Horror is having a very good October on television. Three genre series have landed renewals in the past week, with FX’s American Horror Story, Prime Video’s Carrie and the YA witch-school drama Coven Academy all confirmed to return, according to TV Guide’s October renewals roundup and Cancellation Watch tracking.
American Horror Story will return for a 14th season, confirmed shortly after its Season 13 premiere became creator Ryan Murphy’s biggest streaming premiere on Hulu ever. The anthology series remains one of television’s most durable horror brands, reinventing itself with a new story and cast configuration each season.
Carrie proves too powerful to stop
Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie has locked in a second season at Prime Video, proving that the telekinetic teen is too powerful to be stopped. The renewal follows a strong debut for the series, which Nielsen data showed pulling 1.26 billion viewing minutes for the week of October 5 to 11 after premiering on October 7. Flanagan’s version of King’s debut novel has found an audience that clearly wants more.
Witches, academies and a strong season
Coven Academy, the YA witch-school drama, has also been renewed, completing a horror hat-trick for the month. The three renewals bring the season’s tally for science fiction and fantasy entries to 10 renewed versus 12 cancelled or ending, according to Cancellation Watch, with horror entries leading the good news.
October is traditionally the month for ghosts, spooks and witches, and this year the scheduling gods have delivered. For horror fans, the scariest thing about the season so far is how much there is left to watch.
