(photo courtesy PaleyFest.org)

Co-creator Ryan Murphy kicked off the festivities at PaleyFest 2012 last night with a panel that included co-creator/executive producer Brad Falchuk, executive producer Dante Di Loreto and actors Alexandra Breckinridge, Frances Conroy, Paulson, Lange, Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton.

While it has already been revealed that fan favorite, Jessica Lange, and Zachary Quinto would return for season 2, Murphy announced who the other 3 returning cast members would be that he teased about on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live Show. They are Evan Peters (Tate Langdon), Sarah Paulson (Billie Dean) and Lily Rabe (Nora Montgomery). Murphy made sure that everyone knew that all the returning actors will be playing characters opposite to the ones they played last season and that although the Harmons won’t be seen in season 2, don’t rule out the possibility that they could return in future seasons. “Anybody can pop up at any time,” he said, “the door is always open for fun, crossover, cameo stuff.”

While we already knew that the second season would take place somewhere in the east coast, Murphy himself had said the clue of where the next location would be was in the episode ‘Birth.’ Some have suggested that the clue was given by psychic Billie Dean when she likened the house’s supernatural force akin to those found in “prisons or asylums.” Although Murphy wouldn’t confirm where the next haunting would take place, he did say that ghosts may not be as prominent this season as he and co-producer Falchuk wanted to explore other kinds of horror. He did say, however, that the only rule he had with this show was that there would never by werewolves or vampires.

  
 
Filming for the second season of ‘American Horror Story’ is not set to start  until July, but Murphy and Falchuk have stated that they are currently working on the storylines to make sure they really nail it down by the time filming begins. And just like the first season, season 2 will premiere in the third week of October but this time the story will focus on Lange’s new character.

So what do you think of the return of Lange, Quinto, Peters, Paulson and Rabe?