See AHS:NYC cast eat up the Big Apple in first-look photos

Welcome to American Horror Story's New York City.

After EW confirmed the main cast of season 11 and FX added a few more names to the roster, AHS:NYC, as this latest story is called, served up a first look at its actors in character.

First up is Zachary Quinto. Since appearing in both seasons 1 and 2 of the FX anthology series, Quinto now plays a character named Sam in the Big Apple–based season. The marketing thus far has played up the nightmarish club kid and bondage looks, and this Sam fella continues that spirit with a whip fetish.

The season 11 premiere on Oct. 19 revealed Sam to be kind of a sugar daddy to a photographer named Theo. (More on him in a moment.) He comes off as a creep, pumping Theo with cocaine and getting him to push his Tom of Finland–style photographs of shirtless men into kinkier, more provocative terrain.

Who else is in the season 11 cast?

A mix of predominantly American Horror Story vets make up the remaining main cast of season 11: Patti LuPone, Billie Lourd, Denis O'Hare, Leslie Grossman, Sandra Bernhard, and Isaac Powell. They will be joined this season by AHS newcomers Joe Mantello, Russell Tovey, and Charlie Carver.

Carver will play a character named Adam, as revealed in additional first-look imagery from season 11. He's a major focus of the new season so far. Adam's boyfriend has mysteriously vanished amid a string of killings of gay men in the city. It sets him on a hunt to find out what happened.

Tovey takes the role of Patrick, who's clearly a detective. He's even got the stache to prove it. He's closeted at work, but he dates a journalist named Gino. (See below).

O'Hare returns to American Horror Story, now in the role of Henry, an older gentleman who loves his suits. He frequents a bathhouse — a rather unique bathhouse at that, as it hosts a bar and a lounge singer.

LuPone arrives on the scene as Kathy, said lounge singer at a gay bathhouse.

Mantello rocks a silver beard as Gino, the journalist who's dating Patrick. He's aware of a serial killer attacking gay men and is trying to inform the LGBTQ community.

Give thanks to the Lourd, for she is good. Billie Lourd makes a return trip to the horror anthology as a character named Hannah, a doctor who makes a startling discovery on Fire Island.

Powell is spotted behind the camera as Theo, the photographer dating (and funded by) Sam. We know this from the paparazzi photos that leaked online from the set: Theo and Adam become an item.

Bernhard, who appeared briefly in the Apocalypse season, now plays Fran, a lesbian activist shouting to give her community a voice. She gets a classic horrified phone booth moment in the first-look images.

Grossman is seen as a character named Barbara, Patrick's ex-wife with whom he separated after realizing he's gay.

As an added surprise, FX dropped additional photos that confirm some additional casting.

Broadway actress Sis, who joined the national tour of Oklahoma!, is playing Dunaway; Kal Penn is playing Mac Marazara, seemingly another copper; Inventing Anna and American Rust actor Kyle Beltran is playing Morris; and Rebecca Dayan, who knows Murphy from playing Elsa Peretti on Halston, joins the ensemble as leather-loving Alana.

What do we know about the plot of AHS:NYC?

In a rare move, AHS season 11 didn't even get an actual trailer release, so fans were left wondering all the way up to premiere night what the heck this season is actually about. The poster art has featured men and women in leather outfits, featuring spiked antlers, skulls, and chains. Meanwhile, a teaser hinted at it being "the deadliest year" and teased a "season like no other."

A brief logline description gave us some additional details: "Mysterious deaths and disappearances ramp up in the city. Meanwhile, a doctor makes a frightening discovery, and a local reporter becomes tomorrow's headline."

The new premiere episodes have finally revealed the villain of the season: Big Daddy, the name given to the mysterious masked leather daddy who's been stalking gay men in New York. Adam's boyfriend is seemingly his latest victim, but Adam just thinks he's missing. He goes to Gino to get the word out to the press, but Gino is already aware that gay men are being targeted. Adam now hopes to work with Gino to find out what's going on.

Elsewhere, Gino is pressuring his boyfriend, Patrick, to pursue the matter within the police department, but his sergeant doesn't think it's worth their time. Adam then finds a photo of Big Daddy, which leads him to the photographer who took it, Theo.

In a separate story arc, Hannah discovers a rare virus has emerged among the deer on Fire Island. She urges authorities to kill all the deer, fearing the illness could spread to people and off the island. It's fair to say that'll happen anyway.

When and where can you watch the new season of American Horror Story?

The first two episodes of the 10-episode season arrived Oct. 19 on FX and will stream the next day on Hulu. Each subsequent week will see two episodes arrive every Wednesday, followed by a streaming debut on Thursday.

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