‘American Horror Story’ Season 13 Trailer Brings Back Jessica Lange, the Coven Witches and More

Just when you thought American Horror Story couldn't possibly bring back anyone else, Season 13 has entered the chat. FX released the full trailer for American Horror Story: 13 on Thursday, September 10, giving us a much better look at the massive crossover Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have planned for the anthology's latest installment.

After August's teaser gave fans a taste of the returning characters, the new trailer makes one thing very clear: Season 13 is digging deep into AHS history. That includes the highly anticipated return of Jessica Lange, but apparently bringing back just one of her characters wasn't going to be enough.

Lange will reprise all four of her previous major AHS roles: Constance Langdon from Murder House, Sister Jude Martin from Asylum, Fiona Goode from Coven and Elsa Mars from Freak Show. Considering Lange hasn't been an American Horror Story series regular since Freak Show, getting her back at all would have been a major event, but revisiting four characters takes her return to another level.

Lange isn't alone in revisiting the past. The trailer features plenty of familiar faces and characters from across the AHS universe, with Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts and Angela Bassett among the franchise veterans returning for the new season. Cordelia Goode, Madison Montgomery and Marie Laveau are also among the familiar characters coming back, putting the witches of Coven right in the middle of whatever nightmare Season 13 has planned.

The callbacks extend well beyond the witches. Twisty the Clown is back in the mix, while Papa Legba also returns, this time played by Orlando Jones following the death of Lance Reddick. Rather than simply dropping Easter eggs throughout the season, the trailer suggests different characters and corners of AHS history will actually collide as part of the larger story.

Ryan Murphy has described Season 13 as a greatest-hits approach to the franchise, and that's certainly what the trailer looks like. Lange isn't the only performer juggling multiple familiar characters, either, with Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson also revisiting several roles from their years within the American Horror Story universe.

The timing couldn't be more appropriate. Season 13 arrives 15 years after American Horror Story began with Murder House in 2011, giving the series plenty of history to pull from for its massive reunion. Over that time, the anthology has taken viewers through asylums, covens, freak shows, hotels, apocalypses and plenty of other places we'd probably avoid visiting ourselves, and Season 13 appears ready to bring pieces of those worlds together.

There will still be some new blood among all that AHS nostalgia. The Season 13 cast also includes newcomers Joey Pollari, Paul Anthony Kelly, Mena Suvari and John Waters, although plenty of details surrounding the new characters and exactly how they'll fit into this sprawling story remain under wraps.

The big question is whether AHS: 13 can turn all this nostalgia into a story that works on its own. Bringing Lange, the witches and a parade of franchise favorites back is certainly enough to get longtime viewers' attention, but with this many characters and storylines potentially crossing over, there's a lot for the season to juggle.

Then again, subtlety has never exactly been American Horror Story's thing, and the full trailer suggests Season 13 has no interest in starting now. It's pulling from some of the show's most memorable seasons, resurrecting familiar nightmares and giving longtime fans the kind of reunion that would have sounded almost impossible a few years ago.

American Horror Story: 13 premieres Thursday, September 24 on FX and Hulu, with the first three episodes arriving on premiere night. If the trailer is any indication, the series is using its 15th anniversary to look back at where it's been while creating one very big nightmare for where it's going next.