Jessica Lange Covers Lana Del Rey's 'Gods and Monsters' on 'Freak Show'

Courtesy FX via EW

Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) vainly performed on Halloween and ended up serenading both the living and the dead with her cover of Lana Del Rey's "Gods and Monsters." A dark stranger appearing was promised to her by Emma Roberts, aka Maggie Esmerelda the scheming fortune teller, and damn it...she was correct. Two-faced Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) proved to be not just an urban legend when the prophesy of a freak performing on Halloween would summon his murderous spirit, came true.

Whom will he choose to join him and his dead cronies? Find out on "American Horror Story: Freak Show" next Wednesday, October 29 at 10 p.m. ET on FX.



-Larissa Mrykalo

Jessica Lange Does Bowie in this Scene From 'American Horror Story: Freak Show'

How 'bout that freak show last night? Between the charming clown with the non-stop smile and sweet and sassy Dot and Bette (played by the amazing Sarah Paulson), it was a glorious spectacle. One of the highlights from the show was Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars stepping onto her stage and doing a glittery rendition of David Bowie's "Life on Mars" complete with a freakishly good orchestra. Too bad her audience was just two a-holes.

Thank you Ryan Murphy and thank you to Entertainment Weekly for this exclusive clip of the performance. "American Horror Story: Freak Show" returns next Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX with the Alfonso Gomez-Rejon-directed episode, "Massacres and Matinees."

-Larissa Mrykalo

New Trailer for 'American Horror Story: Freak Show' Offers First Footage

Where are the freaks? I'm getting bored. 

Hold tight, the wait is almost over. October 8 is around the corner and a brand new 60-second trailer featuring real footage from "American Horror Story: Freak Show" has just been released. We get to go behind the scenes of Fraulein Elsa Mars' Cabinet of Curiosities and her collection is quite impressive. From a two-headed Dot and Bette to Pepper the Pinhead to the world's smallest lady in a birdcage, "Let's hope they start bringing in some paying customers."

Oh and we get our first look at Twisty the Clown in action. He's super murdery...just as we expected. Your ticket gets ripped on Wednesday, October 8 at 10 p.m. on FX. Best part? The episode will be 90-minutes long.

American Horror Story: Freak Show begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952. A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.



-Larissa Mrykalo

Sarah Paulson's Character Revealed for 'American Horror Story: Freak Show'

Courtesy Sarah Paulson

The next season of "American Horror Story" is creeping around the corner, and with theme like "Freak Show," viewers can expect a lot of surprises. With a stellar cast, including veterans from previous seasons, we've learned very little about the actual characters on the show. Enter the lovely Sarah Paulson.

Earlier, the actress took to her Twitter account to reveal to her fans that she will be portraying not one, but two characters on the show! The actress will be pulling double duty as Bette and Dot, a member of the sideshow with two heads.

“So excited to be playing Bette AND Dot this season. Two heads are better than one! #AHSFREAKSHOW
-@MsSarahPaulson ”

Set in 1950s Florida, "American Horror Story: Freak Show" will follow a German woman (played by Jessica Lange) who runs one of the last sideshows in the United States. In a predictable, yet eternally terrifying turn, showrunner Ryan Murphy unveiled that the main baddie of the upcoming fourth season will be called "the Clown Killer." Swell.

The fourth season is expected to begin its 13 episode run in October and while this season will be Jessica Lange's last, it is shaping up to be absolutely amazing. We are curious to see what oddities will be revealed next! Perhaps the elusive Bearded Lady will finally be unveiled? Stay tuned!

-Nowal Massari

New Details Revealed About 'American Horror Story: Freak Show'

An exclusive over at Entertainment Weekly revealed a key detail about the upcoming "American Horror Story: Freak Show" and those suffering from coulrophobia are in for a real treat...nope. Ryan Murphy dished with EW on the new season that's set in a 1950s Florida freak show run by a German. That German will be played by AHS regular and fan-favorite, Jessica Lange and she's always been a fan of this setting, according to Murphy.

