Before you start watching AHS’s newest season, read this recap

Note: this article contains spoilers for multiple seasons of American Horror Story 

Ryan Murphy, who once staunchly insisted there would never be crossovers between seasons of his hit anthology horror series American Horror Story, is giving fans the All-Stars treatment with the premiere of the first three episodes of the show’s unlucky 13th season. 

While the show’s previous crossover season American Horror Story: Apocalypse saw the show’s first season Murder House crossover with fan favorite season Coven as the witches of Miss Robichaux’s Academy battled the anti-christ, AHS: 13 promises to draw in heavy hitters and fan favorites from across all the previous seasons. This coincides with the return of several cast favorites, with the long-waited return of Jessica Lange (who was featured in an episode or two of Apocalypse as her season one character) as a main cast member, alongside the return of Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters who have been absent since the show’s tenth season Double Feature. Also featured are recurring main cast members Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Billie Lourde, Emma Roberts, Frances Conroy, and Gabourey Sidibe alongside new cast members John Waters, Alex Consani, Madelaine Pesch, Avantika, and Paul Anthony Kelly.

While details on the season’s plot have been vague, the series teases a season that will feature Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters portraying multiple roles from previous seasons, promising confusion to the casual onlooker who might tune in when the season premieres on Disney’s FX. Before diving in, here is a brief deep-dive on where we left off with our featured seasons teased thus far in the show’s promotion.

AHS: Murder House serves as a foundational piece of the series’ overall lore, confirming the existence of ghosts and restricting them to the locations in which they died with the exception of Halloween night. The season followed the Harmon family as they attempted to save their crumbling family dynamic upon moving to an infamous murder house in Los Angeles, only to deal with meddling neighbor Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange) and her schoolshooting son Tate Langdon (Evan Peters). Amidst this drama, Vivian Harmon (portrayed by Connie Britton) is raped and impregnanted by the ghost of Tate, fulfilling a condition in which the anti-christ will be born from a spirit and a human woman. The season ends with the deaths of the entire Harmon Family, only for Constance to rescue and adopt the already blood-thirsty anti-christ toddler Michael Langdon.

The show’s third season Coven follows the small coven of witches living in New Orleans’ Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Girls as they face threats of witchhunters, voodoo queens, and each other as the remaining members vie for the role of Supreme. The Supreme, Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange), is a powerful supernatural figure whose powers eclipse that of the other witches, having mastered all Seven Wonders, various specialized skills that are difficult for witches in the AHS universe. We learn that the rise of a new Supreme triggers the death of the old one, resulting in Fiona neglecting the coven to pursue eternal youth and immortality while her daughter Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) tries to build back up the coven’s ranks. Throughout the season, the coven has run-ins with powerful voodoo priestess Marie LaVeau (Angela Bassett) and the sadistic New Orleans socialite turned unwanted immortal Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates). The season ends with Fiona finding herself banished to hell alongside LaLaurie and LaVeau, as her daughter Cordelia successfully performs the Seven Wonders and decides to reveal the witches’ existence to the world in an attempt to protect other emerging witches.

The show’s eighth season Apocalypse served as the first major crossover season, after a few small character cameos in previous seasons. The season is set soon after apocalyptic events force a group of survivors into an elaborate underground bunker ran by HR rep turned tyrannical dictator Ms. Wilhemina Venable (Sarah Paulson), only for the anti-christ Michael Langdon (Cody Fern) to show up and judge the worthiness of the survivors’ souls. The rest of the season is told through various timelines before the collapse, as we learn that Michael’s ascent coincides with an unprecedented event in the show’s universe: a man becoming Supreme. We learn of a sect of warlocks who raise and train Michael with the intention of overthrowing the world order and knocking the coven of female Salem descendants from the top of the pyramid. Cordelia, leading a group of witches who survive the apocalypse, attacks the bunker in hopes of utilizing its inhabitants to undo Michael’s destruction and prevent the apocalypse. We meet the timid Mallory (Billie Lourde), a survivor in the bunker, who is revealed to be a gifted, but memoryless witch planted by Cordelia to secretly survive the events of the Apocalypse. As Mallory’s powers grow, we learn that Cordelia’s Supremacy is fading, with the Supreme ultimately killing herself to boost Mallory’s powers and allow her to complete a complicated spell that allows her to time travel and kill Michael in his youth before he can cause the apocalypse. Thus, at the end of this season, the season’s events are completely undone, only for us to discover that the Devil had secretly created a backup anti-christ in an ode to the end of Murder House. 

Additionally, the season features several important characters from the fifth season Hotel, which follows the tenants of an old art deco style hotel called the Hotel Cortez long after its heyday. While this season features Lady Gaga as the vampiric Countess, the owner of the hotel, it seems that AHS: 13 will likely not feature the show’s portrayal of vampirism with the actress not returning. However, the Countess’ original husband and hotel designer James Patrick March (Evan Peters) is a murderous, trap-laying serial killer modelled after H.H. Holmes who is killed and trapped in the hotel as a spirit similar to the rules established in Murder House. This character is known for having a deadly halloween party called Devil’s Night where he invites his proteges, revealed to be real-life serial killer spirits like Aileen Wuornos and Jeffrey Dahmer. James Patrick March and several of these killers will be featured in AHS: 13. 

AHS: 13 seems to feature many characters who are dead within the universe, causing fans to predict the season might be set in Hell or heavily feature The Devil, who has been featured in other seasons but never been a primary antagonist. While it might seem like an odd hodgepodge of characters, for example, Sarah Paulson will be portraying First Lady Mamie Eisenhower (briefly featured in AHS: Double Feature’s alien segment), the season seems like it will feature a good amount of camp, gore, and fan service. However, the season may leave fans a tad disappointed at its relatively short length, with the show shifting from an hour-long episode format to thirteen half-hour episodes released in trios leading up to an Oct. 29 finale. American Horror Story: 13 premiered on Thursday, Sept. 24 on FX, with a next day release on Hulu.