The eighth season of the American

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television series '' American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Apocalypse'', features the witches from the New Orleans coven as they battle the Antichrist and attempt to prevent the world from ending. The season is presented as a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

between '' Murder House'', ''

Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promote ...

'', and ''

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

''. The

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters,

Adina Porter Adina Elizabeth Porter is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lettie Mae Thornton on the HBO fantasy horror series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), Kendra James on the HBO drama series '' The Newsroom'' (2012–2014), and Indra ...

, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Cody Fern, Emma Roberts,

Cheyenne Jackson Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings. After beginni ...

, and Kathy Bates, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomer Fern. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for cable network FX, the series is produced by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

. ''Apocalypse'' was broadcast between September 12 and November 14, 2018, consisting of 10 episodes. The season was announced in January 2017 and received positive reviews from critics, with many considering it an improvement over previous installments. In April 2019, the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...

, which presents the

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s, announced that, for the first time in the series' history, a season would not qualify for the Limited Series categories, and would instead be moved to Drama. ''Apocalypse'' was ultimately nominated to five categories, including Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Jessica Lange.

Cast and characters

Main

* Sarah Paulson as

Wilhemina Venable The eighth season of the American horror anthology television series ''American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Apocalypse'', features the witches from the New Orleans coven as they battle the Antichrist and attempt to prevent the world from ending ...

Cordelia Goode The third season of the American horror anthology television series '' American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Coven'', is set in 2013 New Orleans and follows a coven of witches descended from Salem as they fight for survival, and features flashback ...

and Billie Dean Howard * Evan Peters as Mr. Malcolm Gallant, Jeff Pfister,

Tate Langdon The first season of ''American Horror Story'', retroactively subtitled ''Murder House'', centers on the Harmon family, who, after dealing with a miscarriage and infidelity, move to a restored mansion in Los Angeles, unaware that the ghosts of i ...

and

James Patrick March The fifth season of the American horror anthology television series '' American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Hotel'', is centered around the mysterious Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles, the scene of disturbing and paranormal events, overseen by its en ...

as Dinah Stevens * Billie Lourd as

Mallory Mallory is an Irish surname derived from the Goidelic languages, Gaelic ''Ó Mallairígh''. Spelling variants include Mallary, Mallery, Malorie, Mallorie, Mallerie and Mallorey. Mallory and Mallerie are also given names derived from the surname. ...

* Leslie Grossman as Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt * Cody Fern as

Michael Langdon Michael Langdon CBE (12 November 192012 March 1991) was a British bass opera singer. Langdon was born in Wolverhampton. He had six half brothers and sisters, the youngest, Maud being 19 years his senior. His father, Harry (birth name Frank Bi ...

* Emma Roberts as

Madison Montgomery The third season of the American horror anthology television series ''American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Coven'', is set in 2013 New Orleans and follows a coven of witches descended from Salem as they fight for survival, and features flashback ...

as John Henry Moore * Kathy Bates as Miriam Mead and

Delphine LaLaurie Marie Delphine Macarty or MacCarthy (March 19, 1787 – December 7, 1849), more commonly known as Madame Blanque or, after her third marriage, as Madame LaLaurie, was a New Orleans socialite and serial killer who tortured and murdered slave ...

Special guest stars

* Dylan McDermott as Ben Harmon * Connie Britton as

Vivien Harmon '' American Horror Story: Murder House'' is the first season of the FX horror anthology series ''American Horror Story''. The season's theme is infidelity, and focuses on the plight of the Harmon family, Ben and Vivien, their daughter Violet and ...

* Lily Rabe as

Misty Day '' American Horror Story: Coven'' is the third season of the FX horror anthology series ''American Horror Story''. The season focuses on the oppression of witches, who resides in present-day New Orleans, as they try to combat organized efforts ...

* Frances Conroy as

Myrtle Snow '' American Horror Story: Coven'' is the third season of the FX horror anthology series ''American Horror Story''. The season focuses on the oppression of witches, who resides in present-day New Orleans, as they try to combat organized efforts ...

and Moira O'Hara * Jessica Lange as

Constance Langdon '' American Horror Story: Murder House'' is the first season of the FX horror anthology series ''American Horror Story''. The season's theme is infidelity, and focuses on the plight of the Harmon family, Ben and Vivien, their daughter Violet and ...

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

Marie Laveau Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881)''Marie Laveau The Mysterious Voodoo Queen: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans'' by Ina Johanna Fandrich was a Louisiana Creole people, Louisiana ...

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

Herself A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and refer to a previously n ...

