Grotesquerie: Ryan Murphy Announces New Horror Series Starring Niecy Nash-Betts

Ryan Murphy is known for creating many big television series, and lots of fans know him best for his contribution to the world of horror. Not only did he bring American Horror Story to life, but he’s also produced projects such as Scream Queens, Ratched, American Crime Story, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Watcher, and much more. Murphy is known for working with a lot of the same actors, and soon he’ll be re-teaming up with Niecy Nash-Betts (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) and Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story) for Grotesquerie. Murphy took to social media this week to introduce the cast, which will also include Lesley Manville (The Crown). 

“Grotesquerie,” Murphy captioned a video, which features the names of the show’s cast and some voiceover from Nash-Betts’ character. “I don’t know when it started, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s different now,” she says. “There’s been a shift, like something’s opening up in the world – a kind of hole that descends into a nothingness. You say, ‘Well, hon, evil has always existed,’ that ‘things are getting better, there’s never been a better time to be alive!’ … it’s not getting better! Something’s happening around us, and nobody sees it but me.” You can check out the video below:

According to Deadline, Grotesquerie is expected to begin production in the fall. 

When Does American Horror Story Return?

The 12th season of American Horror Story, Delicate, premiered last fall, but the WGA and SAG strikes of 2023 caused delays in production. FX recently confirmed that American Horror Story: Delicate Part 2 will premiere on April 3rd. 

Based on Danielle Valentine’s novel Delicate Condition, in American Horror Story: Delicate, “After multiple failed attempts at IVF, actress Anna Victoria Alcott wants nothing more than to start a family. As the buzz around her recent film grows, she fears that something may be targeting her — and her pursuit of motherhood.” The season stars Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Kim Kardashian, Denis O’Hare, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Julie White, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Matt Czuchry, Odessa A’zion, and Zachary Quinto.” 

“It is essentially a horror novel about pregnancy,” Valentine previously shared with Entertainment Weekly about her book. “It’s a novel exploring not just the actual physical gruesomeness of what pregnancy is, but also the medical gaslighting that even modern, very privileged women experience as they’re going through their pregnancies and the symptoms that I feel we as a culture still don’t talk about for strange reasons.”

She continued, “[Alien is] really a movie about pregnancy, but it’s been written by a man who doesn’t understand that that’s what he’s writing about … It’s what happens when a guy thinks, ‘What’s the scariest possible thing I can come up with?’ And it’s this idea of, what if you’re growing this creature inside of you and it’s using your resources to get bigger and you can’t control it? It has a mind of its own, and then one day it just bursts out of you in this gruesome, bloody mess. When I first saw it when I was a kid, it didn’t occur to me that that’s basically what pregnancy is, but at six months pregnant, I’m like, ‘Oh, wow! That’s just a pregnancy story without the pregnancy.’ That was the seed right there.”  

Stay tuned for more updates about Ryan Murphy’s projects.