election, particularly the U.S. presidential election in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

“I don’t have a title, but the season that we begin shooting in June is going to be about the election that we just went through, so I think that will be interesting for a lot of people,” Murphy told Andy Cohen on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live in February. When Cohen asked if Trump would factor into the series, Murphy cryptically said, “Maybe.”

The elephant imagery featured above certainly falls in line with the Republican Party, whose main iconography is the elephant. The twisted smile may suggest some level of villainy in the new season.

Murphy has since told E! News that there won’t be actors playing Trump or Clinton, although they will be seen in the first minutes of Season 7.

“We don’t have actors playing them. You’ll see them on television. The first 10 minutes of the season, this season, takes place in a very eerie macabre way on election night and there’s something terrible that happens in the lives of our characters on election night as they’re watching it all go down. Which in itself was a horror story, so it’s like a horror story upon a horror story.”

Murphy also told The Hollywood Reporter that Season 7 would help bring to light some groups who feel marginalized by the Trump administration.

“All of the stuff that I’m developing now is going to be about illuminating and highlighting people who don’t have a voice in our culture — people who are ignored by the current administration and who are afraid and feel terrorized that their lives are going to be taken away. I’m interested not just in writing about those people but also in using my financial means to give back to them as well.”

Two major cast members have been lined up for Season 7, and they are the two American Horror Story mainstays, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters. Paulson and Peters are the only actors to appear in all six seasons of American Horror Story, including Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, and Roanoke. Billy Eichner and Billie Lourd will also be making their respective American Horror Story debuts with Season 7. Lourd previously worked with Murphy on the Fox TV series, Scream Queens.

With filming beginning in June, American Horror Story fans should probably expect more imagery to come out in the months to come. Last season, Murphy and company experimented with not revealing any plot or character details before the premiere, though Season 7 promotion has already been more open and active.

American Horror Story Season 7 is expected to premiere this fall on FX.

[Featured Image by Frank Ockenfels/FX]