Ryan Murphy Talks ‘Scream Queens’ and ‘American Horror Story’ Similarities (and Differences)

Scream Queens is without a doubt the new fall series I’m most looking forward to checking out, and the man behind the new show is finally spilling some details about what fans can expect.

The horror-comedy series is an anthology, meaning each season will present audiences with a new storyline. This season is set on a college campus, mainly at a sorority house, and will follow the soroity sisters and those who come in contact with them, as they try to stay alive while the campus is being stalked by a killer in a red devil mask.

After a recent screening of the show’s two-hour series premiere, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Ryan to talk to him about the show.

“It’s similar to American Horror Story in that it’s anthological but different in that at the end of the first season there will only be four characters out of 25 left,” Murphy told THR. “And those four in season two will go on to a new horror genre — like a sorority is a horror genre to me, it’s a place where there were horror movies in the ’80s like Sorority Row — and they will go on. That’s the format of the show.”

Murphy also revealed one huge difference between Scream Queens and American Horror Story…the returning characters WILL NOT take on new roles in the next season.

“It’s sort of like a twist on American Horror Story: every season is a new season, a new setting, a new establishment — the difference being you will know some of the characters who will live,” said Murphy. “That’s the fun to me; the reason I love writing it and being a part of it is it’s like an Agatha Christie mystery where every week it’s who’s going to live and who’s going to die. We do kill off a huge amount of people every week. It’s a whodunit at its core.”

Find out what else Murphy revealed about the first episode, like how there’s a “big clue dropped in the first episode” about the killer’s identity, here.

The series premiere of Scream Queens will air Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. before moving to its regular slot the following week at 9 p.m on FOX.