While fans may have to wait for the next installment of American Horror Story, a different type of horror series from creator Ryan Murphy has just been announced. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy teased a new series, Grotesquerie, on his Ryan Murphy Productions Instagram profile. The teaser alludes to the series arriving on FX sometime this fall. Preview the cryptic clip below.
The teaser is nothing more than a seconds-long audio clip featuring series star and frequent Murphy collaborator, Niecy Nash-Betts, relaying a foreboding message. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nash-Betts recounts a particular crime scene, sensing a shift in the world that no one notices but her.
“I don’t know when it started. I can’t put my finger on it. But it’s different now,” Nash-Betts cautiously pleads to an unknown listener. “There’s been a shift. It’s like something’s opening up in the world — a kind of hole to the center of nothingness. What I saw today — they sent shrinks for everyone who worked this crime scene. You think, ‘Well hon, evil has always existed,’ and cite some statistic about how the world’s getting better, less murder, more help, less global horror, never been a better time to be alive, honey.”
Little else is known about the series outside of the leads. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Betts is joined by Emmy winner Courtney B. Vance, who worked with Murphy on the premiere season of American Crime Story, and Academy Award nominee, Lesley Manville (Let Him Go, Phantom Thread).
Murphy, who recently doubled down on his deal with Disney, is preparing several series in his anthologies universe. The second season of FX’s Feud premiered at the end of January, this time focusing on the syrupy drama amongst the women who called author, Truman Capote, confidant. He’s also finally prepping the long-awaited American Sports Story which will highlight the life and death of New England Patriots star, Aaron Hernandez. And Murphy follows his Netflix hit, Monster, with Monsters, a retelling of the Menendez Brothers murder trial.
Vance recently appeared in the former AMC thriller, 61st Street, which will premiere its second season on The CW. He also starred in Showtime’s crime thriller, Heist 88.
Manville starred in 2022’s Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, a comedy that garnered Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscar nominations. Manville earned Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Oscars and BAFTAs for 2017’s Phantom Thread.
Nash-Betts is best known for her comedic roles in shows like Claws and Reno 911. But she wowed audiences and critics with her Emmy-winning performance in the limited series Monster: Dahmer – The Jeffery Dahmer Story.