Happy Hour Headlines: “American Horror Story” News, Queer Country and What the Austin Bomber Left Behind

Producer Ryan Murphy confirms cast members returning to American Horror Story; we queer up your country, and shocking details left behind by the Austin bomber.

Happy HorrorDays

Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters will all be on hand as part of the rep company cast for an eighth season of Ryan Murphy‘s horrorshow. The real surprise here is the return of the redoubtable Ms. Bates, who took a break from last season’s “Cult” episodes to take part in the now-cancelled Netflix series, Disjointed.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy allowed that “Kathy and Sarah Paulson have a lot of great stuff to get to do. So, with Evan Peters, the three of them are the leads this year.”

And, as to the buzz that this season’s theme will be “Radioactive,” Murphy offered a response: “I heard about that rumor,” he told the weekly. “Well, that’s based on a fact that we’ve cleared a lot of titles for that show. It’s an interesting idea. I can neither confirm nor deny.”

The series already has a green light for ninth season after the new episodes air. For the past seven seasons, Both Peters and Paulson have starred in every season of the FX drama. Kathy Bates made a memorable debut in “Coven” on Season Three, and went on to work on “Freak Show,” “Hotel” and “Roanoke Nightmare.”

Principal photography for the new season gets underway this summer in anticipation of a fall premiere.

Back In the Saddle

A few weeks ago, we explored the world of Queer Country music and focused specifically on the work of James Wilson with his band, Paisley Fields. A stripped down version of the band is playing Sunday nights through March at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn.

Wilson and Paisley Fields will release their album, Glitter and Sawdust (with all the fanfare that implies) on April 12. But for the moment, you can get a rare glimpse into the recording process by checking out his new video.

Hate in the Lone Star State

By now, the city of Austin Texas is trying to get back to the business of South By Southwest, but putting terrorist Mark Anthony Conditt behind them won’t be easy.

Conditt ended the manhunt for the Austin bomber early this morning when he blew himself up in his car while SWAT teams closed in.

What’s emerged since is evidence that this 24-year old home-schooled young man described by a friend as domineering in debate and “rough around the edges” was also a right-wing bigot unaffiliated (so it seems at press time) with any organized groups.

In particular, his views on homosexuality should send cold shivers down the spines of every member of the LGBT community.

“Homosexuality is not natural,” he wrote in a 2012 post. “Just look at the male and female bodies. They are obviously designed to couple. The natural design is apparent. It is not natural to couple male with male and female with female. It would be like trying to fit two screws together and to nuts together and then say, ‘see, it’s natural for them to go together.’”

He also railed against convicted sex offenders being stigmatized by having to be known as such, believed that women who didn’t want to have babies shouldn’t have sex, and stated his support of the death penalty.

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