The eleventh season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled NYC, takes place in 1980s New York City, and focuses on a string of killings involving gay men and the emergence of a new virus. The ensemble cast includes Russell Tovey, Joe Mantello, Charlie Carver, Leslie Grossman, Sandra Bernhard, Billie Lourd, Isaac Cole Powell, Zachary Quinto, Denis O'Hare and Patti LuPone, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomers Tovey, Mantello and Carver.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for cable network FX, the series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. NYC was broadcast between October 19 to November 16, 2022, consisting of 10 episodes. The subtitle was announced in September 2022. The season received positive reviews from critics, but became the first iteration of the show not to be nominated for any Primetime Emmy Awards.
Cast and characters
Main
Russell Tovey as Patrick Read
Joe Mantello as Gino Barelli
Charlie Carver as Adam Carpenter
Leslie Grossman as Barbara Read
Sandra Bernhard as Fran
Billie Lourd as Dr. Hannah Wells
Isaac Cole Powell as Theo Graves
Zachary Quinto as Sam
Denis O'Hare as Henry Grant
Patti LuPone as Kathy Pizazz
Recurring
Jeff Hiller as Mr. Whitely
Kyle Beltran as Morris
Clara McGregor as KK
Quei Tann as Lita
Brian Ray Norris as Det. Mulcahey
Kal Penn as Chief of Detectives Mac Marzara
Rebecca Dayan as Alana
Casey Thomas Brown as Hans Henkes (based on real-life performance artist Klaus Nomi) Hale Appleman as Daniel Kanowicz Gideon Glick as Cameron Dietrich Matthew William Bishop as Big Daddy Danny Kornfeld as Billy
Guest
Lee Aaron Rosen as Captain Ross
Jared Reinfeldt as John "Sully" Sullivan
Danny Garcia as Chief Manney
Taylor Bloom as Stewart
Sis as Dunaway
Hannah Jane McMurray as Shachath, the Angel of Death. The character was previously portrayed by Frances Conroy in Asylum. Ralph Adriel Johnson as Frankie Del Rios Alexandre Bagot as Tom Kieran Brown as Young Patrick Chris Henry Coffey as Patrick's Father
Episodes
Production
Development
On January 9, 2020, American Horror Story was renewed for up to a thirteenth season. In February 2022, FX chairman John Landgraf stated that the eleventh season would feature only one story, unlike Double Feature, though it would take place "in different timelines." On September 29, 2022, the official title of the season was revealed to be NYC and that the season would premiere on October 19, 2022. On October 6, 2022, a teaser trailer for the season was released on the show's social media pages.
Casting
Ahead of any official cast announcements, Billie Lourd, Charlie Carver, Isaac Cole Powell, and Sandra Bernhard were seen filming on set. Additionally, Zachary Quinto, Patti LuPone, and Joe Mantello were reported to be appearing in the season. On August 30, 2022, series veteran Denis O'Hare confirmed his appearance on Twitter. Leslie Grossman, Russell Tovey, Rebecca Dayan, Kal Penn and Gideon Glick also appeared in the season.
Filming
Filming officially began in New York on June 14, 2022, and concluded on October 28, 2022.
Release
The season premiered on October 19, 2022. For the first time in the show's history, two episodes aired each week instead of only one.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 71% approval rating, based on 7 reviews for the season, with an average rating of 6.80/10.