American Horror Story: 1984 spoilers: How it feels like a reset

As we prepare for American Horror Story: 1984 to premiere on FX a little bit later this year, there are many things that are going to be clear. What’s one of the biggest ones? Think along the lines of this — we’re going to see a return to some small-scale storytelling. It’s not about trying to tell either the biggest or the most complicated story anymore. Instead, it’s about taking a step back, establishing something different, and doing that with different characters. 1984 will feel different — it doesn’t have some of the same core cast members, and it feels more like a love letter to old-school slasher films than a reminder of the seasons that have come before.

So while you wait for more information in the form of a statement from executive producer Ryan Murphy or a full-length trailer, consider the following, courtesy of FX Networks head John Landgraf (via TheWrap) on what the showrunner’s goals were for this patch of episodes:

“[Ryan Murphy] did something really interesting, which is he decided to weave multiple different cycles through the eighth season, and so it was the biggest cast ever … You had actors that were playing two, three different characters. You had to bring back all the cast from prior seasons. It was a monster in terms of the size of the cast, cost of that cast. You can’t do that all the time … Part of what he needed to do, which is what he did, was clean the slate, start over.”

We don’t think that shows have to be big and expensive to be great, and what we like about 1984 on the surface is that it could be more of a small-scale story set around a summer camp with a mystery killer and some good ol’-fashioned scare. Also, maybe it brings more genuine horror back into the franchise — American Horror Story: Apocalypse was horrific in terms of some of the stakes and the presence of hell on earth. However, it didn’t have too mane leap-out-of-your-chair moments, which we have seen scattered throughout the franchise. Based on early indications, we could get a little bit more of that this time around.

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What do you want to see on American Horror Story: 1984 when it premieres?

Be sure to share right now in the comments, and stick around to book some other news. (Photo: FX.)