All Of The Cryptic Clues You Missed In The First 'American Horror Story' Season 8 Teaser

The end is near... and from the looks of this teaser, it's horrifying. On Monday, the first American Horror Story Season 8 teaser was released, and it's as captivating as it is chilling. The upcoming season "Apocalypse," which is a crossover between fan favorites "Murder House" (Season 1) and "Coven" (Season 3), may be the most highly anticipated installment yet. And the new 45-second teaser, loaded with cryptic imagery and hints, is raising even more questions and heightening the buzz.

The teaser for AHS Season 8, which premieres September 12, begins with a chilling image of a fetus in an hourglass, meeting its demise (or its birth) with a burning heart on the other end. Clearly, Ryan Murphy and his crew aren't holding back any punches when it comes to getting the apocalypse theme across. Perhaps this is the same "devil child" teased thus far in the season's posters. Is this opening scene a metaphor for the end of humanity or a straightforward view of the birth of this "devil child" which will ultimately destroy humanity?

Horror ensues as the trailer shows a bomb-like explosion, people wearing a gas mask and surgical mask before dying, a flood of skulls, and a demonic-looking hand taking hold of an hourglass and flipping it. The tweet with the teaser is dauntingly captioned, "It's time." Clearly, something, or someone, is controlling the end of the world, but that also remains a mystery.

In addition to the obvious apocalypse imagery, there are a few snippets alluding to witchcraft and "Coven." The Pentacle, or the symbol of witchcraft, is shown multiple times. First, a swarm of bats burst into what first looks like a church glass window, only to reveal a large pentacle.

Immediately after, the pentacle turns into an emblem on a box that the same demonic-looking hand grabs and pulls into a fire. The fire then leads to an outpour of skulls.

Are witches causing the apocalypse? Or are they victims in it? Further, the teaser doesn't seem to include any hints or clues derived from the Murder House season.

While the Season 8 teaser doesn't preview any of the beloved actors returning to the series, fans immediately reacted to the trailer, expressing feelings of horror, excitement, and being flat-out mind-blown. Some fans are completely satisfied by the mind-bending greatness packed in the teaser.

Others are trying really hard to keep their cool.

Overall, people are shook to the core from what they just witnessed.

In true AHS fashion, many details regarding the new season have been kept under wraps. Still, the AHS team has teased just enough for fans to be anticipating this one big time. For example, executive producer Alexis Martin Woodall revealed the following at the Television Critics Association summer tour, according to IndieWire: "The story begins with the end of the world, and then our world begins." AHS staple Sarah Paulson, who will also be directing the episode with returning star Jessica Lange, said, "It's the end of the world.... If we're here, the world didn't totally end."

While there is a growing slew of unanswered questions, AHS did it again with another exceptional, yet terrifying, teaser.