The fourth season is set in Jupiter, Florida in 1952 and follows the lives of a troupe of people belonging to one of the last remaining freak shows of its time. Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) is the owner of Fräulein Elsa’s Cabinet of Curiosities; and her performers the bearded lady Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates), her lobster-handed son Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters), the strongman Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis), and his three-breasted hermaphrodite wife Desiree Dupree (Angela Basset), as well as the newly recruited conjoined twin sisters Bette and Dot Tattler (Sarah Paulson).
After their mother is found stabbed to death, Bette and Dot are discovered stabbed themselves at their farmhouse. The news makes headlines, and soon Elsa discovers the twins’ existence. Believing the sisters to be her troupe’s saviors, she brings them back to camp. They meet their fellow freaks Paul the Illustrated Seal (Mat Fraser) who has seal-like flippers for hands, Amazon Eve (Erika Ervin) who is the largest and strongest woman of the show, and finally the tiny performer from India, Ma Petite (Jyoti Amge) who is the smallest woman in the world. Bette sees the show as their haven but Dot believes that they are being exploited for their appearance. Meanwhile, serial killer Twisty the Clown(John Carroll Lynch) is responsible for recent murders and kidnappings that plagued the town.
