Ah, autumn - temperatures are dropping, decorative motherf*cking gourds are manifesting on entry-hall tables across the country, and FX's American Horror Story is revving up for another season of pumpkin-spiced crazy. I've been covering the show here since first blood, and am excited to be back to help you process what is sure to be another utterly bananas chapter in television's most audacious anthology series.

This year the belle of the Batshit Ball is subtitled Freak Show, which is fairly self-explanatory. But let's read the tea leaves in the various teasers and tidbits that have been leaked thus far, after which I'll serve up some predictions as to what's in store. (Not to boast, but my predictions for Asylum and Coven weren't half bad!)

What We Know

As per usual, FX has been steadily leaking the show's trademark creepy teasers, and co-creator Ryan Murphy has been dropping spoilers like hot chestnuts for several months. The teasers are more for establishing the mood and introducing leitmotifs than telling us anything specific about the plot:

I think you get the idea. BUT WAIT: Then there is the first trailer featuring actual footage from the show, which is much more interesting, IMHO:

UPDATE: AAAAAAND they've also released the opening titles, which are a gorgeously creepy piece of stop-motion in the Brothers Quay/Jan Švankmajer school (and which strongly support one of my guesses on Page 3):

The Setting

Freak Show is set in Jupiter, Florida, at "one of the last remaining freak shows in America as they struggle for survival." The season will likely borrow from Tod Browning's controversial 1932 film Freaks, the cult 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls, and the beloved carnival-set novel Geek Love.

The Time Period

The main action is set in 1952, but given the show's penchant for jumping to and fro in time, I'm sure some flashbacks and flash-forwards are in order. In keeping with the style of the era, Murphy has already dropped references to Douglas Sirk, who churned out rhapsodic and lush technicolor kitchen-sink melodramas throughout the decade (you can see some Sirkian touches in the above trailer).

Additionally, the fact that the story is set a decade before the main action of Asylum has allowed the show to bring back fan-favorite Pepper (Naomi Grossman), who was in part based on real-life sideshow performer Schlitzie, who appeared in Freaks. This is the first time that a character has appeared in more than one season of AHS. (The events of Asylum take place after Freak Show, so we already know what happens to Pepper.)

The Theme

The obvious theme is that of "outsiderness," as bolstered by the season's Twitter hashtag, #WirSindAlleFreaks (German for "We are all freaks"). This is also evocative of the "One of us!" mantra from Browning's Freaks. I'm already tired of typing the word "freaks". I'd also bet on a healthy dose of "body horror" inspired by the contortionists, extra body parts, etc. - we may be in for something slightly more gruesome and visually aggressive overall this year.

The Players

Jessica Lange (Returning and Ever Supreme) - Elsa Mars, the German-born former actress who runs the Freak Show

Sarah Paulson (Returning for Round 4) - Bette and Dot Tattler, who share a body

Kathy Bates (Returning for Round 2) - Ethel Darling, a bearded lady

Angela Bassett (Returning for Round 2) - Desiree Dupree, a three-breasted woman

Frances Conroy (Returning for Round 4) - Gloria Mott, who - as usual for Conroy's character(s) - is at this point a mystery

Michael Chiklis (New) - Dell Toledo, a strong man and Ethel's new husband

Denis O'Hare (Returning for Round 3) - Stanley, a con artist

Evan Peters (Returning for Round 4) - Jimmy Darling, claw-handed son of Ethel

Emma Roberts (Returning for Round 2) - Maggie Esmerelda, a con artist

Finn Wittrock (New) - Dandy Mott, a wannabe freak and son of Gloria

Gabourey Sidibe (Returning for Round 2) - "Patricia"

Wes Bentley (New) - Edward Mordrake, a man with a face on the back of his head

Patti Labelle (New) - Patricia's Mother

Jyoti Amge (New) - Ma Petite

Naomi Grossman (Returning for Round 2) - Pepper

Jamie Brewer (Returning for Round 3) -"Katie" (no idea)

Grace Gummer (Returning for Round 2) - Penny the Candy Striper

Mat Fraser (New) - Paul the Illustrated Seal... Um...

Erika Ervin (New) - Amazon Eve

Skyler Samuels (New) - Unknown

Notable absences include Lily Rabe (who appeared in prominent recurring roles in every season so far), Dylan McDermott (who is tearjerking over on Stalker these days) and Zachary Quinto (both actors were prominent two-termers).

The Bogeyman

This year's resident ghoul is Twisty the Clown, played by longtime character actor John Carroll Lynch (supremely creepy in Zodiac). He'll follow in the bloody yet comically oversized shoes of Rubber Man, Bloody Face, the Sexy Minotaur, and the Axe Man.

What We Predict

So that's what we know. Here's what we guess...

More Gay Stuff

Last year's Coven season was the most disappointing thus far in terms of gay content, only offering a chaste offscreen 3-way for Madison, Zoe, and Frankenfratter and Leslie Jordan as a wonderfully prissy but imminently disposable male witch. Hopefully this year's "freak" theme will mine the conservative pall of the atomic age for some good old-fashioned sexual repression of the boy-to-boy variety. (Dandy Mott, we are looking at you and your apparent need to identify as a "freak". And also your wardrobe choices.)

More Nazis

True, the show has already dipped into the Third Reich well before thanks to Asylum's audacious Anne Frank storyline, but it would be pretty hard to have a German ex-pat leading lady in the early 1950's without including some kind of WW2 intrigue.

Outer Space Something Something

The fact that the town is called Jupiter and Elsa's surname is Mars seems to suggest that we might want to look to the stars for inspiration - as does the season's setting, which falls smack in the middle of Hollywood's love affair with atomic-age sci-fi. While the show covered aliens once before (in Asylum), there's no saying that they can't make a return visit. Hell, if Pepper's back, all bets are off! (Especially considering what eventually happens to Pepper...)

Twisty Will Be Hilarious

The folks behind the show are going on about how scary Twisty the Clown is, but come on - scary clowns are one of the most overused cliches in the horror genre. (Show, please break the Rob Zombie cycle of greasepaint self-delusion.) At any rate, my guess is that "Twisty" has gotten his name for his amazing balloon animals... which he now makes out of people-parts.

That's... Entertainment?

With its setting highlighting the struggle of live theater vs. the new technology of television (the traveling circus was more or less extinguished by the boob tube), expect some commentary about the nature of the very entertainment that we are enjoying. Metalicious!

Grace Gummer's Gonna Get It in the Premiere

Meryl Streep's daughter's character is named "Penny the Candy Striper." This does not bode well for her. She may have survived her brief cameo in Coven (above), but don't expect her to survive past the first ep of Freak Show.

Once Again, Chloe Sevigny Will NOT Be Back for a Cameo

The actress who played nymphomaniac "hot tamale" Shelly will not be returning to the fold this year - or any year - after the disparaging comments she made about her arc on Asylum.

Those are just a few of our predictions. Care to share yours? Are you excited to visit the Freak Show?