‘American Horror Story: Apocalypse’ Brings the Slow Burn in New Teaser

American Horror Story: Apocalypse is just weeks away from premiering, and a new teaser is continuing the slow burn up to the premiere.

American Horror Story has been releasing a number of short teasers in the weeks leading up to its season 8 premiere, and the newest 15-second clip is keeping with the theme of purple wax and creepy music.

Apocalypse, which began filming over the summer and is set to return on Sept. 12, is not “necessarily as real and grounded as the past season” of Cult, according to series creator Ryan Murphy. Rather, the “heightened” season gets back to the tone of “Asylum and Coven,” which have often been described as more fantasy-based than their counterparts.

That theme has been apparent in the key imagery and marketing for the upcoming season, which has also featured clear callbacks to the Anti-Christ Michael Langdon, who was born in Murder House and is the son of Vivien Harmon and Tate Langdon, both of whom are set to return. Michael was promised by Sarah Paulson’s character Billie Dean Howard to “usher in the end of times,” and will seemingly be the catalyst for the event that leads to the apocalyptic landscape of season 8.

According to executive producer Alexis Woodall, the season “begins with the end of the world,” which will supposedly be around October of 2019, “and then our world begins,” IndieWire reports.

“It starts in the real world. It’s very tangible, and it’s a familiar hammock,” Woodall explained, though she promised that the “end of the world” would not truly be the end. “If we’re here, the world didn’t totally end. There’s a mystery to the show that’s better unfolded…Unfortunately, I can’t give you specifics about what the devil child will do.”

That “devil child” will now be fully grown and portrayed by Cody Fern when the horror anthology series returns, and it is likely that his evil antics will be met with the witches of the Coven cast, including Sarah Paulson’s Supreme witch Cordelia Foxx, Taissa Farmiga’s Zoe Benson, and Emma Roberts’ Madison Montgomery.

Apocalypse, the eighth installment in the franchise, will continue with the theme of tackling one of Dante’s nine circles of hell, according to Murphy. While season 1’s Murder House corresponded with limbo and Coven took on treachery, season 8 will likely correspond with either lust or violence.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the series’ eighth season, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 12 on FX.