On September 12, American Horror Story returns for its 8th season, Apocalypse, which will be a direct crossover of two of the previous seasons, Murder House (Season 1) and Coven (Season 3). Before it begins, let’s take a look at how these two seasons connect, not just to each other but to all the other seasons, and what this may mean for Apocalypse.

Apocalypse sees the highly anticipated return of Jessica Lange, who will be reprising her role of Constance Langdon from Murder House for at least one episode. In the Season 1 finale, Constance explains to her hair stylist about adopting baby Michael. During the scene she claims, “He was a child of distant cousins on my mother’s side, the DeLongpres of Virginia, Eveline and Steve.” Interestingly, the surname DeLongpre reappears in Coven when it’s revealed that Mimi DeLongpre was the Supreme during the 18th and 19th centuries, and was responsible for organising the death of a serial killer, The Axeman.

Another surname that appears in both seasons is Montgomery. Dr. Charles Montgomery and his wife Nora were the original owners of the Murder House after having it built back in 1922. A failing “Surgeon to the Stars,” Charles came up with a plan to perform illegal abortions in the house’s basement as a way to pay the bills. Additionally, in Season 5’s Hotel, Dr. Montgomery performs an unsuccessful abortion on The Countess. The surname also reappears in Coven, with the self-centered and egotistical witch Madison Montgomery, who is quite possibly a direct descendant of Charles and Nora. Charles resurrected his dead son, Thaddeus—could this have been done using secret witchcraft since we know that, in present day, Madison is already in possession of an ancient spell to resurrect the dead? Or was Thaddeus brought back to life using The Countess’s blood obtained from the failed abortion? It would certainly explain its unquenchable thirst for blood…

Speaking of The Countess and the Hotel Cortez, we actually see three characters from Murder House and Coven make an appearance in Season 5. Marcy, the real estate agent that sells the Murder House to the Harmons in Season 1, also facilitates the sale of the Hotel Cortez to Will Drake. Sadly, Marcy is killed for her blood by the Afflicted Rudolph Valentino and is forced to remain in the hotel as a ghost, reading erotica novels for all eternity. The second character to reappear is Coven witch Queenie, who checks into the hotel after receiving a ticket to attend the studio audience of The Price is Right. When Queenie goes up against the ghost of James Patrick March, she finds that her Voodoo powers don’t work against the dead. She is killed and her blood becomes a feeding ground for the Afflicted. In Murder House, Constance introduces us to a psychic medium she meets through Craigslist, Billie Dean Howard, who we learn is in the process of developing her own television show. Years later, Billie appears in Hotel filming that very show, in which she attempts to interview the ghost of the Ten Commandments Killer, John Lowe. John warns Billie away from the hotel because they don’t want it getting a reputation for being haunted and bringing in unwanted public attention.

Despite not being confirmed in the show itself, creator Ryan Murphy stated in an interview that a witch we meet in Roanoke, Scáthach (played by Lady Gaga), is actually the original Supreme, which would predate the Salem Witches of Coven by centuries. Interestingly this character was only portrayed by Gaga in My Roanoke Nightmare, a fictional TV show within the AHS Universe. This means that, despite Gaga not returning for Season 8, the character of Scáthach could return as we’ve yet to see the real original Supreme. The portrayal we see of the real Scáthach in Roanoke is by an uncredited actress, so the role could be given to another AHS mainstay should the character reappear.

Remember Derrick from the Murder House episode “Piggy Piggy”? He was a patient of Ben Harmon’s who had a fear of urban legends, especially the Legend of the Piggy Man, a pig-mask-wearing serial killer that massacred multiple victims in 1893 at the Chicago World Fair. In Roanoke we actually have it confirmed that this isn’t a simple urban legend; it’s a true story based on the life of Kincaid Polk, whose descendants we meet in the present day. His family members look up to him as a role model, claiming that he’s the only member of the Polk family to ever gain any fame. Another link between these two seasons is psychic Billie Dean Howard telling the story of the Roanoke Colony’s mysterious deaths in 1590 and how their spirits haunted the local Native Americans. This story is one of the main plot points in Season 6.

Another of Billie Dean Howard’s stories actually brings us right to the upcoming season. She tells the story of a box, which each newly elected Pope gets to open, that contains a single secret on a piece of paper—the secret of how the world will end. As told by Billie, the story goes, “This piece of paper reveals the precise nature of the Antichrist, a child born of human and spirit will usher in the end of times. It is the essence of evil and a perversion of the immaculate conception.” We know Michael Langdon is born of both human and spirit, and we know that there will be an adult version of Michael in the new season, so was Billie’s story true? Is that what will cause the apocalypse? Is the crossover that the witches from Coven will be the only ones that could potentially bring the Antichrist down? This season is set to be huge and looks like a return to the show’s roots, which made the first few seasons so popular. Apocalypse also has some big and original AHS names returning and reprising roles. Not only do we have Jessica Lange coming back but also Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, and Taissa Farmiga who will be playing the Harmon family once again (with Taissa playing the role of Coven‘s Zoe Benson as well). The cast is superb, the story is great, and Apocalypse really does sound like the most exciting season of American Horror Story in years. I personally can’t wait.