This 'American Horror Story' Theory May Prove How Each Season Connects

When TV first launched back in the 1940s and '50s, anthology series like The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents were the name of the game in genre television. It wasn't until this decade that TV got back into that old school format, spearheaded by the success of Ryan Murphy and his American Horror Story series. But like any modern serialized show, Murphy has been dropping hints there was more than meets the eye. Now he may be giving us large circular hints of how the American Horror Story seasons connect.

Now about to enter the seventh season with American Horror Story: Cult, Murphy's show has presented tales of horror from many different tropes, from old school freak show style circuses to haunted houses to witches. With AHS: Cult, he takes on something more experimental: political horror, in our modern day lives.

But though from the outside, these different angles on our ideas of horror do not seem to be related, fans have been trying to connect the dots, from suggesting that these seven seasons relate to the seven deadly sins or other overarching themes.

That particular one had to be thrown out when FX renewed the show through Season 9, but the new improved version expands the premise to cover a version of the sins that go that high: Dante's Inferno.

The 14th-century poem, written by Dante Alighieri, lays out nine circles of Hell, some of which correspond to the seven deadly sins, including Greed, Gluttony, and Anger. The idea, which is credited to RedHenry, has been slowly gaining traction.

Then, out of nowhere, Ryan Murphy popped out with an Instagram that seemed to suggest this was hitting the nail on the head.

Now, to be fair, his comment "Interesting" suggests that maybe this wasn't his original intent, but once he saw the puzzle pieces fit together, he realized it was an accidental stroke of genius. Or perhaps he's just joshing us that it's interesting how they all line up because he's bee planning it that way for a long time.

Either way, it raises some very interesting questions about the next two seasons. Are they the last two? Will they correspond to Lust and Violence? And how can we convince Jessica Lange to come back anyway?

We'll have to wait until 2018 to find out. American Horror Story: Cult arrives on FX on Sept. 5, 2017.