"No need for the rules anymore. The chaos has won."
So opens the full trailer for American Horror Story: Apocalypse, which, per its own trailer, won't be following any of the rules anymore. The show, which is the eighth season of Ryan Murphy's horror anthology, will be a sort of high school reunion for the show, bringing back old favorites and remixing them in new ways. And it won't be following the rules — but rules have never really counted in the Murphy universe anyway. The AHS universe has always been especially freewheeling. There's no place this show won't go, and it'll go to the darkest places with glee.
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In this most recent trailer, Sarah Paulson — an AHS standby — plays Venable, a stern housekeeper amid post-apocalyptic chaos. She governs a home called Outpost that will keep you safe from outside radiation, but she has a few rules.
"The house rules are simple. You may never leave the building, due to the dangers of radiation contamination. And no unauthorized copulation. No exceptions," she says in the trailer. Later, she is shown doling out punishments, noting that she loves to do so.
This confirms one theory: that Apocalypse will feature an atomic bomb. Previous trailers have made it clear that the season will take place during the literal end of the world. ("It's the end of the world," a voiceover said in one early teaser.) But the cause of the apocalypse wasn't certain. Based on this trailer, which has just about every apocalypse trope in the book, the end of the world will happen thanks to an atomic bomb, which leaves the world littered with radiation. The only option? To hide away in a safe house, where people like Paulson's character will torture you.
The trailer also reveals Michael Langdon (Cody Fern) in full for the first time. He has a lush blonde 'do and he's sneering.
"What do you think?" he asks.
To which, Ms. Meade (Kathy Bates) replies, "Hail Satan."
This is going to be fun.
Watch the full trailer, below. American Horror Story: Apocalypse premieres on September 12.
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