The upcoming American Horror Stories spin-off show has remained cryptic and elusive in many key details, such as a confirmed plotline and cast. The series is meant to be an anthology show, showcasing a different story each episode within the universe of the various American Horror Story seasons. Previous teasers have introduced familiar settings such as the haunted mansion in the first season and familiar characters such as the rubber man.

With the season premiere just under a week away, American Horror Stories released a partial cast list and separately released a more telling official trailer for the series. Some recent cast members listed include previous American Horror Story actors Matt Bomer, John Carroll Lynch, Naomi Grossman, Billie Lourd, and Charles Melton, among others. The original American Horror Stories teaser trailer that came out a few weeks ago showcased the supernatural-based characters that might be in the show, but the new preview gives fans a taste of the more main characters and possible victims.

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The latest American Horror Stories trailer seems to bring the audience through clips from different episodes in the season, which have an air of Tales from the Crypt and The Twilight Zone. A group of new characters is introduced and shown entering the haunted mansion, where they encounter various ghosts, demons, and monsters. One clip lingers on one of the characters about to be murdered by someone dressed in a Santa costume. The man desperately pleas to the killer Claus that he believes in Santa, but that doesn't appear to change his fate.

Most of the evil in the American Horror Stories trailer can be spotted as characters from various seasons of the show. The trailer acts in many ways like a haunted house, with another, more horrific, monster jumping out in every cut of the video, threatening to continue their terror. Some romantic interests, new demonic possessions, and slight moments of quirky comedy are also previewed in the new trailer. In an ironic scene, a woman named Mrs. Gore, who seems to be a judge of sorts, comments that television violence is ruining society.

Altogether, the clip was hardly more than a minute long, still withholding the secrets of American Horror Stories and keeping the show a mystery in many ways. With so many details missing about the show, it is unclear whether the anthology will have any common thread of character or plot from episode to episode, or will it leave the audience with an entirely new story each episode.

American Horror Stories has themes of classic horror TV shows, some already mentioned, but it also brings to mind Black Mirror. Episodes of Black Mirror, Tales from the Crypt, and Twilight Zone tend to have morals attached to them. American Horror Story, while making some social and political commentary, often leaves the audience with an introduction to pure evil with no morals or motive. Will this horror continue in the spin-off?

Watch the season premiere of American Horror Stories on Hulu on July 15th, 2021.

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Source: FX Networks/YouTube