The theme for American Horror Story.
American Horror Story is an anthology horror series that debuted on FX in 2011 with the season retroactively titled Murder House, which focuses on a haunted house and the ghosts living in it. Each season has a different theme and is a standalone story, but thanks to the appearance of characters in more than one season, a unified American Horror Story universe has been formed. American Horror Story is now preparing for its 10th season, titled Double Feature, which as the title suggests will cover two stories: one set by the sea and another by the sand. This has led fans to assume season 10 will be all about aquatic horror, and there’s a very specific theme they want to see.
There are a couple of horror themes, characters, and legends fans have been waiting to see in American Horror Story, and the most popular one is mermaids. This was confirmed when Ryan Murphy made a poll on Twitter to see which themes fans want to see in future seasons, and the final two were Bloody Mary and sirens, the latter being the clear favorite. However, there’s a lot of confusion between sirens and mermaids, and these names are usually interchanged, but there are big differences between them, and as a result, one would fit American Horror Story better than the other.
Sirens are dangerous creatures from Greek mythology said to lure nearby sailors with their music and singing voices to shipwreck on the coast of their island. The appearance of sirens isn’t a pleasing one, as they are believed to be a combination of women and birds in different forms, and in addition to their mesmerizing voices, they are believed to also charm the winds, so escaping from them is nearly impossible. Sirens influenced the figure of mermaids, who are also aquatic creatures, but they have a less nightmarish appearance than sirens. Mermaids are also linked to disasters and accidents in the water, but they have also been portrayed in a more benevolent way, and in some cases, they are said to be non-violent and looking to live their lives away from humans. Now, as sirens are the evil ones between these two and their appearance is one that fits the horror genre easily, they would be the ideal theme for American Horror Story season 10, but at the same time, they don’t fully fit the style of the show. Even though the series has addressed themes rooted in legends and fantasy, they are somewhat “realistic” and grounded, and sirens don’t fit that mold.
Mermaids, on the other hand, would be easier to adapt to the American Horror Story model, and while they are not as evil as sirens, they are still associated with natural disasters, making it easier for them to be part of both stories in Double Feature and bring chaos to the sea and the sand. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that American Horror Story season 10 could be about mermaids and a future season about sirens, thus pleasing fans and covering two similar yet very different creatures.