American Horror Story will never die. At least, as far as we can tell. Having already been renewed for Season 7, FX announced today that it’s just gone ahead and ordered American Horror Story Seasons 8 and 9, saving them the trouble of having to write new press releases this time next year. The horror anthology series debuted back in 2011 as a secret anthology, leading viewers to believe they were watching a regular, serialized horror show from creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy. When the entire main cast was killed off in the penultimate episode and the finale wrapped things up in a nice creepy bow, FX called “surprise!” and announced the show’s true format to the world.

It’s proven to be a success, as Murphy reinvents the series year after year. While he initially maintained that each season was wholly separate aside from the same actors playing new roles, Murphy and Co. decided back during Freak Show that all of the seasons were connected after all, and subsequent seasons have played up that connection with increasing frequency. The show’s sixth season, Roanoke, took a different path as FX declined to reveal the show’s subtitle, premise, or even cast until its first episode premiered. The found-footage-infused season was something of a mixed bag and possibly one of the worst seasons to date (on the heels of Hotel, which was one of its best), but not to fear as the show gets entirely reinvented once more for Season 7.

Murphy has already admitted that Season 7 won’t be as secretive as Season 6, with the title and premise to be announced this spring, and he also added that this next season will involve the return of several Freak Show characters. There’s also a future season planned that will cross over Murder House and Coven, as well as a secret season that’s being written by a single writer. So the renewal was a no-brainer as Murphy seems to have ideas for American Horror Story up the wazoo.

What say you, folks? What themes do you hope to see in future American Horror Story seasons? Sound off in the comments below.

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