Photo credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

It has become something of a tradition for ‘American Horror Story‘ to make casting announcements during its appearance at PaleyFest, and this year was no exception.

This year in particular gave us a pair of big announcements. First was that Matt Bomer and Cheyenne Jackson (both of whom have frequently collaborated with co-creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy in the past) will be joining the cast for the fifth season. Striking a more melancholic note, however, was the other major announcement, which confirmed that Jessica Lange (who has had a starring role in each of the horror anthology’s seasons to date) will not be returning. Reflecting on her time with the show, Lange said simply: “We had a great run.”

Given the subtitle ‘Hotel,’ the fifth season of ‘American Horror Story’ was previously announced to feature Lady Gaga in a starring role. As is often the case, details about ‘Hotel’ are few and far between at this point. Indeed, the announcement that Bomer and Jackson will be joining Gaga brings the total number of confirmed cast members to three. Even series regulars like Kathy Bates and Evan Peters appear uncertain of whether or not they’ll return. And while the natural assumption is that the titular hotel will be the site of a haunting, even that should be treated with a grain of salt, as the producers could easily toy with expectations. Indeed, even details about the characters are scarce, as Jackson claimed to know nothing about his character, adding that he was “ready to jump in.” Similarly, Bomer could neither confirm nor deny the possibility of a romantic relationship between his and Gaga’s characters.

What little we know for sure about their respective roles is that Bomer’s character will be the male lead whereas Jackson will more generally be part of the ensemble.

A specific premier date has yet to be announced, but the season is set to debut in its now-traditional late October window.