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This has been the longest time without a new season of American Horror Story since the show started, but that’s to be expected in a pandemic. And that’s also the case with many other shows, as production on nearly everything shut down this summer because of COVID-19, and sets are just picking up this fall. 

With that said, Season 10 of American Horror Story is underway, and Ryan Murphy shared a new poster for the season recently. It not only confirmed the location of the season, even though many already had pretty good guesses, but it also brought it even closer to a real-life unsolved mystery and Jaws. 

Season 10 of ‘American Horror Story’ takes place in Provincetown, MA

Poster for 'Jaws,' a 1975 American Thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg / Poster for Season 9 of 'American Horror Story: 1984.'
Poster for ‘Jaws,’ a 1975 American Thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg / Poster for Season 9 of ‘American Horror Story: 1984’ | Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images / FX Networks

On Nov. 10, Murphy shared the new poster for Season 10, which consisted of a character with a painted-white face, blood-red lips, and pointed teeth. A teal-gloved hand is tattooing their tongue with, “AHS 10” and the location of the tweet is Provincetown, MA.

Initially, some thought it looked way too familiar to Freak Show and Hotel’s promo material, possibly hinting at another crossover season. But Murphy, himself, commented on Instagram that it’s not a crossover like Apocalypse. 

The last promotional hint Murphy gave fans was in February, before the pandemic and presumably right before shooting was supposed to actually start. It was a list of cast members for the season. The video listed out the names in front of a gloomy beach, very much fitting with the Cape Cod vibe of Provincetown, MA.  

An unsolved mystery is connected to Provincetown and ‘Jaws’

Back when Murphy shared that original video, Reddit users’ brains’ started working overtime and they pulled up a BuzzFeed Unsolved video, of all things, that covered a case that actually connected to the location. At the time, it was only speculation that the dunes near Provincetown would be where Season 10 would take place. And the user hypothesized that the Lady of the Dunes could play a part in Season 10.

The BuzzFeed Unsolved episode covered the Lady of the Dunes, which essentially is the real-life case of an unnamed body found in the town in 1974. She was found by a 12-year-old girl roughly 10 days to 3 weeks after her death. She was nude, with some clothing folded beneath her head. The interesting thing is that she had dental work done, but authorities weren’t able to identify her. 

A “breakthrough” in the case was in a now-deleted 2015 Tumblr post by Joe Hill, writer and son of Stephen King. He detailed spotting the Lady of the Dunes — or what they thought the composite image of her living self would look like — in the movie Jaws. He later talked about it with USA Today, pointing out that the Steven Spielberg movie was filmed in Martha’s Vineyard not far from Cape Cod and Provincetown around the time she died.  

“She swims at you out of the crowd, you’d hardly notice her if you watched it on a TV but it’s different if all the actors are 10 feet high,” Hill said. The theory here is that the Lady of the Dunes was an extra in the movie and they just didn’t keep good records at the time, explaining why we still don’t know who she is. For some reason, she was murdered, somehow ending up in Provincetown. 

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Many think mermaids or cryptids of some kind will make an appearance this season 

The Reddit post hypothesized that the season could, or might, feature the Lady of the Dunes in some way. And if they did, it would be very much like Murphy to connect it back to Hollywood legend in a way by including Jaws. 

With that said, sea creatures seem to also be a major theory for this season. With those razor-sharp teeth in the poster, a Jaws connection — if only for a moment — could also lead to mermaids. Or a creepy, supernaturally-large shark?

Ever since Murphy posted water-focused hints, fans have latched onto mermaid or siren guesses. Very early on, cryptids — or creatures whose existence hasn’t been proven or disproven yet — like the Loch Ness Monster were in the mix, although Nessie wouldn’t have been an option, since she’s in Scotland and this is American Horror Story. 

Whatever it is, odds are, some type of sea creature will have to do with the horror that awaits this coastal town. The cast also welcomes back Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters this season, after they both took a season off for the first time in 1984.

RELATED: Fans Think a Real-Life Case Is The Inspiration For ‘American Horror Story’ Season 10

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