We’re not only getting a fun new image of “Dot and Bette’s first day” for ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show‘ but some refreshing details for the direction of the fourth season. For those of you who felt that the third season was a little too campy for their taste, we’re going to have less of the camp and more of the horror.

FX CEO John Landgraf recently spoke a bit about the show and stressed that the next season will be less campy as it will find a balance “in between” the last two seasons for seriousness and camp. “Some years it’s going to be big and bright and brash and campy the way Coven is. Other years it’s going to be dark and brooding—like Asylum was. I guess I would put ‘Freak Show’ half-way in between the two. It’s not quite as brooding and formal and Hitchockian as Asylum, it’s got a little bit more humor and a little bit more camp, but its got a brooding period feel to it also.”

While I enjoyed ‘Coven,’ I felt that it was far inferior to ‘Asylum’ and that dark tone is what really struck me as what was missing. For me, this is good news! For anyone who preferred ‘Coven’ it may not be. If there is any downside to this season it’s that each episode brings us one closer to Jessica Lange retiring, and that is truly sad news.

So with refreshing news we also get a refreshing picture from showrunner Ryan Murphy as he has shared an image of Sarah Paulson showing off her duel personality for the upcoming season.

With what they have to do in order to pull off that look I’m curious how much Paulson will be featured in the show. Even with the campiness of the last season, this is a series I eagerly look forward to each year and have high hopes for this one.

Are you looking forward to the next season of ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’? Do you think this new venue will be a fun one or were you too turned off from ‘Coven’? Share your thoughts below!

‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ will debut this October and features Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, and Michael Chiklis.

Sources: Blastr, TV Overmind