What Is 'American Horror Story' Season 6 About? It's One Big Secret

American Horror Story Season 6 is starting in just a few short weeks on September 14, and usually by now there would be some hint as to the season's theme. No one word subheading could possibly describe all the insanity contained within one season of AHS but it's unusual for a new season to start without some fascinating teasers and behind the scenes information. There have been promos galore but they're intentionally misleading, playing up the mystery of the new year. So what is American Horror Story Season 6 about?

Unfortunately, it's a difficult question to answer. Of the six promos released for the season, only one of them is actually referencing the theme of Season 6 – the rest are all misdirects. When Season 5 was finishing up, FX president John Landgraf said Season 6 would be "set in the present" with "echoes of the past," which is just about the vaguest of vague; pretty much any modern-set season of AHS has featured numerous flashbacks and nods to history, so that kind of thing is par for the course. Filming pictures have also surfaced with some potentially revealing clues about what's going to go down in Season 6 of the show.

The promos for the show are all expectedly creepy: one shows someone running down a staircase while hands grab at their ankles; another features a potentially demonic baby with a mobile made out of sharp objects; there's a creepy bug crawling down a woman's face; a person's head being stapled with a staple gun; an eerie family with glowing eyes in the darkness; and finally, a farmhouse alone on a field with a plume of smoke forming the shape "6?" They're all pretty terrifying, and despite the fact that most of them are supposed to be misdirects, they do seem to reference many of the show's recurring themes: unnatural babies, body horror, and unholy family units.

Ryan Murphy did mention that one of the themes he was considering for Season 6 revolved around children, a classic theme on the show and in horror generally. Considering all the weird kids and messed up pregnancies AHS has trotted out over the years, that's less of a clue and more of a foregone conclusion. However, it could point to the promo of the demon baby being the one that's true.

There are also those curious filming pictures, which feature colonial-era houses (I guess Ryan Murphy liked The Witch?) and one very revealing word carved into a tree: CROATOAN. This seems like an obvious reference to the Roanoke colony of North Carolina, which disappeared without a trace in the late 1500s. The only clue as to their whereabouts was the word Croatoan carved into a fence post, which was the name of another nearby island. However, the settlers were never found. It would be a fascinating story to see AHS tackle, but with so little to go off of there's no way to know how much it may feature in Season 6.

With so much going on in every single season of the show, the truth is that any and all of these themes could probably find their way to the screen. The only thing that's certain is that whatever happens in Season 6 is going to be bonkers.