40 Fun Facts About American Horror Story: Cult

Unlike earlier seasons of the anthology, American Horror Story: Cult was written without which staple of the series?

Supernatural elements are missing from Cult, unlike the past seasons: Ryan Murphy confirmed the change in August 2017, weeks before the premiere.

American Horror Story: Cult, which includes an episode titled "Mid-Western Assassin", is set in which US state?

Michigan is the setting, in a fictional suburb where the story begins on the night of the 2016 presidential vote.

Twisty the Clown returns as a comic-book character in American Horror Story: Cult, tying it to which earlier season?

Freak Show introduced Twisty, and John Carroll Lynch returned to play him in Cult, where the character lives on in a comic owned by Ally's young son Oz.

Which actor plays Kai Anderson, the leader of the clown-masked cult, in American Horror Story: Cult?

Evan Peters plays Kai and six other roles across the season, among them Charles Manson, David Koresh and Jesus.

Kai's poisoned-drink loyalty test in American Horror Story: Cult imitates a mass suicide led by which real cult leader?

Jim Jones led the Peoples Temple deaths at Jonestown, and Kai copies him by ordering followers to drink cups he says are poisoned, then reveals they were harmless.

Which famous pop artist does radical feminist Valerie Solanas shoot in the flashbacks of American Horror Story: Cult?

Andy Warhol was the real target of Solanas's attempted murder, and in Cult she dies haunted by the fact that the attack would define her legacy.

Kai's plot to massacre pregnant women in American Horror Story: Cult is modelled on the murder of which actress?

Sharon Tate was eight and a half months pregnant when members of the Manson Family killed her, and Kai retells the murders to his militiamen before unveiling his plan.

Which term names the fear of clowns that torments Ally Mayfair-Richards throughout American Horror Story: Cult?

Coulrophobia flares up when Ally sees a Twisty comic, and her psychiatrist prescribes medication just before masked intruders start stalking her.

Which actress earned an Emmy nomination as phobia-ridden restaurateur Ally in American Horror Story: Cult?

Sarah Paulson was nominated for the lead-actress Emmy for Cult, and also appears in the season as Manson Family member Susan Atkins.

In American Horror Story: Cult, Kai's sister Winter gets inside Ally and Ivy's home by taking which job?

Nanny to their son Oz, Winter uses the job to play the boy videos of murders on the dark web, trying to numb him to violence.

In American Horror Story: Cult, Kai's sister Winter worked on which politician's campaign before joining his cult?

Hillary Clinton's campaign had employed Winter, so she is devastated on results night while her brother Kai is delighted by the news.

After clowns murder Tom Chang in American Horror Story: Cult, Kai Anderson campaigns to fill which vacant office?

A council seat falls vacant with Chang's death, and Kai wins sympathy for his run from footage of a street beating that he provoked himself.

In American Horror Story: Cult, what does a chained-up Gary Longstreet saw off so that he can vote for Trump?

His hand is chained to a pole by Ivy and Winter, so when Kai offers a saw an hour before the polls close, Gary cuts himself free and votes.

Which creatures does new neighbor Harrison Wilton invite young Oz over to see in American Horror Story: Cult?

Bees are Harrison's hobby: he keeps a colony at the house he and his wife take over after its previous owners, the Changs, are murdered.

American Horror Story: Cult claims Valerie Solanas's followers committed crimes blamed on which real serial murderer?

The Zodiac Killer was never identified, a gap Cult fills by having Solanas's group attack couples while a male member mails letters to the press.

Which actress and writer guest-stars as radical feminist Valerie Solanas in American Horror Story: Cult?

Lena Dunham plays Solanas in flashbacks, as the feminist's former lover Bebe Babbitt tells her story to the women of Kai's cult.

The American Horror Story: Cult episode "Winter of Our Discontent" takes its title from which Shakespeare play?

Richard III opens with those words, spoken by a schemer on a Machiavellian climb to the throne; in the Cult hour of that name, Kai turns on his own inner circle.

In the American Horror Story: Cult finale, Ally reveals which agency recruited her as an informant inside Kai's cult?

The FBI approached Ally while she was held in a psychiatric hospital, so her decision to join the cult after her release was an undercover act.

Which 1980s rock star makes a guest appearance as the sadistic Pastor Charles in American Horror Story: Cult?

Rick Springfield, who topped the US chart with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981, plays the pastor whose house of torture Kai and Winter infiltrate in a flashback.

Why does Kai's gun fail when he pulls the trigger on Ally in the American Horror Story: Cult finale?

It is not loaded because the prison guard who supplied it, seemingly one of Kai's converts, was secretly loyal to Ally all along.

