Nothing says "Merry Christmas!" like a haunted hotel full of serial killers, demon children, and blood-sucking countesses. This year, the most wonderful time of the year will be stuffed to gills with all of those festive characters — and even more — as American Horror Story: Hotel is poised to carry on through the entire holiday season and into the New Year. Making it all the way through a season of Ryan Murphy's anthology series can often feel like an endurance test, so it's good to know ahead of time just how long we're committing ourselves to his horror show. So, when is the AHS: Hotel finale?
Seaosn 4 will have an appropriately unlucky 13 episodes, just like every season of the show except for the first (which had 12). Also just like most seasons, the timing of the premiere means that the fourth episode will be airing right around Halloween; this very special episode is always a two-parter jam-packed with guest stars. This time will be no different: Hotel 's two-parter is titled "Devil's Night," and will feature both AHS vet Lily Rabe as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos and Glee star Darren Criss as a (likely ill-fated) hipster who checks into the hotel.
After that Halloween two-parter, Hotel will continue for another two weeks before taking a week off to allow us to celebrate Thanksgiving undisturbed... if we have any appetite left, that is. Then we'll get another three episodes in December, leading right up to the Yuletide, before taking a two week break. (If you find yourself missing AHS over the Christmas break, you can also watch a rerun of Asylum's "Unholy Night" guest starring Deadwood's Ian McShane as a homicidal Santa.) Then, shortly after we all ring in 2016, Hotel will come roaring back for its final three episodes, culminating in its finale on Jan. 20.
13 episodes in 16 weeks sounds like the season will be over in a blinding flash of blood and viscera. But, this is actually AHS at its most prolonged. The first season of the show ran uninterrupted from its Oct. debut, airing straight through Thanksgiving and ending a mere four days before Christmas — with an episode of Murder House titled "Afterbirth," no less. (Deck the halls indeed.) So, while we'll have to wait a bit longer in the year to find out who lives and who dies in the Hotel Cortez, at least we'll have some peace of mind while we're baking cookies and trimming the tree. If you can forget about the visions of drillbit dildos dancing through your head, of course.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. *evil cackle*
Images: Frank Ockenfels/FX; wirsindallefrk/tumblr
