What Could ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ Be About?

Fans of American Horror Story were not left in eager anticipation of what the fifth series could hold for long after Lady Gaga announced both the title and her own participation earlier today. I aim to explore some potential storylines and ideas that may feature in ‘Hotel‘.

The show has just finished airing its fourth season, Freak Show, and the showrunners did not leave much of a gap at all after the finale and this reveal. Lady Gaga posted a tweet which teased the new series and counts as the official unveiling of what the new AHS season, ‘Hotel‘, will be about. There is always a lot of intrigue and mystery about what the new seasons of this show will be about. As an ex fan of the show, I always enjoyed the run up from ‘season to reveal’, as it allowed you to explore the potential of what the show could achieve. For those not in the know, ‘American Horror Story’ is an anthology series where each season follows a new storyline, setting and cast of characters. You could jump into the show by watching the third series and not be disadvantaged.

So now, the great enigma has been revealed, in my opinion, far too quickly. Fans have not had chance to cool down for long enough and get excited again. Personally, I stopped watching Freak Show because it just didn’t hold me the way Asylum did. But, the reveal of the show being called ‘Hotel‘ and the involvement of Lady Gaga still packed a very big punch. Within two hours of the tweet being posted, Gaga received nearly 100,000 retweets. This clearly shows that the fandom is excited.

So, what could it be about?

1. I believe that the show will not be set in the past. I came to this conclusion because seasons one and three are set in the present whereas two and four and set in the past. By logic, the show should jump back to the present, or even the untapped future. Not one of the storylines have followed a time far from our own.
2. Black Mirror? You might have heard of the British television show ‘Black Mirror’ by now. It has been a sleeper hit for years but has finally come out as a mainstream program. The show is also an anthology series where each episode follows a grim future where social media has an awful and morbid effect on a variety of individuals’ lives. The show deals with the potential state of technology in the future and how it is for the worse. The AHS showrunners would be foolish not to go in a direction like this. ‘Black Mirror’ is so effective you will think about each episode for a long time afterwards. I think AHS needs to go back in a dark direction instead of the sassiness that existed in Coven.
3. Murderer On The Loose. Films like ‘See No Evil‘, ‘Vacancy‘ and even ‘Psycho‘ follow the plot of a killer loose in a hotel environment. All three of those do this very differently. I think this kind of story allows multiple different plot points for the show: a chance to flout and follow conventions. I can picture it clearly: The eccentric cast of opposites staying at a hotel, each dealing with their own demons, when suddenly, a murder. A killer is among them; but who? This kind of thing was done in the second season, Asylum, and it was one of the show’s finest moments so it certainly wouldn’t be an awful route to go down.
4. Same cast, new characters. Any fan of the show knows that the show normally features at least 3 or 4 returning cast members. The stars of all four seasons include Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy and of course, Jessica Lange. It seems like a guarantee that these four will return along with an eclectic group of fresh faces. Who knows who will star in ‘Hotel’ following this shock reveal of Gaga’s involvement.

In an interview with TV Line regarding the new season of ‘American Horror Story‘, FX Networks CEO John Landgraf spoke about how different it will be.

[blockquote]”It’s very different…I think there’s going to be an unusually large reinvention in between Book 4 (Freak Show) and Book 5 (Hotel).”[/blockquote]

This indicates that whatever is in store for American Horror Story: Hotel, it will certainly catch us all off guard.

Despite this hint of unpredictability, what do you think will happen in ‘American Horror Story: Hotel‘, and are you even going to watch it?

[Image via Twitter]