The first teaser for American Horror Story Season 11 is here, and it looks like it’s going to be the gayest season yet.
Released Thursday, October 6, the AHS: NYC teaser is full of references to the LGBTQ+ club scene in either 1970s or ’80s New York City. The nightclub featured in the clips appears to be Brooklyn’s House of Yes, a famous queer club and performance venue that hosts themed parties, drag and burlesque shows, aerialists, and more. Think a glittering underground circus — a fitting locale for Ryan Murphy‘s spooky series.
The teaser opens on the dance floor of the club, the DJ looking like Freddie Mercury with his leather jacket, biker ‘stache, aviators, and slicked-back hair. Partiers dance under the disco ball and cage dancers (another feature at House of Yes), and then the clips then jump between quick, shaky shots of people decked out in studded leather and wrist cuffs and carrying chains. NYC’s A train comes plowing through the shot next before a blood-dripping needle appears with the message “the deadliest year.”
The next images include a drop of blood falling into a cocktail, a reference to the Hanky Code (in the ’70s and ’80s, when it wasn’t safe to be out, gay men would put bandanas in their back pockets to slyly signal their queerness), and of course, more blood and kinky masks. “A season like no other” displays across the screen at another point.
The official AHS: NYC logline teases that “mysterious deaths and disappearances ramp up in the city” in Season 11. “Meanwhile, a doctor makes a frightening discovery, and a local reporter becomes tomorrow’s headline.”
Given the potential setting and reference to needles, it seems the AIDS epidemic may be part of this season’s plot line. The LGBTQ+ community is rumored to be targeted by a serial killer this season, and the teaser certainly implies that’s a possibility with POV shots from a masked stranger causing concerned looks in the club. The season may also shine a light on NYC’s most famous serial killers, outside of the one that appears to be haunting the dance floor.
AHS: NYC‘s 10-episode season stars Joe Mantello, Billie Lourd, Zachary Quinto, Russell Tovey, Leslie Grossman, Charlie Carver, Sandra Bernhard, Isaac Powell, Denis O’Hare, and Patti LuPone. It premieres Wednesday, October 19 at 10/9c on FX with each episode streaming next day on Hulu. The show will release two episodes per week.
American Horror Story, Season 11 Premiere, Wednesday, October 19, 10/9c, FX