American Horror Story: Roanoke
A season with a secret subtitle and a major twist.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
American Horror Story: Roanoke is the sixth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. It follows supernatural experiences around a haunted house and its surroundings in North Carolina, and is presented in two halves: the first as a paranormal documentary titled My Roanoke Nightmare, and the second as found footage depicting the doomed production of the documentary's sequel. The season is connected to Asylum and Freak Show.
- field
- Television
- network
- FX
- episodes
- 10
- premiere_date
- September 14, 2016
- finale_date
- November 16, 2016
- production_company
- 20th Century Fox Television
Lore & Background
The season was broadcast between September 14 and November 16, 2016, marking the first time the series premiered outside of October. Before the premiere, Murphy stated the sixth season would be 'more rogue' and 'dark' in contrast to its predecessor, Hotel. Details about its plot and cast were kept secret until the first episode aired, an unusual approach to publicity for the series. As such, it became the first iteration of the series to not release a subtitle before the season premiere. Several potential themes were theorized based on various promotional material produced by FX. After the release of pictures taken from the set in Santa Clarita, it was widely speculated that the season would incorporate the infamous 1580s Roanoke Colony disappearance.
Reader's Guide
American Horror Story: Roanoke is significant for its experimental structure, shifting from a documentary format to found footage in the second half. The season features an ensemble cast including Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lily Rabe, André Holland, Denis O'Hare, Wes Bentley, Evan Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, and Angela Bassett. Special guest stars include Finn Wittrock, Frances Conroy, and Lady Gaga. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and consists of 10 episodes, the least in a given cycle in the show's history. Roanoke has received mostly positive reviews. Its legacy includes a direct connection to Freak Show through an exploration of the Mott family origin, and the final episode features characters and mythologies that continue on in the overall series.
Did You Know?
- The season was the first in the series to not release a subtitle before the season premiere.
- The first half is presented as a paranormal documentary titled My Roanoke Nightmare.
- The season consists of 10 episodes, the least in a given cycle in the show's history.
- A three-story set built in Malibu Canyon was not permitted properly and was torn down in October 2016.
More in Television shows about ghosts 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record