American Horror Story will look VERY different next season.

On a conference call with reporters today, Ryan Murphy confirmed that neither Dylan McDermott nor Connie Britton will return to the FX drama in 2012, as the story of the Harmons and their haunted house is over. Murphy and his team will focus on entirely new characters and a new setting next year.

“The second season of the show will be a brand new home or building to haunt,” the series creator said. “It will also have a new overriding theme... and a different cast of characters.

Some actors may return, Murphy said, but they will be portraying "new characters." The idea is for American Horror Story to be an anthology of various scary tales, the producer explained: "There are all sorts of different American horror stories to tell."

Look for cast announcements to be made in February, as Murphy concluded with this interesting tease: “There’s a clue in the last three episodes where we say what the second season will be.”

Let the guessing games begin! What do you think of this unique approach to storytelling?

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.