American Horror Story shock: Season 8 is set in the future

American Horror Story is going sci-fi for season 8.

Creator Ryan Murphy just revealed the FX horror anthology’s next edition will be set … in the future!

The surprise revelation was made the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Pasadena late Friday.

But is it “future” as in a Black Mirror-like near future where it’s pretty much the same as now only with slightly better phones?

Or is it like Blade Runner rainy dystopia future?

Or Planet of the Apes human-race-has-been-enslaved future?

“All I’ll say about it is I want to go to the future — still topical, but the future, which I’ve never done,” Murphy said.

Is AHS season 8 in …. Ryan, is it in outer space?

“Not space,” he clarified.

Whew. Because that would be, like, crazy. Not as crazy as AHS: Freak Show, but still pretty odd.

“I pitched it to [FX chief] John Landgraf today right after his TCA panel, and he loved it, but he’s asked me not to say what it is,” Murphy added. “I told him and he fell out of his chair with joy. I think people will like it, it’s different from what we’ve done before, but I always try and do the opposite of what I’ve done on that show.”

There’s been no casting yet, but we used a photo of Sarah Paulson above because, you know, those odds are always pretty good.

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EW also pressed Murphy on whether Evan Peters’ role on Murphy’s new FX drama Pose — which he was promoting Friday at TCA — would prevent him from returning to AHS next season. “We haven’t talked about that,” Murphy said. “I literally just pitched Landgraf what the next season was going to be about, and the writers’ room on that show doesn’t start until February. It’s conceivable that they could overlap. I mean, Sarah Paulson has done two shows for me that were shooting at the same time. Usually, with the actors, I think of a role and then go to them and they either want to do it or not, so I haven’t even talked to Evan about what the role might be, but I would hope so. I think so.”

While it’s very early stages for the eighth season of AHS, Murphy reveals they’re much further along on planning the ninth season, which will like be the crossover between Murder House (season 1) and Coven (season 3). “We’re working on it, but it’s not going to be the next season,” Murphy said. “Next season is season 8, and it’ll probably be the one after that. “We’ve already met about it and outlined it, but it won’t be next, because some of the people are not available.”

Murphy is optimistic that many of the original AHS stars will return for the crossover, including Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton, the latter of whom currently stars on Murphy’s Fox drama 9-1-1. “I want all of them,” he said. “I want Dylan, and Connie and Jessica [Lange]. They’ve all said — Kathy Bates, too — everybody who is involved in the show has always said, ‘Yeah, that sounds like fun, let’s get the band back together again.’ So that is one of the reasons why the writing process of that season is taking longer because it’s literally 25 people’s schedules. But I’m hopeful they will all be back.”