Fact check: Is Grotesquerie a part of American Horror Story?  

Grotesquerie is a horror drama series that premiered on FX on September 25, 2024. It's created by Ryan Murphy, Joe Baken and Jon Robin Baitz, who also executive produced the series along with Scott Robertson, Eric Kovtun, Nissa Diederich and Peter Liguori. It's produced by Kip Davis Myers, Adam Penn and Daniel Portnoy.

The show's synopsis, as per Rotten Tomatoes, reads:

"Detective Lois Tryon must work with Sister Megan, a local nun, to figure out the source of a series of heinous crimes that is affecting both their community and their personal lives."

It continues:

"As Lois and Sister Megan string together clues, they find themselves ensnared in a sinister web that only seems to raise more questions than answers."

No, Grotesquerie is not a part of American Horror Story, as it's a standalone series.

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How is Grotesquerie different from American Horror Story?

Niecy Nash-Betts as seen in the horror series (Image via FX)

Grotesquerie is the latest offering from Ryan Murphy, who's also the creator of the anthology series American Horror Story. AHS premiered in 2011 and is set to end with season 13, due for release in 2025. Although both shows belong to the horror genre, they are vastly different in terms of their tone, style and execution.

Grotesquerie is a straight-up whodunit cop drama that combines supernatural horror and police procedural drama to great effect. The show's dark and violent look, ritualistic killings and the protagonist’s struggle with alcoholism is more reminiscent of True Detective season 1 than American Horror Story.

In contrast, AHS has gained a reputation for walking into surreal, campy, and explicitly supernatural territory in recent years, which is a far cry from the serious and sombre tone of Grotesquerie.

Ryan Murphy said that "he worked in a smaller writer's room" for Grotesquerie and wanted to "tailor roles specifically to the actors he had in mind." He elaborated on his writing process to Starry Constellation Magazine ahead of the show's premiere in September 2024.

"It was kind of a, for me, a very personal piece, it was a meditation on what I think is going on in the world and what we’re all going through. And how we’re feeling like this existential question, are these end times? And if so, what can we do to fight and keep our humanity?"

He continued:

"And those were the things that I was writing about, and I also wanted to write something very specifically that was- had a procedural element, which I had not done for a while, specifically a crime procedural, I was really interested in that."

Although Grotesquerie is not a seasonal replacement for AHS, it's certainly filling the gap left by the anthology series this Halloween season. AHS has been a regular fixture on television during Halloween since the show's inception in 2011.

However, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed production on the show's previous season, Delicate, which ended its run in the first half of 2024 instead of at the end of 2023. That further delayed the production and release schedule of season 13, which got pushed to 2025.

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Plot summary

In Grotesquerie, Detective Lois Tryon leads the investigation into a series of grisly murders that torment her small community.

Fearing it to be the work of a highly disturbed serial killer, she enlists the help of the local nun/journalist Sister Megan to unlock the clues and find the killer before it's too late.

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Cast and characters

Nicholas Chavez as seen in a still from the series (Image via FX)

The show's main cast list is given below:

• Niecy Nash-Betts as Det. Lois Tryon
• Courtney B. Vance as Marshall Tryon
• Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Father Charlie
• Micaela Diamond as Sister Megan
• Raven Goodwin as Merritt Tryon
• Lesley Manville as Nurse Redd
• Travis Kelce as an undisclosed character
• Brooke Smith as Gale Hanover
• Joshua Bitton as Sergeant Cranburn
• Tessa Ferrer as Grace Finn

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Viewers can watch the latest episodes of Grotesquerie every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on FX.