This is what Fiona Goode (center) calls detention. The girls adorning the walls are merely in time-out.
Looking for a guilty pleasure to summon the goose bumps this Halloween season? Look no further, I present you with a horrific solution that’ll have you trembling on your futon (and if you’re lucky enough with the cutie next door).
Ryan Murphy has done it yet again, bestowing the public with another promising installment of his highly-acclaimed American Horror Story series, a show that calls to order a mountain of blankets and a cuddly guy to share them with. To those not faithful to the show (and if you aren’t, trust me you will be) this chapter gives you another chance to claim your allegiance as Murphy presents a new story injected with even creepier, spine-tingling characters in the voodoo-forsaken swamps of New Orleans.
This Wednesday night premiere was a small taste of what’s to come this season, encompassing the same deliciously dark humor and explicit mutilation loved and feared in past installments. This season’s eerie tale centers on Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, a mysterious school devoted to protecting the remaining descendants of a rare bloodline tracing back to the black days of Salem. When the glamorous Supreme witch Fiona Goode—played by the legendary Jessica Lange, Emmy winner for her role as Constance Langdon in AHS‘s first season—makes her return as an ancient rivalry is reignited between the Coven and their deadly enemies, the Voodoo.
Meanwhile focus shifts to the new witch at school, a girl named Zoe who discovers she has lethal powers after accidently killing her boyfriend. She’s immediately sent to Miss Robichaux’s school, where she meets others with similar powers—including a girl with the ability to use her body as a human voodoo doll to inflict pain.
In addition to displaying present-day witchcraft, the story occasionally flashes to America’s original horror story; slavery. We’re taken to 1834 New Orleans, where we meet Madame LaLaurie (played by the renowned Kathy Bates), a scheming society woman who’s greatest hobby is finding new ways to torture her slaves, including sewing a bull’s head to a man to make herself a Minotaur.
The obvious disclaimer; Coven is going to be fierce. Not to mention the fierceness of the deliciously witchy wardrobe; tall laced up boots, shadowed eyes beneath angled black hats, intricate black lace in various forms, and Fiona Goode’s fabulous black Prada and Balenciaga. AHS: Coven also offers a cast that spills over in talent, including beloved Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Taissa Farmiga, and Jamie Brewer to name a few.
Whether you’re looking for an excuse to assemble the men to prove their manliness in the wake of explicit witch burnings and human sacrifice, or simply seeking a show that will make your skin crawl, Coven is your show. Truth be told, it’ll have you tossing and turning in your sleep. Not to mention the next episode is entitled Boy Parts—one can only fear for the boys involved.
A small taste of what to expect next week: watch here