Entertainment

New 'American Horror Story' Gets a Creepy Setting

We're going to the carnival. When asked about the setting for the fourth season, AHS writer and co-executive producer Douglas Petrie confirmed that American Horror Story Season 4 "very roughly" based on a carnival. That rumor had swirled around the show for awhile actually, with fan-created circus and carnival-themed posters circulating the Internet. Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the show's creators, are also the creators of Glee, which is known for listening closely to what fans are saying and often working their wishes into the show. One of the biggest examples is the Brittany-Santana relationship which started on the message boards and became a canon couple. So it's just as likely that Murphy and Falchuk saw the AHS fan posters and liked the idea too much to let is pass by.

Carnivals have long been portrayed in horror movies because there is something so delightfully twisted about an amusement park setting filled with things like creepy clowns and "freak shows." It seems like an excellent setting for the scary television show. Here are 7 predictions about what we can expect from the 4th season of AHS based on carnival-horror films and TV shows of past.

1. DEAD BODIES IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE

Psych's carnival episode showed us there's nowhere better to hide a body than in a dark amusement park attraction that specializes in housing things like skeletons. No one would notice the person is real until long enough for the murderer to get away.

2. FRANKENSTEIN-ESQUE KILLERS

The Funhouse is an 80s horror film where a bunch of teenagers decide the smartest idea they could have is to stay the night in the funhouse ride because yay, spooky! This turns out badly for almost all of them as a the Frankenstein-costumed ride operator-turned murderer finds the teenagers before they can escape.

3. A FREAKY "FREAK SHOW"

AHS has already paid homage to one carnival-themed movie before. Freaks, a black-and-white film from 1932 was the inspiration behind the character of Pepper in AHS: Asylum. In the best of taste? Maybe not, but that's not always Murphy's strong suit.

4. EVIL CLOWNS

What's a carnival without some creepy clowns? Maybe Murphy and Falchuk will follow horror film Killer Klowns from Outer Space and make their clowns other-worldly.

5. AVANT-GARDE FLASHBACKS AND FLASHFORWARDS

The Mexican film Santa Sangre utilized these film treatments to construct a story of a boy who grew up in a circus. This element helped it portray a sort of nightmare-meets-acid-trip attitude, which could certainly be an interesting way to introduce past and future events at this carnival to AHS viewers.

6. ZOMBIES

Okay, so Zombieland has more of an amusement park than a carnival, but how can Murphy pass up adding the supernatural being du jour to his show?

7. A PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Let us not forget where he came from: an abusive circus family where he was the star of the "devil child" exhibit.

Will American Horror Story actually employ any of these carnival themes? Who knows, maybe Murphy will read this article and think it's a really great idea. Stranger things have happened.