If there's one thing that five seasons of American Horror Story has taught us, it's to never try and second-guess masters of the macabre Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.
Having delivered terrifying tales of freak shows, haunted houses, witches' covens, asylums and… erm.. a hotel, they've so far remained tight-lipped on where the next edition of AHS will take us.
It's early days, but that won't stop us indulging in a little idle speculation about what's next - call it morbid curiosity, if you like...
American Horror Story season 6 cast: Who's in it?
Casting details for the next cycle are scarce, but last season's breakout star will be back.
Lady Gaga's major acting debut in American Horror Story: Hotel was so well-received - scoring the popstar a Golden Globe win - that it came as no surprise when, in October 2015, Murphy announced he had asked her back for more.
Gaga wouldn't 100% confirm her involvement for another five months - in March, she revealed to New York's Z100 Radio that she'd be a part of season six, adding: "I can't promise you how, or when, or anything like that."
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Joining her will be Angela Bassett, returning to the AHS fold for a fourth time after originally joining the ensemble for Coven in 2013. "I am [coming back]," she told Larry King in February. "I signed up after that first year."
Hotel, of course, was notable not just for being Gaga's debut - it was also the first season of AHS not to feature the magnificent Jessica Lange, in any capacity. So could she be back this year?
Shortly after news of her exit broke, Lange admitted: "If Ryan came to me and said, 'Would you want to do a small character for a couple episodes?' Then I would absolutely say yes if I liked it."
"I've been talking to her," Murphy revealed shortly afterward. "It's always possible. Jessica is always about the character. She'll be back - she's not gone forever."
American Horror Story season 6 theme, clues and theories: What's it about?
We're currently without a subtitle, or even a theme, for the next season, though Murphy has been dropping vague hints about its content for months…
Way back in August, Murphy told Entertainment Weekly that he was in the early stages of crafting season six and described it as "very, very different" from Hotel - not such a bad thing, some fans might argue!
The intention is not to go "smaller" - just less "opulent" and "more rogue and more dark". Clear as muck? Good.
Five months on - at January's Television Critics Association winter press tour - Murphy admitted that he still hadn't landed on a concrete theme, but that he was edging closer...
"This is an interesting year in that the idea that we're dealing with [is one] I've mentioned in several seasons," he hinted. "It's been there before. We've actually talked about it a lot on the show. I might do that for season seven - but I'm leaning towards that for season six."
But the biggest clue with regards season six came not from Murphy, but from loose-lipped FX president John Landgraf - he revealed at the same event that the new episodes will be split across two time frames.
Though season six, like 2011's Murder House and the recent Hotel, will be set "principally in the present", it will also feature "echoes of the past" - so make of that what you will.
American Horror Story season 6 air date: When does it premiere?
Officially ordered in November 2015, AHS v.6 will be back in its traditional autumn slot later this year - it's expected to follow the show's standard pattern of launching in early October and running through to January 2017.
Previous seasons of American Horror Story have run to either 12 or 13 episodes, but there's still no word on how big our next serving will be...
