Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology series has become a pop-culture fixation – especially since the series has started to reveal deep cross-connections that make each respective installment of the anthology part of one big twisted universe.
The Asylum, Feakshow and Coven installments have all had some form of crossover with other chapters of the series; the current installment, My Roanoke Nightmare was anticipated to be a major followup to the first installment, Haunted House – and there’s still time for that – but so far has only given us loose connections to Coven.
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However, with a new Halloween 2016-themed tweet, Ryan Murphy dropped a major bomb that a character from season 2, Asylum is making a major comeback on My Roanoke Nightmare.
Needless to say – MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW!
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Sarah Paulson’s ASYLUM ultimate survivor LANA WINTERS returns this season on “AHS: ROANOKE.” Happy Halloween!
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) October 31, 2016
As you can see, Sarah Paulson will be triple-dipping this season, playing the TV show version of haunted house victim Shelby Miller, the “real-life” actress Audrey Tindall, and now.. Lana Winters from Asylum!
For those who don’t remember, Winters was a lesbian journalist working on the “Bloody Face” serial killer story in 1964. She was forcibly committed to the Briarcliff Manor asylum when she starts investigating the dark happenings there. She got out thanks to the care of Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto), only to discover that Thredson was the real Bloody Face. Even though Lana escaped his clutches, Thredson impregnated her with a baby, who she gave up for adoption. Asylum ended by jumping forward to modern day, where Lana is a famous author and documentarian thanks to Briarcliff and Bloody Face; however, when her estranged son Johnny tries to kill her, Lana must kill him first.
We don’t know what happened to Lana Winters after that, but if she’s showing up on My Roanoke Nightmare in upcoming episodes, it’s safe to guess how. MRN has had fun playing with layers of reality and entertainment; first we watched a seeming documentary about a haunted house murder, only to then pull back and have the show present that false reality as the basis for another reality show about the making of the documentary. Since the reality show participants and crew have now been mostly slaughtered by “The Butcher” ghost and her minions, it’s presumable that another production will come in to investigate that murder, thereby keeping the cycle of violence going.
Given her attraction to the tragic and macabre as a means of fame and fortune, it wouldn’t be surprising if Lana Winters was brought in to investigate the Roanoke Nightmare house on her own. And if she does arrive in the house, there’s no telling what kinds of fun ghosts could come with her. Is a Zachary Quinto or Dylan McDermitt surprise cameo in the cards? Fans can only hope!
American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare continues every Wednesday at 10pm on FX.
