I mean, I don’t think anything could ever be as dark as the mental health care system in our country. I sorta feel like for the third version I want to do something that’s a little bit more “evil glamour.” Just something that’s a little bit more…one of the things that I missed this season was I really loved having that Romeo & Juliet youth story with Violet and Tate. I want something like that again and we’re doing something like that in the third season. And we’re contemplating shooting the show in a different place. We’re contemplating shooting it in a place in the country where true horror has been. We’ve got lots of delicious plans.

THR wrote:'American Horror Story' at PaleyFest: Season 3 Title Revealed
UPDATED: Surprise guest Kathy Bates joins the panel, which reveals the third season of the FX anthology will be about witches.

The cast and creators of American Horror Story revisited Asylum on Friday night, closing out the 30th annual PaleyFest with a special announcement about the mysterious third season of the FX anthology: its subtitle.

Following a second season subtitled Asylum, co-creator Ryan Murphy revealed that next year will carry the subtitle Coven. "It's a really cool story that we've been talking for a couple years, and this seemed to be the year to do it," he said, noting the series will shoot in multiple locations, one of which is New Orleans -- the first time the series has exited its soundstage filming location.

During the lively panel, Murphy also revealed that he's been talking with FX president John Landgraf about potentially doing a companion piece to AHS, noting that he had a couple of different ideas .While he declined to discuss it further, given Murphy's fascination with The Walking Dead -- which he noted helped inspire him to create AHS -- it's unclear if it would be scripted or a talk show similar to AMC's post-show The Talking Dead. Representatives for FX and 20th Television, which produces AHS and where Murphy's production company is housed -- had no additional information.

While little is known about season three, producers noted that the series would again search for haunted places in America. Murphy previously told The Hollywood Reporter that next year would feature three characters playing real people, including previously announced cast member Kathy Bates.

Bates, who recently revealed her double mastectomy as she battled cancer, was the surprise guest of the evening and received a standing ovation, like friend and co-star Jessica Lange did upon her introduction to start the panel.

"I've loved it from the very beginning," Bates said of AHS. "I called up Jessica and told her to talk to Ryan and tell him I'd do anything on the show." She, too, refrained from spilling details about her character.

For his part, Murphy said the series will deliver on one thing he really wanted to see when working on a show with Lange and Bates. "I wanted to see a lot of scenes with Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates going at it, and that's what you're going to see," he said to wild enthusiasm from the sold-out crowd at the Saban Theatre.

Bates, whose casting leaked in February, will play Lange's former best friend turned enemy as the series continues to reboot every season. In addition to Lange, AHS cast members set to return for season three include Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, Frances Conroy and Lily Rabe. (Farmiga, for her part, sat out the recently concluded second season.)

Murphy previously told reporters that the third season will be more upbeat than Asylum. "What season three is about is more historical in nature," he told reporters during a January screening of the Asylum finale.

"I'm also interested in getting into a horror romance," he said. "That's certainly something that's going to be in the water for season three. You're going to see a very different tone in season three, but that's the joy of the show. I think as a person right now, I do feel lighter and wanting to embrace something a little bit more fun."

THR wrote:'American Horror Story': Five Things to Know About 'Coven'
Who's playing historical characters? Who's a witch? The cast and producers preview what to expect on the third season of the FX anthology.

The stars and producer behind American Horror Story used their platform Friday at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour to cryptically dodge questions about Coven, the mysterious third installment of the FX anthology.

While co-creator Ryan Murphy was scratched from his scheduled participation in the panel -- filming just started on Coven last week in New Orleans and he's also shooting The Normal Heart in New York -- executive producer Tim Minear kept stars Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett from spilling too much about what to expect from season three.

Here are a few teasers about what's ahead:
1. Lange plays a witch named Fiona. "Some of us play witches, some of us play historical characters," she told the assembled press. "I do play a witch. We move back and forth in time. It encompasses a lot of different stories. I've shot two days so far, one day entrances and exits, the other day a scene. I don't know who the character is yet. It comes in little dribs and drabs."

2. Bates plays historical personage Madame LaLurie, a Louisiana-born socialite and serial killer who kept slaves bound in her home. Interestingly enough, Bates' great grandfather was the personal physician to Andrew Jackson, who lived next door to LaLurie. "I think he would have been there just before she left," Bates said.

3. Bassett also portrays a real person: Marie Laveau, a voodoo expert who, along with her daughter, had a big multiracial following. The actress noted that she's been approached by several individuals interested in voodoo in New Orleans for consultation should she need it. "It's been interesting being in New Orleans, there's such a regard and respect for who she was," Bassett said. "She was a woman in 1801 who lives to be 80 years old, who is a very influential person in the city. My character is based loosely on her."

4. Paulson plays Cordelia, the daughter to Jessica Lange's Fiona. This season, Minear said, will focus on themes of oppression of minorities of all kinds. "Within that idea, the idea of minority groups going after each other and doing the work of the larger culture for the larger culture [will be explored]," Minear said. "While there is a strong feminist theme that runs throughout Coven this year, there are also themes of race, oppression and there is a very strong theme of family, specifically mothers and daughters." Minear noted it would be safe to think of Cordelia in line with the character in William Shakespeare's King Lear.

5. Coven also will feature Salem witches fleeing to the South, Minear said, noting there are two kinds of witches in the world. Among the changes in Coven, Minear said this season will be more fun. "This year is a drama but there is a lot of humor, and we are embracing a kind of velocity and fun with the series," he said. "It's not the same as it was the past two years, but I think it can be more fun for the audience."