American Horror Story Season 3 Coven SPOILERS: Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates Discuss Their Characters

The spooky FX horror series "American Horror Story" enters Season 3, subtitled "Coven," this fall and promises to deliver a fresh brand of nightmarish drama.

The show's third season will take place in New Orleans and will deal with the theme of witches (hence the title "Coven"). Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates are two newcomers to the show and the ladies sat down with Collider to talk about their characters.

Here are some excerpts form the interview:

"Collider: What can you say about your character this season?

Bassett:  Well, I play Marie Laveau.  It's been interesting, being in New Orleans, because there's such a regard and respect for who she was.  She lived to about 80 years old, and she was a very influential person in the city.  My character is based loosely on her.

Bates:  My Southern accent has come roaring back.  Now that that cat is out of the bag, one of the things I enjoyed reading about Madame LaLaurie is that my great-great-grandfather came from Dublin to New Orleans in the 1830s, and he became personal physician to Andrew Jackson.  And I read in the book on LaLaurie that his plantation was next door to theirs.  So, I was very curious to know whether my grandfather ever met her because I think he would have been there just before she left.  I thought that was interesting."

MStars previously reported that executive producer Tim Minear told TVLine that Season 3's major themes will focus on feminism, race, oppression and family, specifically mothers and daughters.