Posted in: FX, Hulu, TV | Tagged: ahs, American Horror Story

American Horror Story Spotlights Sarah Paulson, Lana's "Asylum" Escape

While we await word on Season 13, FX's American Horror Story looks back at Lana Winters' (Sarah Paulson) escape from Briarcliff in "Asylum."

Earlier this month, the amazing Sarah Paulson shared which of her characters from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's American Horror Story she would want to see get a spinoff series during a red carpet interview at the Television Academy's Hall of Fame ceremony (where Murphy was being inducted). Of course, any time Paulson discusses AHS, we can't help but think that could be a sign of something on the way regarding Season 13 (much more on that below). FX Networks is adding to our dumpster fires on random speculation, so don't just blame us! Because when they release a look at one of Paulson's memorable moments from American Horror Story: Asylum, what else are we supposed to think?

It was the moment viewers had been hoping for over the course of ten episodes, and 2013's S02E11: "Spilt Milk" (directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Falchuk) delivered. After being informed of her innocence by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), Mother Superior Claudia (Barbara Tarbuck) helps Paulson's Lana Winters escape from Briarcliff and from Dr. Thredson, aka Bloody Face (Zachary Quinto). But as the taxi is pulling away, Lana gets Thredson's attention long enough to show him that she has the recording of his confession and leave him a proper "goodbye." Lana was far from finished with Thredson, as we would see later in the episode. She would confront one final "demon" during the season finale, but down the legacy of Bloody Face once and for all.

Paulson's AHS run began with 2011's "Murder House" (Billie Dean Howard), and would continue through 2012'a "Asylum" (Lana Winters), 2013's "Coven" ( Cordelia Goode), 2014's "Freak Show" (Bette and Dot Tattler), 2015's "Hotel" (Sally McKenna & Billie Dean Howard), 2016's "Roanoke" (Shelby Miller, Audrey Tindall & Lana Winters), 2017's "Cult" (Ally Mayfair-Richards & Susan Atkins), 2018's "Apocalypse" (Wilhemina Venable, Cordelia Goode & Billie Dean Howard),  and 2021's "Double Feature" (Tuberculosis Karen & Mamie Eisenhower).

AHS Season 13: Murphy, Paulson "Cooking Up Something Cool"

In an Instagram post introducing our first look at Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn and Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. for American Love Story, a fan asked if American Horror Story Season 13 would be happening this year or if it was looking more like 2026. "Sarah Paulson and I are cooking up something cool!" was the response. Does that mean 2025? Tough to say. It would be easy to assume, but the response keeps the calendar vague. That said, the overall response should be more than enough to ignite AHS fans' excitement. Here's a look at the response, followed by the original Instagram post from Ryan Murphy Productions:

American Horror Story S13: "A Couple Things in Contention": Murphy

Murphy and Landgraf spoke with Variety back in October 2024 in support of that recent game-changing episode of Grotesquerie. While Murphy may be branching into new creative directions, the duo made it clear that the AHS universe wasn't going away anytime soon. "One of the reasons that I thought that 'American Horror Story' was such a brilliant idea was because Ryan loves to invent things. He loves to create worlds. 'American Horror Story' gave Ryan an opportunity to just create all these worlds. But having done it 12 years in a row, I think there was just an appetite for something different, something fresh. Both he and I were more excited about this, which is a complete departure, than doing another season," Landgraf shared about Murphy wanting to go in a different, horror-themed direction that wasn't connected to the long-running anthology series. But that "never meant" that American Horror Story was ending its run, with the FX Networks head adding, "It just meant, let's rest that, and put Ryan's creativity and sense of invention to work doing something different now."

As he had mentioned in previous interviews, Murphy noted that he's "always working on" another season of American Horror Story. "I haven't really landed on it yet. There's a couple things in contention," he shared. In fact, Murphy dropped word previously that he had spoken with Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters about some of his thoughts on Season 13. "I did have a wonderful conversation with Sarah Paulson the other day, and she was like, 'Okay, I think it's time we get the band back together, so let's make some calls here,'" Murphy shared. "I think doing the play, she got to do this great new thing, and then also be like, 'Oh, wow, people love that brand and they loved me in.' We were just talking about how fascinating. So I'm gonna have dinner with Sarah and Evan Peters in the not-too-distant future because they're both dear to me. I love that show. I'll never give up on that show."

In May 2025, Eric Schrier, Disney Television Studios (20th Television and 20th Television Animation), offered some insights on where things stand with Murphy, AHS, and Season 13. Perhaps the most interesting part of Schrier's response was his noting that they "don't have another incarnation of 'American Horror Story' ordered" at the moment. "I think yes, as long as Ryan has an idea," Schrier responded when asked during a wide-ranging interview with Deadline Hollywood if the horror anthology series could still continue.

"The way we work with Ryan is different than with other creators, he's in a select few group of people that, if he has a great idea for another 'American Horror Story,' and that's something that [FX Networks chairman] John [Landgraf] and the team at FX really want to do, we're going to figure it out." From there, Schrier updated where things currently stand: "We don't have another incarnation of 'American Horror Story' ordered, but it's a franchise that, by design, can always be rebooted. And so when Ryan has an idea that is great and can figure it out with his schedule of all the things that he's doing, I could very well see us doing another installment."

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