American Horror Story is now preparing for its 12th season, so naturally, there’s a lot of speculation about what this season’s theme will be, and American Horror Story: NYC might have secretly teased it. Each season of American Horror Story has covered a different horror theme (and social issue), but with time, they have formed a connected universe, to the point where it’s believed that each season has hidden a clue about the theme of the next. For its 11th season, American Horror Story went for a more real horror theme as it covered the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s in New York City.
Appropriately titled American Horror Story: NYC, this season took a look into the LGBTQ+ community in 1980s NYC, closely following their different struggles and how they were affected by the rapid spread of AIDS. If that wasn’t enough, the main characters were also dealing with a serial killer with disturbing plans and a supernatural entity that was linked to the AIDS epidemic. AHS: NYC was different from other seasons, which has changed expectations for season 12 as it’s believed it will cover real horrors again while there’s also hope it will go back to supernatural themes – and if one detail in AHS: NYC is a clue to season 12’s theme, the former will be correct.
Did AHS: NYC Tease The Plague As Season 12’s Theme?
A Reddit user found an interesting detail in the background of a scene in American Horror Story: NYC that could be hinting at season 12’s theme, and if so, it’s going to be a highly rumored one. The tease in question is a poster of a plague doctor with the lines "Picturing The Plague. The Black Death In Europe" above, and what seems to be the word “daddy” painted over it in red paint (as in “Big Daddy”, NYC’s supernatural entity). Back in April 2021, Ryan Murphy made a poll on Twitter so viewers could choose the theme for a future season of American Horror Story, and of the initial two finalists was the Plague, along with Bloody Mary. Murphy later changed it to Bloody Mary and sirens after fans demanded a recount, but the Plague continues to be rumored as a future theme.
Although it could be argued that AHS: NYC was the show’s season about the Plague, comparing the AIDS epidemic to it, which is why the poster was there, the series can still properly cover this theme in the near future. AHS can cover the Black Death, just like the poster reads, which was a bubonic plague pandemic that happened in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. The origin of the Plague is still unclear, but it’s estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of the European population, so there’s still a lot of mystery and horror around the origin of the disease, how it spread, and its social consequences, making it a fitting theme for American Horror Story.
What American Horror Story Season 12’s Theme Could Be
Another Reddit user has a different idea of how American Horror Story: NYC might have teased season 12’s theme, and it fits with the most talked about theme: sirens. According to them, in AHS: NYC episode 1, there’s a poster on Adam’s (Charlie Carver) room of the Greek sea god and the Neptune baths, hinting at sirens being next. The author of the comment points out that it’s the only one of the themes from Ryan Murphy’s poll that hasn’t been used in AHS or American Horror Stories (where Bloody Mary was already used), so it might finally be its time. Another talked about theme for American Horror Story season 12 is Christmas Horror, but this was already addressed briefly in AHS: Asylum with the character of Leigh Emerson. The Plague and Greek sea god posters in American Horror Story: NYC could just be coincidences, but both have a lot of potential.