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...

as Evie Gallant and Bubbles McGee

Recurring

* Taissa Farmiga as

Zoe Benson The third season of the American horror anthology television series ''American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Coven'', is set in 2013 New Orleans and follows a coven of witches descended from Salem as they fight for survival, and features flashbac ...

and

Violet Harmon The first season of ''American Horror Story'', retroactively subtitled ''Murder House'', centers on the Harmon family, who, after dealing with a miscarriage and infidelity, move to a restored mansion in Los Angeles, unaware that the ghosts of i ...

* Gabourey Sidibe as

Queenie Queenie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Queenie'' (film), a 1921 American silent drama film *Queenie (Melbourne elephant), an elephant at Melbourne Zoo *Queenie (waterskiing elephant) *''Queenie'', a 1985 novel by Michael Korda ** ''Queeni ...

Naomi Grossman Naomi Grossman (born February 6, 1975) is an American actress, writer, and producer best known for her role as Pepper in the second and fourth season of the FX horror television series ''American Horror Story''. Early life Grossman was born in ...

as Samantha Crowe *

Billy Eichner Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's ''Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show ea ...

as Brock and Mutt Nutter * Billy Porter as Behold Chablis *

Kyle Allen Kyle Allen (born March 8, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, he played high school football at Desert Mountain and was among the top football ...

as Timothy Campbell *

Jon Jon Briones Ernesto Cloma Briones Jr., known as Jon Jon Briones (born August 7, 1965), is a Filipino-American actor best known for his work in musical theatre. He was born in Quezon City, Philippines and became a United States citizen in 2010.Wolf, Matt"We ...

as Ariel Augustus * BD Wong as Baldwin Pennypacker *

Ash Santos Ashley Marie Santos is an American actress. She is known for playing Emily in the eighth season of FX horror anthology series ''American Horror Story'', entitled ''Apocalypse'' (2018). Early life Ashley Marie Santos was born in The Bronx, Ne ...

as Emily Campbell *

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (born October 21, 1984) is a Canadian actor, model, and television personality. He is known for appearances in films and television, most notably as Jay in the Lifetime dark comedy-drama series ''Unreal'' (2015–2018) and ...

as Andre Stevens *

Carlo Rota Carlo Dante Rota (born 17 April 1961) is a British-born Canadian actor. He has appeared in ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' and as systems analyst Morris O'Brian on the Fox series '' 24''. He also co-starred as Emilio Solano in ''Jane the Virg ...

as Anton LaVey *

Jamie Brewer Jamie Brewer is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in the FX horror anthology television series ''American Horror Story''. In its first season, '' Murder House'', she portrayed Adelaide "Addie" Langdon; in the third ...

as Nan * Erika Ervin as The Fist

Guest stars

* Dina Meyer as Nora Campbell * Travis Schuldt as Mr. Campbell *

John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films. Personal life Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, ...

as Mr. St. Pierre Vanderbilt *

Chad James Buchanan Chad James Buchanan (born August 28, 1993) is an American actor and model. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Television He is best known for his role as Hunter Morgan on ''Star'', and has appeared in several television shows including ''Jane the V ...

Stu Stu is a masculine given name or nickname, usually a shortened form (hypocorism) of Stuart or Stewart. It may refer to: Stuart * Stu Barnes (born 1970), Canadian retired National Hockey League player * Stu Block (born 1977), Canadian singer-so ...

Sean Blakemore Sean Blakemore (born August 10, 1967) is an American actor who is portraying Shawn Butler on the ABC daytime drama '' General Hospital'', a role he began playing on January 21, 2011 on a recurring basis. Blakemore was nominated for a Daytime Em ...

as a cooperative agent *

Lesley Fera Lesley Fera (born November 23, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Veronica Hastings on the ABC Family series ''Pretty Little Liars (TV series), Pretty Little Liars''. Fera also had a recurring roles in ''24 (TV series) ...

as a cooperative agent * Wayne Pére as Mr. Kingery * Mena Suvari as Elizabeth Short * Sam Kinsey as Beau Langdon * Celia Finkelstein as Gladys *

Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020) ...

Papa Legba Papa Legba is a lwa in Haitian Vodou, Winti and Louisiana Voodoo, who serves as the intermediary between the lwa and humanity. He stands at a spiritual crossroads and gives (or denies) permission to speak with the spirits of Guineé, and is bel ...

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. She is perhaps b ...

as Hannah *

Harriet Sansom Harris Harriet Sansom Harris (born January 8, 1955) is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals of Bebe Glazer on ''Frasier'' and Felicia Tilman on ''Desperate Housewives''. Harris won a Tony Award in 2002 as a Fe ...

as Madelyn * Dominic Burgess as Phil * Mark Ivanir as Nicholas II of Russia *

Emilia Ares Emilia Ares is an Armenian-American film and television actress, producer, and award-winning author. Her debut coming of age, contemporary fiction novel, ''Love and Other Sins'', encompasses complex family dynamics, immigration, child abuse, the ...

as Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia * Yevgeniy Kartashov as

Yakov Yurovsky Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (; Unless otherwise noted, all dates used in this article are of the Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar which was used in Russia prior to . – 2 August 1938) was a Russian Old Bolshevik, revo ...

