Ryan Murphy: ‘Freak Show clown is most terrifying of all time’
By Sam Rigby
American Horror Story
creator Ryan Murphy has teased that Freak Show will feature “the most terrifying clown of all time”.
The writer explained that the team behind the FX horror series wanted to exploit the widespread fear of clowns in the show’s fourth season, which follows one of the last remaining freak shows in 1950s America.
Twisty the Clown will be played by John Carroll Lynch when the show returns to screens in October.
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Murphy said: “We said in the writer’s room that if we were going to do clowns, we were going to create the most terrifying clown of all time. That was our goal when we were writing him, but I’m worried about people being too afraid of our clown.
“It’s heart-stopping what he does. I’m worried. I’m worried that people are going to have cardiac arrests… The clown’s intro in the first episode is… even I was terrified of it. It’s brutal.
“Two crew members told me they have had nightmares about this clown since we started shooting and they’re not even scared of clowns. I think he’s pretty extraordinary because, when you see why he’s a clown and why he’s wearing the mask… just you wait.”
Meanwhile, Matt Bomer has been confirmed to make a guest appearance in the upcoming season – read more about his appearance here.
Freak Show premieres on FX on October 8 in the US, and October 21 at 10pm on FOX in the UK.