American Horror Story season 10: Release date, cast, trailer and what we know so far

American Horror Story X is on its way – here’s everything we know so far.

By Joe Julians

Published: Tuesday, 31 August 2021 at 12:00 am

American Horror Story fans are used to spooks and scares – but many were unprepared for the horror of a year-long delay for the popular anthology’s 10th season.

However the wait is nearly over, as season ten – titled Double Feature – has started airing in the US with the UK release set in the not too distant feature.

Better yet, Double Feature will be released straight after the show’s first spin-off, with the similarly named American Horror Stories debuting first in what will be one unnerving autumn.

However, it is the original series that has hit headlines with the casting of Macaulay Culkin – and now a teaser trailer and two striking posters have given us an idea of what the Home Alone star will be up against.

So as AHS gets even more experimental than usual, here’s what we know about season ten of Ryan Murphy’s delightfully disturbing anthology series.

American Horror Story season 10 UK release date

For the first time ever American Horror Story will debut on Star on Disney Plus, arriving in October 2021.

However this Halloween-friendly date is a few months behind the US release, where the series premiered on 25th August.

It seems the delay may be due to American Horror Story’s move to Disney Plus – the show originally aired the day after their US transmission on FOX in the UK.

The upcoming season of American Horror Story was originally set to air on US broadcaster FX in 2020, with a premiere date in mid-September having been expected, but that was pushed back by the coronavirus pandemic.

In May 2020 it was revealed by FX that the American Horror Story season 10 had officially been delayed until 2021. Filming eventually began in December 2020, though production was paused in July 2021 due to a positive COVID-19 case.

American Horror Story season 10 cast

American Horror Story has developed a reputation for its repertory company of actors that it continues to employ, with a big line-up of familiar faces occasionally bolstered by exciting new additions.

Season 10 will be no different – with Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin set to join the established AHS cast members this time out, appearing in a video Murphy posted on his Instagram confirming who would appear in the 10th season.

Also announced to be part of the line up for the new run is model Kaia Gerber. Aside from two small roles, this is Gerber’s first major acting role and it will be interesting to see what type of character she will be portraying.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong (The Tomorrow War) will also become the youngest actress to join the main cast of American Horror Story at eleven years old, playing child prodigy Alma Gardner.

A frequent star in the FX anthology horror series, Sarah Paulson, was missing from the most recent season, titled American Horror Story 1984, but has revealed that she will be returning in the upcoming season. And she’s not alone, with other veteran cast members confirmed to be returning including Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourd, Evan Peters, Adina Porter, Angelica Ross, Finn Wittrock, Rt and Denis O’Hare.

Quite the line up then and it will be interesting to see the cast take on, presumably, two characters each for this latest season.

Kathy Bates was originally set to make a return here too but she sadly had to drop out due to health reasons – fingers crossed she is well enough to come back for whatever season 11 ends up being called.

Will American Horror Story season 10 be on Netflix?

Netflix has traditionally begun streaming each season of American Horror Story a little over a year after its US airing, but with the series moving from FOX UK to Disney Plus it is unclear whether this will still be the case.

American Horror Story season 10 theme

In November 2019, Murphy confirmed that he “flirted with aliens” and “flirted with [setting the season in] space”, but appeared to suggest that ultimately American Horror Story would not be going intergalactic next season – until the release of the poster…

Sink your teeth into #AHSDoubleFeature. Coming August 25 on FX, streaming next day #FXonHulu. #AmericanHorrorSummer pic.twitter.com/Yjgk1Ey8VF
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) June 24, 2021

This year’s double-feature theme of two stories in one season looks set to be beach related with Murphy teasing “one by the sea… and one by the sand”.

We now have names for both stories – Part 1: Red Tide will span six episodes and be set “by the sea”, while Part 2: Death Valley will take place “by the sand” and be made up of four episodes.

A second poster suggested a double creature feature, with Red Tide featuring sharp-toothed sirens while the second story Death Valley focuses on aliens.

Taking you under 8/25, next day on #FXonHulu. #AHSDoubleFeature pic.twitter.com/DSZs11ChzV
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) July 27, 2021

Other than that, Murphy and the AHS have been keeping their cards close to their chest, like they normally do, about the specifics of what we can expect these stories to be about and trying to dig up information from elsewhere has not been easy.

We do know that filming took place in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the Cape Cod location does fit with the beach settings that we have been hearing about. Interestingly, the filming was set under the name ‘Pilgrim’ but whether that turns out to be the name of one of the stories or just a code name for the shoot remains to be seen.

The trailer for Part 1: Red Tide provided us with a few more clues, confirming the Provincetown seaside setting. Red Tide’s premise seems to be a homage to The Shining, following Harry Gardner (Finn Whitrock) as he moves his pregnant wife Doris (Lily Rabe) and young daughter Alma (Ryan Kiera Gardner) to the coastal town in an attempt to cure his writer’s block.

However, after getting some advice from Austin Sommers (Evan Peters) creepy things start happening around the house – suggesting that success comes at a price…

Red Tide seems to take place in a modern-day setting, but Death Valley’s time period is currently unknown – though the design of the alien in the poster harkens back to the ‘little green men’ portrayal of aliens popularised in the 1950s.

The setting of Death Valley certainly seems inspired by the many conspiracy theories involving aliens in desert locations such as Roswell and Area 51 around that time period, despite Death Valley’s usual association with the western genre.

Veteran AHS star Sarah Paulson told EW that she will be playing a character with an interesting hair colour who “has some issues”. That may not be the most telling piece of information but we’ll take what we can get at this point.

What we do have though is an image – shared by Ryan Murphy on Instagram – of one of the creatures that will presumably be terrorising the characters in the show.

We don’t know who or what they are yet, but judging by the look of them and the “Night Moves” caption that Murphy shared alongside the picture, it’s possible at least one of the stories this year will be focused on vampires – of course, that could just be what Murphy wants us to think.

Actor Finn Wittrock has also said that we should be expecting a different tone this season to the one that we are used to while speaking to Entertainment Weekly – could we be seeing a more horror-comedy vibe this time around?

Is American Horror Story season 10 the last series?

Thankfully not! — in January it was announced that the anthology season had been renewed for a further three seasons, taking us up to season 13.

You can catch up on the previous seasons here:

Watch season 1 – 6 on the American Horror Story boxset
Watch season 8 on American Horror Story season 8 DVD
Watch season 9 on Amazon Prime

American Horror Story season 10 trailer

With echoes of The Shining, the trailer for Red Tide features plenty of seaside scares, as well as our first look at Macaulay Culkin in action.

Bear in mind the trailer includes the US release date however – Double Feature will be available in the UK a little later in October.

Check out the best Netflix series and best Netflix movies to keep you entertained or visit our TV guide for more to watch.