Regarding "Freak Show," Murphy revealed, “It was always a concept that Jessica and I talked about really early on. It was always her favorite one, which I thought was funny. I’ve had many different versions that I’ve run by her. I just love it. It feels really right. I thought it was going to be light but it’s turning out to be quite terrifyingly dark, which it feels much more like the Asylum season. But look — if you have a character named the Clown Killer, it’s going to be dark.”

Um, Clown Killer? So is it a killer clown or a killer who murders clowns, because the latter sounds much more appealing. No judgement. Murphy confirms that it's not the latter, “Yes. The most terrifying clown ever!” But we already suspected a scary clown, right? They also asked about if Murphy will feature that lovely freak show staple, the Bearded Lady, "Yes. Our version of it.” Oh we're sure their version won't be run-of-the-mill. It better not be.

The circus comes to town this fall...most likely in October.

-Larissa Mrykalo

Ryan Murphy Confirms Title for "American Horror Story" Season 4!

Fan-made image via Iridescent Pictures

Recently, "American Horror Story" writer Douglas Petrie revealed during a Nerdist podcast that the fourth season of the hit show would take place at a carnival. At the time he stated that it didn't have a title, but that the carnival theme was "very roughly the idea" for the new season.

Well, earlier today show-runner Ryan Murphy took to his Twitter account and confirmed the fourth season title as "American Horror Story: Freak Show."

“It’s set in 1950. If you look historically what happened in the year 1950, there’s some more clues in that year. It’s a period piece. We try and do the opposite of what we’ve done before. Jessica Lange has already started practicing her German accent so I’m very excited!,” Murphy previously stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

While he and other crew-members had previously denied the fan-made posters for a circus themed fourth season, it appears that they've had this idea in mind for quite some time. The fourth season of "American Horror Story" will be the last for star Jessica Lange, and will debut in October on FX.

UPDATE: After announcing "American Horror Story: Freak Show" would be the official title of the upcoming fourth season, Entertainment Weekly has provided some additional information regarding the cast and plot! EW revealed-

"Set in Jupiter, Florida, in 1950, Freak Show finds Jessica Lange playing a German ex-pat who is managing one of the last freak shows in the U.S. Her group of “unusuals”- Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, and Frances Conroy all play performers whom Lange’s character has rescued; Denis O’Hare and Emma Roberts are also in talks to return. Freak Show’s 13 episodes will track this group as they do anything to keep their business around."


-Nowal Massari

'American Horror Story: Coven,' 'Gravity' and 'Orphan Black' Grab Golden Globe Nominations

The nominees for the 71st Annual Golden Globes were just announced and there were not only some notable nods but also some snubs when it came to the broad realm of the paranormal.

We were especially excited to see that "American Horror Story: Coven" was not only nominated for "Best Miniseries or Television Movie" but also, Jessica Lange was nominated for her role as Fiona Goode in the "Best Actress, Television Movie or Mini-Series" category.

Hey wait! No mention of "The Walking Dead?" Where was "Game of Thrones?" No nomination for Peter Dinklage's "Tyrion Lannister" or David Morrissey's "Phil/Brian/Governor" role? Who else didn't or did make the list? Let's break this down further...

'American Horror Story: Coven' Recap: 'Head'

Courtesy: Collider

BY KARL PFEIFFER

Given the driving sexual nature of "AHS", particularly this season with Coven, I was a bit surprised to find the title of this episode altogether literal. In fact though, I have to say that my biggest loves and concerns have to come down to expectation. There were too many "wait, what?" moments this episode, which is a problem. You want your audience's understanding to be smooth with your characters' experiences.

