Killer cast confirmed for ‘American Horror Story’ Season 13 including oh-so many fan favourites… Here’s hoping S13 is a return to fine form

By creammagazine, May 14, 2026

Do you feel lucky? Jessica Lange heads a devoted and downright brilliant cast (most of the actors returning for a fifth or sixth time) for ‘American Horror Story’, Season 13.

To a good Italian boy like me, 13 is a lucky number. I might be fortunate, then, in seeing Ryan Murphy get back on track to creating some great fictional horror – like he did in the first half of his American Horror Story franchise, and that’s because Murphy is currently in production with AHS Season 13, set to premiere on Halloween night, 2026.

After the inevitable car crash that was Prom. After the headache that was Kim Kardashian (in just about any vehicle Murphy has made for her… All’s Fair? Not). After the forgettable skits – some tackily slapped together – that were American Horror Stories (plural in two ways – the seasons have had so many confusing themes). And after the producer/director’s attempt at introducing us to two completely new freakish worlds with the naffly titled Grotesquerie and Doctor Odyssey, there’s hope yet that Murphy can and will return in fine form.

The thirteenth season of ‘American Horror Story’ looks poised to lean directly into the mythology and superstition surrounding the number 13 itself. In much of Western culture, 13 is considered deeply unlucky: hotels skip the 13th floor, airlines avoid placing passengers in row 13, and horror films have built entire franchises around the number’s ominous reputation.

What has fans especially excited is the massive wave of returning cast members, with reports already confirming the comeback of franchise favorites Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe and – drum rolls please – Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange. Just the fact that the latter two veterans of the large and small screens have signed on to feature is a sign that things are getting back on track, for surely they’ve seen part of the script already.

Sarah Paulson (above) and Emma Roberts (below) are both confirmed to appear in ‘American Horror Story’ Season 13. But will their characters be aligned with the roles they played in ‘Coven’, ‘Apocalypse’, or both?

As for ‘fresher’ additions to the cast, the naming of pop star Ariana Grande and pope of trash John Waters as key new cast members couldn’t be a more dichotomous proposition. Grande’s unabashed gloss up against Waters’ subversive dirtiness could look too stark if, say, their two characters somehow meet on screen. But Waters has a way of bringing the ugly out of the beautiful and the beautiful out of the ugly, so his connection to the new season could be pivotal and the one thing that glues it altogether.

Alternative film director John Waters gets to see how the other half live, set to feature in the new season of ‘American Horror Story’.

Jessica Lange returning to the series is particular significant, since she has long been considered one of the defining faces of the franchise and has only appeared sparingly in recent years.

Fan favourite Evan Peters even described the new season as a kind of “greatest hits” era for the show, which strongly suggests the creators are treating season 13 as a celebration — or perhaps culmination — of the entire AHS universe. And to me, that would be beyond fantastic.

One of Ryan Murphy’s most dedicated cast members, in the ‘American Horror Stories’ franchise and in several of Murphy’s other series, Evan Peters is a guaranteed staple of ‘AHS’ Season 13.

There is also mounting speculation that AHS13 will connect directly to earlier seasons, particularly American Horror Story: Coven and American Horror Story: Apocalypse. The evidence is hard to ignore, with many of the returning actors overlapping in those two specific seasons. There’s a witch-centric aspect to both Coven and Apocalypse, and so far, promotional teases have referenced characters like Madison Montgomery. Some reports suggest the season could function almost like a crossover event, revisiting the interconnected mythology that links American Horror Story: Murder House, Coven, Apocalypse, and possibly even American Horror Story: Hotel. But we’ll have to see how these wonderful actors and their now-famous characters in the series come together for (quite possibly) one last hurrah.

That interconnected approach would make sense for a symbolic 13th season. Over the years, AHS evolved from a loose anthology into a shared universe filled with recurring characters, bloodlines, ghosts, witches, and apocalyptic prophecies.

If season 13 truly becomes a convergence point for those worlds, it could feel less like a standalone chapter and more like the franchise staring into its own haunted mirror — revisiting the spirits, monsters, and unfinished stories that have defined it over the past decade.

Whether 13 proves cursed (or like I said earlier, lucky) might ultimately depend on whether the season can balance nostalgia with the unpredictable horror that made American Horror Story popular in the first place. I’m thinking Murphy can pull off the balance nicely – and with a cast as impressive as this one (and no sign of Kim Kardashian!), the thespian quality ought to at least impress.

Plenty of Jessica Lange screen time, please, plenty!

Antonino Tati

‘American Horror Story’ Season 13 will premiere October 31st, 2026.