Say what you like about American Horror Story (and we have): It rarely lacks for style—something it frequently places over, under, around, and just sort of generally on top of substance. That’s never been more abundant than in the lead-up to the show’s upcoming 1984 season, which has veered even harder into its usual tone of camp-gone-rampant than usual. That neon-and-blood-soaked aesthetic has now reached its apparent apotheosis in the form of the show’s opening credits sequence, which Ryan Murphy released on Instagram earlier today.
And honestly, it’s not entirely clear where the blood flowing on the screen ends, and the blood flowing from our eyes begins, here, as this beautiful VHS monstrosity makes its way across the screen. Where Stranger Things attempted to evoke this same kind of ’80s-futurism in a sort of tasteful, classy way, AHS goes the full lenticular Trapper Keeper route, blasting your brain with tape tracking, bloody knives, and a pulsingly cheesy synthwave soundtrack. Will the actual show be any good? Who the hell can say, especially since this trailer feels like it’s carved out the part of our brains where “good” used to live. But it’ll certainly be loud, colorful, and excessive, and what more could you want from an American Horror Story take on 1984?