Which Scream Queens actress joined the anthology as Kai's sister Winter Anderson in American Horror Story: Cult?

Billie Lourd, the only child of Carrie Fisher, was one of the season's two newcomers to the lead cast and also plays Manson follower Linda Kasabian.

What is the name of the restaurant that married couple Ally and Ivy run together in American Horror Story: Cult?

The Butchery on Main turns into a crime scene when Ally answers its alarm one night and finds the sous-chef hanging on a hook in the meat locker.

In American Horror Story: Cult, which third-party candidate does Ally secretly vote for, enraging her wife Ivy?

Jill Stein gets Ally's ballot even though she had promised Ivy not to cast a protest vote in the 2016 presidential race.

Which American Horror Story: Cult character, Ally's psychiatrist, is revealed to be the older brother of Kai and Winter?

Rudy Vincent treats Ally for most of the season before admitting the family tie, and when she tells Kai that the doctor plans to have him committed, Kai cuts his throat.

Which character shoots Kai Anderson dead during a televised Senate debate in the American Horror Story: Cult finale?

Beverly Hope, the news reporter Kai once promised equal power, fires the fatal shot and by then is a key adviser on Ally's campaign.

With which poison does Ally lace the pasta and wine that she serves her wife Ivy in American Horror Story: Cult?

Arsenic kills Ivy at the dinner table, and Ally tells her dying wife that the murder is payback for scheming with Kai to win sole custody of their son.

Which pet do the Wiltons give young Oz as a peace offering in American Horror Story: Cult, despite Ally's no-pets rule?

A guinea pig that Oz names Mr. Guinea is the gift, and the family later comes home from dinner to find the animal dying inside their microwave.

In American Horror Story: Cult, which follower shoots Kai at his own rally, on his orders, to win him national fame?

Meadow opens fire on the crowd and wounds Kai as arranged, then turns the gun on herself, leaving Ally to be arrested holding the weapon.

What does Kai do to his sister Winter in American Horror Story: Cult after Ally names her as the cult's mole?

Kai strangles her in tears when she refuses to confess, although the real informant is one of his own militiamen.

A mass shooting in which US city led FX to re-edit an American Horror Story: Cult episode days before it aired?

Las Vegas suffered its mass shooting days before the episode aired, so FX kept the rally gunfire mostly off screen and released the uncut version only on demand.

Which American Horror Story regular stayed off screen in Cult but directed its episode "Drink the Kool-Aid"?

Angela Bassett had hinted at a recurring role in Cult but ended up behind the camera for the hour in which Kai tests his followers with supposedly lethal drinks.

American Horror Story: Cult was the first season of the anthology made without which cast veteran?

Lily Rabe had featured in all six earlier seasons, so Cult was her first absence; Kathy Bates also sat it out after four seasons of regular appearances.

Which actress drew an Emmy nomination as the TV reporter Kai recruits in American Horror Story: Cult?

Adina Porter was nominated for the supporting-actress Emmy for the episode "11/9", which reveals how her passed-over newswoman joins Kai's movement.

In American Horror Story: Cult, clowns trap a woman and her husband inside what, right after her therapy session?

Coffins make a cruel choice of trap: the wife had just told her psychiatrist that she had overcome taphephobia, the fear of being buried alive.

In American Horror Story: Cult, which document does Ally have falsified to convince Kai that he fathered her son Oz?

A sperm donor file from the fertility clinic is altered by a worker Ally bribes, protecting Oz by making Kai believe the boy is his own flesh and blood.

At which organization's local office do Kai's followers stab Gary Longstreet to death in American Horror Story: Cult?

Planned Parenthood is where Gary is surrounded and stabbed by fellow cult members, and Kai then goes on air to blame the murder on the sitting senator.

Which comedian plays Harrison Wilton, the new neighbor of Ally and Ivy, in American Horror Story: Cult?

Billy Eichner, host of Billy on the Street, was announced for Cult in March 2017 in a role then expected to run for six or seven episodes.

Which fictional suburb do the cult's clowns terrorize after the 2016 election in American Horror Story: Cult?

Brookfield Heights is where Ally and Ivy live near city official Tom Chang, whose murder by clowns the police wrongly rule a murder-suicide.

Which militiaman in Kai's cult is secretly wearing a wire for the state police in American Horror Story: Cult?

Speedwagon is caught by Ally as he destroys his wire, and she kills him before tipping off federal agents about the cult's coming massacre herself.

Which newcomer to the anthology plays Ivy, Ally's wife and business partner, in American Horror Story: Cult?

Alison Pill's casting leaked through set photos in June 2017, and she became one of five leads in the smallest ensemble the series had fielded.