‘American Horror Story’ Season 13 Cast: Who’s Back and How to Watch

• American Horror Story: 13 premieres Thursday, Sept. 24, at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT) on FX and Hulu, with three episodes.
• It is an “all-stars” season: Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Angela Bassett are back, most of them playing several old characters.
• The season has 13 half-hour episodes, released on Thursdays through the finale on Oct. 29.

Thirteen seasons, one reunion. American Horror Story: 13 premieres on Thursday (Sept. 24) at 9 p.m. ET on FX and Hulu, and it brings back most of the franchise’s biggest names, Jessica Lange, 77, included.

Lange had ruled it out. Asked in February 2025 whether she would ever return, she said: “Oh Christ, no.” In April, co-creator Ryan Murphy posted her first-look photo on Instagram as Constance Langdon, the character from the show’s first season.

When does American Horror Story season 13 come out?

On Sept. 24. The first three episodes arrive at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT on FX, and stream at the same time on Hulu, including Hulu on Disney+. After that, new episodes land on Thursdays until Oct. 29, two days before Halloween.

The format is new. Past seasons ran close to an hour per episode; these run about 30 minutes, and most weeks bring two or three of them. Longtime writers Ned Martel and Charlie Carver took over as showrunners.

Who is in the cast of AHS: 13?

Almost everyone. Murphy has said the actors play “multiple parts in an homage to all of the seasons”: Paulson, 51, plays six characters, Evan Peters, 39, five, and Lange all four of hers. These are the returning roles confirmed so far by FX’s trailers and Murphy’s posts:

Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Frances Conroy and Mat Fraser are also back. The new faces include filmmaker John Waters, Paul Anthony Kelly (JFK Jr. in Murphy’s Love Story), Joey Pollari, model Alex Consani, Madelaine Petsch, Avantika and Tig Notaro.

Bassett, 68, returns as Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen she played in 2013’s Coven and 2018’s Apocalypse. She walked FX’s premiere party at the Hotel Chelsea in New York on Wednesday night with a clutch decorated with skulls.

Is AHS 13 a Coven sequel?

Not according to Murphy, although the witches are in it. “Everybody has it wrong,” he told TheWrap in July. “Everyone thinks it’s a Coven season — it’s not. It really is a tribute to the fans.” He added: “Nobody’s figured it out, but the witches are back in some capacity.”

The clues point both ways. In April, Murphy wrote that the production had “rebuilt the entire Robichaux Academy,” the witch school from Coven. In interviews he has compared the season to The Avengers: characters from every chapter of the show, on one side, against one evil.

One crossover did not make it. Murphy said he planned to bring in the Scream Queens sorority sisters, with Ariana Grande as Chanel #2, but her tour got in the way. He said he will “bump it down the road.”

More horror on your screen: the cast of Murphy’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, what Matthew Lillard said about Scream 7 and when SNL’s new season starts. Everything else is in Movies & TV.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: FX (premiere date, time and official trailer, Sept. 10); Ryan Murphy on Instagram (April 2026); Murphy’s interviews with TheWrap (July 27) and The Hollywood Reporter; episode schedule as listed for FX and Hulu. Reported by Variety (Ethan Shanfeld), TV Insider (Erin Maxwell), Gold Derby (Marcus James Dixon and Denton Davidson) and Rolling Out.