Lady Gaga

The fun of American Horror Story (if there’s any left to be had) lies in charting the actors that resurface from year to year, some taking central roles in each installment, and others weaving intermittently. Coven and Freak Show star Emma Roberts apparently missed out on her chance for Hotel, but will likely return for another round in Season 6, it seems.

Ever one for subtlety, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy more or less guaranteed us a sixth season by extending an invitation to Lady Gaga, not that the FX ratings smash cast any doubt over renewal. Now, American Horror Story has made official another round beyond Hotel, but has Gaga signed the dotted line?

We know all the seasons of American Horror Story are connected and that Hotel will definitely connect with Murder House. Christine Estabrook’s realtor Marcy, from the first season, has already showed up, and there’s a strong theory that Hotel will bring back Elisabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, before she was brutally murdered in Season 1. But those aren’t the only connections to Murder House. Based on new evidence and clues, the biggest connection of all may come from Lady Gaga’s Countess, who also may explain one of the series’ scariest monsters.

If you thought Wednesday’s shocking premiere of American Horror Story: Hotel was scary, undoubtedly the series’ most gruesome episode yet, be warned – the rest of the season is bound to get even more terrifying. We know this not only because co-creator Brad Falchuk confirmed Hotel will be the darkest season yet (and that means dark, considering Asylum), but because AHS is always based on real incidents and people. If we look no further than the real-life location Season 5's Hotel Cortez was inspired by we’ll discover just how many horrors are likely on the way.

American Horror Story has subjected its fans to some of the most grotesque forms of violence. From high school shootings in Murder House, shock therapy torture in Asylum, bleach enemas and acid attacks in Coven and leg amputations in Freak Show, Ryan Murphy has shown it all, at least before Hotel premiered.

American Horror Story: Hotel, which premieres on Wednesday, turns the fear and shock factors up to maximum velocity. Season 5 is set in the titular Hotel Cortez, an ornate downtown Los Angeles hotel embellished with golden Art Deco architecture. But it’s the hotel’s hypnotic patterned carpeting – nothing less than a direct allusion to The Shining – shadowy corners and vacant lobby that assure us the darkest of things can, and will, happen in the most beautiful of places.

American Horror Story will begin its fifth chapter this coming Wednesday (early review forthcoming!), its first without Jessica Lange at the center, and pop icon Lady Gaga stepping in to run the Hotel in her place. That said, one has to wonder if a potential AHS Season 6 would land us right back in the search for a new female lead, though creator Ryan Murphy seems to have gone Gaga, through and through. Oh, and confirmed Season 6, while he's at it.

Sure, American Horror Story: Hotel can serve up spooky teasers all the live-long day, but when it comes to footage, FX is finally allowing fans to check in. Ring the bell for your official first look at Season 5, and preview what Sarah Paulson calls the bloodiest, hottest season yet.

The usual round of creeptastic American Horror Story teases had Hotel looking a bit familiar, but does the full cast trailer open new doors on the “reinventions” FX promised us? Gander at Gaga, Bomer, Sarah Paulson and all the rest with our freakiest, showiest look yet at American Horror Story: Hotel.

American Horror Story: Hotel had nothing to show by its presence at Comic-Con 2015, but with filming in full swing, Season 5 is dripping an elevator’s worth of fresh blood. Not only do we have our first photos of the cast, but also fresh details on a “drillbit dildo” killer, connections to the first season, and much more.