American Horror Story: Delicate Teaser Shows A Creepy, Maternal Kim Kardashian

When news broke that Kim Kardashian would be joining season 12 of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's anthology series "American Horror Story," her part in the new season was left vague. The initial casting announcement involved a teaser posted to Kardashian's Instagram that featured a creepy version of "Rock-A-Bye Baby" and the caption "Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian are delicate." Since then, Cara Delevigne has also joined the project, and while the new teaser doesn't exactly tell us much more about this season's plot, it does give us a first look at the new cast in full spooky regalia.

The promo starts with a circle of twelve women with long, white hair and dresses to match doing some sort of dance or ritual. It's clear that the new season will follow some of the same plot threads that have piqued Murphy's interest before, as there's a distinctly witchy, cultish vibe to the 42-second teaser. The women's hair blows upward and we see a shot of a metallic capsule being pushed into a canister that's steaming the way dry ice would. Given the obvious maternal theme this season, could this be a reference to IVF or freezing one's eggs? As "Rock-A-Bye Baby" plays again, the twelve women touch one another's heads with scary-looking black gloves. We also see imagery involving an egg falling from a bird's nest, a red-lined black cradle, and cells multiplying under a microscope. 

Kardashian, Delevigne, and Roberts are all revealed to be among the white-haired women, and Delevigne in particular is unrecognizable in a mad scientist-style getup with frosted fake eyelashes and heavy makeup. Finally, we see Kardashian in a black dress, cradling a bundle that presumably contains a newborn baby while the dancing women sway, upside down, behind her. The only caption for the promo on its YouTube page is "cradle and all."

This is all pretty cryptic, but I think there's a lot to be gleaned from the symbolic imagery and snippets of each character that we get. It seems likely that this plot will involve some sort of baby swap (think the egg falling from the nest) or "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" style plot, plus some sinister or supernatural medical experimentation, too. The cradle color scheme gives off huge "Rosemary's Baby" vibes, and the women are dressed in outfits that call to mind the aesthetics of Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson, and even Luca Guadagnino's "Suspiria." It's also a lot easier to guess what this season will be about than usual, given that (per Collider), it's the first "American Horror Story" outing to adapt a book. In this case, it's Danielle Valentine's "Delicate Condition," about an actress who thinks someone is conspiring to stop her from getting pregnant.

"American Horror Story: Delicate" does not have a release date yet. Last month, Variety reported that the season was still shooting in New York amidst the ongoing WGA writers' strike.