American Horror Story season 7: Twisty the Clown confirmed to return

The as-yet-unthemed season has already been teased to include elements from Freak Show

American Horror Story season 7 was long ago promised to link back to the events of season 4, Freak Show. And now, Ryan Murphy's finally delivered on that promise.

In a shot posted to Instagram, the showrunner revealed an early glimpse of the as-yet-unthemed season 7: a comic book titled "Twisty: The Clown Chronicles", emblazoned with Twisty himself in his grinning mask and white costume.

Murphy's exact statement was that the new episodes would examine Freak Show's "deeper histories and mythologies. So we're sort of still exploring season 4 in season 7".

Twisty's re-emergence is particularly of interest compared to some of the concept art Murphy's already shared, including an elephant-monster whose mouth seems strangely reminiscent of Twisty's.

Has Twisty turned into something of an urban legend? Has he inspired copycats? He certainly proved quite the mentor to Finn Wittrock's Dandy Mott, in his own transformation from spoiled brat to sadistic killer.

A small part of this season's mystery will finally be concluded on Thursday, 20 July, when Murphy promised a title reveal that will "all make sense". He also heavily hinted that the main title sequence, missing from last year's American Horror Story: Roanoke, would be returning for season 7.

American Horror Story season 7 is expected to premiere in September. Here's everything we know so far.