That said, it was freaking great in so many other ways. So let's start breaking it down:

It's an episode that starts with a witch hunt, and ends with the rushed, less-resonant, Coven-attempt at the Red Wedding. The episode more-or-less hinges around emotionally-torn Hank Foxx, estranged husband of Cordelia. We're teased first with a flashback, which revealed in a surprise-to-no-one twist that young Hank was on a witch-hunting trip with his pop. We learn that young Hank has a heart as he struggles with killing a witch, which results in his father nearly burning to death. This later comes to light as Hank meets with his father, who is apparently the head of a giant multi-million-dollar corporation that's really just a front for killing witches (uh. wut?).

'American Horror Story: Coven' Recap: 'The Dead'

Courtesy: Collider

BY KARL PFEIFFER

This week's "American Horror Story" was an episode of a show in its groove!

We kicked off the episode with another extraordinary teaser, bringing Evan Peters back to the limelight in a flashback to a fraternity field trip in a tattoo parlor. In it, we showcase both Kyle's hopes and dreams: to be the golden boy, to prevent tragedy, to live, richly. Which made the segue to present-time Franken-Kyle all the more tragic, as he understands that he's now both un-alive as well as an amalgamation of his disappointing fraternity brothers. If it wasn't clear before, I'm loving the balance between he and Zoe, as he was the head of his own fraternity of brothers, and Zoe will soon be the head of her own fraternity of sisters.

From what seems first like an underwhelming title, "The Dead", we get a brilliant episode that focuses in on that balance between life and death and a dissection of what it means to live. Though not an oversight of the first season, this study is a direction that was never deeply explored with "Murder House", despite its attention to murder, death, spirits, sex, and abortion.

'American Horror Story' Returning For Fourth Installment

Courtesy FX

FX just announced that “American Horror Story” will return in 2014 for its fourth installment. The network has ordered 13 hours of the yet-to-be-titled miniseries from Twentieth Century Fox Television.

The announcement came from John Landgraf, CEO, FX Networks and FX Productions:

Put simply, Ryan Murphy is a master television producer. Time and time again he reinvents the form. What he, co-creator Brad Falchuk and their producers Dante Di Loreto, Tim Minear, Jennifer Salt, James Wong, Brad Buecker, Jessica Sharzer, Douglas Petrie, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Alexis Martin Woodall and the entire production team and cast responsible for the ‘American Horror Story’ franchise have done is nothing short of extraordinary. Every year, they create a riveting and brilliant new miniseries. "AHS: Coven" is the best yet, and I have no doubt that the next installment will be even better.

“Coven” has already been a ratings powerhouse and has surpassed the ratings of the previous installments. According to the press release, “Season-to date, AHS: Coven is averaging 7.74 million Total Viewers, 5.46 million Adults 18-49 and 3.14 million Adults 18-34, which are increases of +77% in Total Viewers, +67% in Adults 18-49 and +60% in Adults 18-34 over AHS: Murder House. Coven is outpacing AHS: Asylum by +83% in Total Viewers, +71% in Adults 18-49, and +68% in Adults 18-34.”

Jessica Lange is scheduled to return for the fourth installment as per her contract, but is said to be departing after that run.

Nine new episodes remain in “Coven” with “Burn, Witch, Burn!” airing tonight on FX at 10 p.m. ET. "Coven"'s final episode will air on January 29.

-Larissa Mrykalo

Kathy Bates joins 'American Horror Story' Season 3

Bates, courtesy EW

The American Horror Story 3 cast keeps coming together. We already knew twofers Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson and Frances Conroy would be returning to Ryan Murphy's whacked-out horror anthology for a third season. And then we found out AHS season one alum Taissa Farmiga would be back.

But Murphy's company must love misery because Kathy Bates has signed on to appear in the third season.

TVLine reported today, and it was confirmed by Entertainment Weekly, that Oscar-winner Bates will be squaring off against Oscar-winner Jessica Lange when the show returns in the fall. As EW puts it, "This marks somewhat of a horror homecoming for Bates who won the Academy Award for her role as cray cray fan Annie in Misery."

Who else would you like to see join this primo crop of actors for a horror turn? Any guesses (or hopes) as to where Season 3 might go?

-Aaron Sagers