Welcome back to Horror Happenings, friends! This week will be an American Horror Story-centric edition of this column partially because it was a slow horror news week and partially because I feel pretty strongly that American Horror Story is good again. Sure, the ratings for “Freak Show” were the biggest they’ve ever been, but I’m honestly not sure if the fourth season ended up delivering, despite the initial ratings success. Now that AHS has been renewed for a sixth season and “Hotel” is staying strong in its ratings, let’s dive into some news about the show and start to tackle all the theories that the internet loves so much.

American Horror Story Returning to FX for Sixth Season

Well, it’s official: after a highly rated premiere and consistently solid numbers, Variety is reporting that American Horror Story will return for a sixth season in 2016. Earlier this year in the late summer, Ryan Murphy told Entertainment Weekly that they may do not one but two seasons of American Horror Story in 2016, saying, “Next year we might do a fall American Horror Story and a spring. We have to decide.” While there is no confirmation either way on if there will be one or two seasons next year, we know for sure that the series is coming back.

As a big fan of season one’s installment, “Murder House,” my interest in the anthology series has definitely waned over the years. However, I must say that, while I was skeptical, “Hotel” has quickly become my second favorite season. In terms of a fresh take on the material, the show seems to be benefitting from the absence of Emmy- and Oscar-winner Jessica Lange, allowing for new cast members to join the fold and excel in their parts. And for her first major acting role, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t both pleasantly surprised and very impressed by Lady Gaga’s turn as the Countess.

We don’t know what the theme or story of season six will be yet as we find ourselves about half way through “Hotel,” but, per usual, there are allegedly clues woven into the current season. Sub-Reddits dedicated to the topic have been keeping their eyes peeled for potential info-nuggets. However, dedicated fans will remember that they have been misguided before by theories that catch fire on the internet. For instance, remember how everyone was sure that the top hat symbol from “Freak Show” was pointing to Operation Top Hat? Well, it turned out to be a reference to the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers classic film Top Hat that took place in a hotel. So much for that! Murphy did tell Entertainment Weekly recently that his potential plans for season six have been circulating through the entire series. “This is an interesting year in that the idea that we’re dealing with I’ve mentioned in several seasons. It’s been there before. We’ve actually talked about it a lot on the show. I might do that for season 7 but I’m leaning towards that for season 6. ”

Do you have any guesses about what will come next? How are you enjoying “Hotel?” Tell us in the comments section!

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Featured Image Credit: YouTube Screengrab

Clarke Wolfe writes Horror Happenings for Nerdist every Sunday. You can follow her on Twitter @clarkewolfe.