Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Glee co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have promised that their new series American Horror Story will answer all the questions from its pilot within the opening three episodes.

Speaking to the Television Critics Association on Saturday August 6, Murphy and Falchuk said that the 90 minute opener would contain eight cliffhangers affecting the Harmon family who move into a creepy house following an affair and miscarriage. “By the third episode, all of those big mysteries are settled and I think the audience can just be along for the ride,” Murphy noted.

 According to The Hollywood Reporter, the pilot “includes a mysterious creature with fangs and sharp claws that attacks a girl in the basement of the Victorian-era home in which the Harmons now reside, a creepy guy in a full-body rubber suit, and characters including Denis O’Hare’s Larry the Burn Guy, a pseudo reformed killer who used to live at the estate… Jessica Lange’s nosy neighbour Constance has an as-yet-unexplained back story with Moira, the housekeeper who comes with the house who appears as either a young sexual woman (Alexandra Breckenridge) or an older, dutiful woman (Frances Conroy) to various residents.”

The producers also promised to address the question of why the Harmons don’t simply move out. “It’s a big horror trope,” Murphy said. “That was the most important thing we worked on. We’ll explain why they’re still there and that will happen in the next episode after the pilot.”

Murphy did emphasis that the show “about marriage and infidelity; that’s the throughline of the season and it permeates all the characters. All of the characters are experiencing different points of view about that one topic,” and he added that he hoped people would watch “for two things: For really good emotional stories that are zeitgeist-based and I hope they come because there really will be some scary stuff in there.”

American Horror Story starts on October 5 on FX in the States.