The opening titles for American Horror Story: Cult have just been released, confirming once and for all that the seventh season will definitely tackle the 2016 election. Ryan Murphy promised as much last year, but the clues that have come out since then haven't really suggested much of a political theme... until this wild, wild ride that is this credits sequence.
Yes, that is a Donald Trump mask you see at the 11-second mark, being put on by a mysterious figure. There's also a Hillary Clinton mask, a sinister-looking carousel sequence, some bugs, some knife-juggling, a bloodied American flag, all overlaid by brass band music that sounds, in places, like a warped take on 'The Star-Spangled Banner' . So it looks like this season truly will be a timely-as-hell horror story sprung from the very concept of American democracy.
Let's start the countdown to Trump's Twitter war with Ryan Murphy in 3... 2... 1...
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.
