Ryan Murphy's Next Major Release Isn't American Horror Story

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Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts stand on a beach with a bodyguard between them in American Horror Story Delicate

Published Jul 15, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

Although Ryan Murphy fans might be eager to see the American Horror Story franchise return to screens later in 2026, the divisive producer’s next project isn’t an entry into that ongoing saga. Every season of FX’s anthology series American Horror Story has its ups and downs, but it seems fair to suggest that the show’s 12th outing was a critical low point. In literal terms, American Horror Story season 12’s finale is the lowest-rated episode in the show’s 15-year IMDb history.

Despite a surprisingly strong supporting turn from reality TV star Kim Kardashian, American Horror Story: Delicate’s adaptation of the novel Delicate Condition turned out to be a major misfire. A revision of Rosemary’s Baby that garbled the sharp, prescient satire of Ira Levin’s original novel beyond recognition, the clumsy outing was somehow both rushed and overly long, dragging out certain subplots while breezing through absurdly complicated backstories with almost no explanation.

Although American Horror Story: Delicate was a disaster, fans of the franchise are still eager to see where producer Ryan Murphy takes the show in its thirteenth outing. Set to bring back many of the stars of season 3, Coven, season 13 has the potential to be a long-awaited return to form for the show, since Coven is still listed by many fans as the show’s high point. However, before that, Murphy has another project on its way, The Shards, that will be a perfect fit for American Horror Story fans.

The Shards Is Perfect For Fans Of American Horror Story Fans

The cast of The Shards leans over the edge of a pool

Based on American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis’s semi-autobiographical 2023 novel of the same name, The Shards is a blend of serial killer thriller and coming-of-age teen drama set in 1980s LA. The show is set to star The Midnight Club’s Igby Rigney as the novel’s narrator, a 17-year-old fictionalized version of Ellis himself, as he navigates his final year of high school.

As Ellis explores his emerging sexuality, the social landscape of his teenage world is disrupted by the arrival of a new student, Robert Mallory. On a far darker and scarier note, a serial killer known as The Trawler begins to pick off locals, leaving Ellis a paranoid wreck in the sweltering suburban jungle of summer LA. The Shards isn’t the first time Ellis experimented with auto fiction and meta fiction, with his acclaimed 2005 novel Lunar Park also starring an older fictionalized version of the author himself.

The novel earned mixed reviews upon release, with some critics hailing it as a return to form, while others dismissed The Shards as a smug and overlong oddity. However, after All’s Fair and Monster: The Ed Gein Story earned Murphy some of the worst reviews of his multi-decade career, it is fair to say that his adaptation of The Shards almost certainly can’t fare any worse when the show arrives soon.

The Shards' August Release Leads Right Into American Horror Story Season 13

John Carroll Lynch as Benjamin Richter in American Horror Story season 4

American Horror Story is returning for season 13 in September, but before then, The Shards will make its debut on August 5. As a serial killer thriller set in the '80s with a notable cast, The Shards should be proverbial catnip to American Horror Story fans. The show’s loose roots in reality might lead some viewers to assume that it will be less campy, absurd, and garish than the anthology horror series, but Murphy’s true-crime series Monster proves that this is not necessarily the case.

American Horror Story: Double Feature’s Kaia Gerber plays a major role, while Evan Rachel Wood and Broadway icon Jordan Roth flesh out the adaptation’s supporting cast. One of the stars of the Yellowstone franchise, Wes Bentley, plays the rich movie producer Terry Schaffer, proving that Murphy’s American Horror Story competitor The Shards has just as stacked a lineup as his famous horror anthology.

Release Date October 5, 2011

Directors Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Jennifer Lynch, Michael Uppendahl, Loni Peristere, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Ryan Murphy, David Semel, Howard Deutch, Michael Lehmann, Angela Bassett, Jeremy Podeswa, Max Winkler, Michael Rymer, Paris Barclay, Axelle Carolyn, Anthony Hemingway, Craig Zisk, Elodie Keene, Jennifer Arnold, Jessica Yu, John Scott, Laura Belsey, Liz Friedlander, Maggie Kiley

Writers Halley Feiffer, Ned Martel, Crystal Liu, Charlie Carver, Kristen Reidel, Adam Penn, Douglas Petrie, Todd Kubrak, Reilly Smith, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Joshua A. Green, Akela Cooper, Asha Michelle Wilson