American Horror Story: 1984 makes a frightening fashion statement in first casting clip

If you’re a 1980s fashion refugee who’s glad to leave those leg warmers and padded shoulders in the past, then you won’t need blood and gore to be scared witless by the first official in-character look at the American Horror Story: 1984 cast.

AHS mastermind Ryan Murphy has just unloaded minutes upon minutes of new footage featuring 1984’s major players, in the process answering a ton of lingering casting questions, while letting the frightful throwback fashions — mostly — serve up their own kind of scares. 

In addition to the previously-announced lineup of Emma Roberts, Gus Kenworthy, and Angelica Ross, Murphy also revealed the addition of DeRon Horton, Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Leslie Grossman, Matthew Morrison, Zach Villa, and John Carroll Lynch.

Check out the creepy-in-its-own-way runway show below, set to Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You” — and stay ’til the end for Lynch’s not-so-gentle parting reminder that 1984 is still, y’know, a horror story.

As suspected in recent days, AHS mainstays Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters are nowhere to be found, neither in the clip nor in the fresh batch of casting news. But the early hints that 1984 will take on the era’s slasher-film vibe appear to be fully confirmed, with the setting (and some of the outfits) calling back to the earliest days when Jason first stalked terrified teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake.

While plot details will likely remain carefully guarded under Murphy’s famously tight-lipped watch, we do know that Roberts and Kenworth will pair up as a girlfriend and boyfriend duo, and Murphy’s earlier teaser already has shown off the new season’s well-informed homage to ‘80s screaming teen classics like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. 

Slated to arrive just in time for our thoughts to turn toward the Halloween season, American Horror Story: 1984 takes its first stab on Sept. 18, when the show’s ninth series — with a 10th season confirmed to follow — returns to FX.