More than two years have passed since American Horror Story: Delicate largely failed to captivate the fandom, but the skies (and the hellish depths below) are the limit for Season 13, which has already revealed the majority of the all-star cast returning, with Jessica Lange’s Constance Langdon as the first in a line of squee-worthy reveals heavily tethered to Coven’s witches. (Extra huzzahs for more Evan Peters and Twisty the Clown’s return!) Now, Ryan Murphy has clarified the season will be even more all-encompassing than expected.Murphy, who co-created the long-running anthology with Brad Falchuk, spoke with Entertainment Tonight and clarified that fans aren’t entirely on the mark if they expect the new season to only be a sequel to the bewitching third season. Here’s how he explained it (via X):Everybody thinks it’s a Coven season, and it’s not. It’s all the seasons. Yessss. Lest anyone continue to believe that the upcoming horror series will be fully focused on Cordelia Goode and her magic-wielding flock, the proof is now out there that this is a legitimate all-the-marbles season that'll presumably incorporate characters, locations and situations from all twelve previous seasons. (Some of which were their own all-star entries, such as Apocalypse.) That distinction sadly doesn't bode well for anyone thinking Lily Rabe's Misty Day must be in it, and I'm definitely in that group. (Image credit: FX)But I'll worry about sighing over that disappointment later, since this is still huge and exciting news. As far as how many characters we can expect to see the core returnees portraying, Murphy shared:So Sarah Paulson is playing six or seven roles. Jessica Lange is playing all four of her iconic characters. Evan Peters is playing five characters. And of course Kathy Bates and Emma Roberts and Billie Lourd. . . . They all come together to defeat the ultimate evil. That is outstanding! It sounds like we'll be seeing Lange, Paulson and Peters bringing upwards of 15 or 16 characters back to life in Season 13. As far as I can tell, the trio's combined roles across American Horror Story's first twelve seasons add up to 24, not counting Paulson and Peters' show-within-a-show Roanoke characters. I did add them into the full list below, though. Sarah Paulson: Billie Dean Howard, Lana Winters, Cordelia Goode, Bette & Dot Tattler, Sally McKenna, Audrey Tindall (Shelby Miller), Ms. Wilhemina Venable, Tuberculosis Karen, Mamie EisenhowerJessica Lange: Constance Langdon, Sister Jude Martin, Fiona Goode, Elsa MarsEvan Peters: Tate Langdon, Kit Walker, Kyle Spencer, Jimmy Darling, James March, Rory Monahan (Edward Phillipe Mott), Kai Anderson, Mr. Gallant, Jeff Pfister, Austin SommersIt's also worth noting that Evan Peters has also portrayed AHS' send-ups of Andy Warhol, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Charles Manson, and Jesus Christ himself. Though I doubt we'll see any of his historical characters, and I similarly doubt we'll see Paulson's first lady returning from Double Feature. But I wouldn't be against seeing Kathy Bates reprising her monstrous Season 3 murderer Madame Delphine LaLaurie, in terms of real-world personalities. Is it safe to assume we'll see all the major players from at least the first four seasons back in Season 13? Probably so, with likely fewer culled from seasons that totally lacked Paulson and Lange's presence. And what's more, it sounds like a lot of these disperate characters could share scenes together. Ryan Murphy also shared:It’s all of them in one season, and it’s 13 episodes. Because it’s called 13.The episode count is a huge update in and of itself, since American Horror Story hasn't produced a 13-episode season since Freak Show, with everything since then playing out across 9-12 episodes. So Murphy & Co. clearly have a lot of story to tell with this one. And here's hoping that story includes at least ONE scene with Cordelia, Wilhemina, Bette, Dot and Bille Dean all having a conversation with each other. With so much AHS history to get through, it's a wonder how Season 13 will have time to bring in new cast members like John Waters, Madelaine Petsch and Paul Anthony Kelly. Guess we'll just have to tune into FX on September 24, 2026 to see.