This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone: FX has announced that American Horror Story has been renewed for season 4.

The new season, which will most likely premiere in the fall of 2014 if past seasons are any indication, will consist of 13 episodes, the same number as the past two years.

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“Put simply, Ryan Murphy is a master television producer,” FX Networks CEO John Landgraf said in a press release. “Time and time again, he reinvents the form. What he, co-creator Brad Falchuk and their producers Dante Di Loreto, Tim Minear, Jennifer Salt, James Wong, Brad Buecker, Jessica Sharzer, Douglas Petrie, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Alexis Martin Woodall and the entire production team and cast responsible for the American Horror Story franchise have done is nothing short of extraordinary. Every year, they create a riveting and brilliant new miniseries. AHS: Coven is the best yet, and I have no doubt that the next installment will be even better.”

The current season, subtitled Coven, has been averaging a total audience of 7.74 million viewers. The season 3 premiere drew in 5.54 million viewers, setting a record high for the series; the previous record was 3.85 million. The press release notes that Coven is so far doing better than season 2, Asylum, in not only total viewers, but also in both the 18-49 and 18-34 demographics.

There are nine episodes left in season 3, and the finale is scheduled to air on January 29, 2014.

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As viewers know, American Horror Story creates a whole new story with all-new characters (though with many of the same actors) each and every season, and season 4 will be no different. In an interview with TVLine, creator Ryan Murphy revealed that there may be a teaser to the new installment during the season 3 finale.

“I always thought it would be cool — and I think I might do it this year — to have the finale end then I announce what next year’s show is by using some sort of visual thing,” he said. “I think I’m going to try that this year because people would really love it. … I think the last image of this season will be, ‘This is what you’re getting next year,’ and we’ll announce the title.”

American Horror Story: Coven stars a large ensemble cast that includes Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe and Lily Rabe.

Speaking of the cast, Jessica Lange, who plays a witch named Fiona Goode in Coven and has had a large presence on the show since the beginning, announced recently that season 4 will most likely be her last on AHS. “I’ll do one more season,” she told BuzzFeed. “That’ll be it.”

American Horror Story: Coven airs Wednesdays at 10pm on FX.

(Image courtesy of FX)

Jeff Dodge

Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.