Episodes

Production

Development

On January 12, 2017, the series was renewed for an eighth season, which premiered on September 12, 2018. In October 2016, series co-creator Ryan Murphy announced a "crossover" season between previous cycles '' Murder House'' and ''

''. In January 2018, he stated that the ninth season would most likely feature the crossover; however, in June 2018, he announced that the eighth season was chosen instead. Murphy has also stated that the eighth season would be set 18 months in the future and would feature an '' Asylum'' and ''Coven'' tone. In July 2018, it was announced at the

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

that the title of the season would be ''Apocalypse''. In April 2018, it was revealed that series veteran Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters would make their directorial debut in an episode. It was later revealed that Paulson would direct the sixth episode. Peters, in the end, did not direct an episode. As with previous seasons, several teasers were released. On September 4, 2018, a short trailer was released, followed by a longer trailer the next day.

Casting

In October 2017, it was announced that series mainstay Sarah Paulson would return for the season. In March 2018, it was announced that Kathy Bates and Evan Peters would also return, leading the season with Paulson. In April 2018, Joan Collins joined the cast as the grandmother of Peters' character. In April and May 2018, ''

Cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

'' actors Adina Porter, Cheyenne Jackson, Billy Eichner, Leslie Grossman, and Billie Lourd were also confirmed to return. In June 2018, Emma Roberts revealed that she would return for ''Apocalypse'', reprising her role as Madison Montgomery from ''Coven''. That same month, Murphy revealed that other witches from ''Coven'' had all been invited to return, and also stated that he had asked

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as no ...

to join the cast, while Paulson confirmed that she would reprise her ''Coven'' role, Cordelia Goode. In July 2018, it was reported that Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Kyle Allen would guest star in the season. Later that month, Murphy revealed via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that ''

American Crime Story ''American Crime Story'' is an American anthology true crime television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Simpson. The seri ...

'' actor Cody Fern joined the cast as a grown-up Michael Langdon, the Antichrist born during the events of ''Murder House''. In August 2018, ''

Pose Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning. *''Position'' is a gen ...

'' actor Billy Porter announced via

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that he would appear in the season. Later, during the Television Critics Association press tour, it was announced that Jessica Lange would appear in the season's sixth episode as her ''Murder House'' character, Constance Langdon. After FX released the season's first teaser, actress Lesley Fera revealed via

that she would appear in the season premiere. Later, Ryan Murphy confirmed via Twitter that Taissa Farmiga, Gabourey Sidibe, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, and Stevie Nicks would all appear during the season, and that they would all reprise the roles they played in ''Coven''. In the same month, Angela Bassett, who appeared in four previous seasons, confirmed that she would not appear in the season; however, Bassett appeared in the last episode of the season, playing

, the role she played in ''Coven''. Later, Finn Wittrock, who appeared in three past seasons, confirmed that he would not appear in ''Apocalypse''. The same day, it was announced that original cast members Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott would be returning for the season, and Ryan Murphy later confirmed that they would reprise their ''Murder House'' roles, Vivien and Ben Harmon, respectively. Later, Murphy revealed that Evan Peters and Taissa Farmiga would be reprising their ''Murder House'' roles, Tate Langdon and Violet Harmon, respectively. In September 2018, it was revealed that Erika Ervin would be returning for ''Apocalypse'' after having a recurring role in ''

Freak Show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

''. It was also reported that actress Ash Santos would appear in the season.

Filming

In April 2018, Murphy revealed that filming for the season would begin in June 2018.

Reception

Critical response

''American Horror Story: Apocalypse'' received positive reviews, with many considering it as an improvement over the recent seasons. The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the season a 79% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.95/10, based on 8 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Ryan Murphy and his murderers' row of witchy performers literally save the world -- and franchise -- in ''Apocalypse'', the series' most ambitious crossover swing yet." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the season was given a score of 63 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards and nominations

In its eighth season, the series has been nominated for 20 awards. Five of them were won.

Ratings

Home media

References

External links

* * * * {{American Horror Story episodes 2018 American television seasons 2010s American drama television series 2010s American time travel television series 08 American time travel television series Androids in television Cannibalism in fiction Dark fantasy television series Demons in television Fiction about the Devil Fiction about Louisiana Voodoo Fiction about nuclear war and weapons Fictional depictions of the Antichrist Genocide in fiction Ghosts in television Fiction about human sacrifice Mass murder in fiction Post-apocalyptic fiction Satanism in popular culture Television about magic Television series about witchcraft Television series set in the future Wizards in television