Walking into a hotel that could only appear in dreams, yet turns out to be the hotel from your deepest nightmares is what viewers were in for in the premiere of the latest season of American Horror Story, subtitled Hotel.

AHS: Hotel, which plays Wednesday at 9 p.m. on FX, is set at the Cortez, a hotel with more secrets than it does guests. This season also features newcomer Lady Gaga, as Jessica Lange is not in the season.

In the first episode, we meet the natives to Hotel Cortez. Kathy Bates plays Iris, the spooky and problem evasive front desk clerk, as well as Dennis O’Hare who took on a transgender role this season. The two fit perfectly together. Bates and O’Hare go hand in hand, playing off one another in a nonchalant way.

Series veteran Sarah Paulsen plays the new and drug addicted Sally, who lingers around the hotel and induces fellow addicts.

While we did have strong performances from actors such as Chole Sevigny, Matt Bomer and Wes Bentley, Lady Gaga stole the show. Ryan Murphy shocked the AHS fans when he announced Gaga would be a member of the cast of the fifth season. With much high expectations to void the hole that Jessica Lange created when she announced season four would be her last run, we were not disappointed when Gaga stole the screen.

While a few of her scenes may be racy and violent, Gaga fits in perfectly. She plays the Countess, and if you understand the mythology of Dracula, the Countess is a perfect title for her. She is a vampire, along with her lover Matt Bomer.

The cast was so well put together in this season premiere that you could tell that this is what the fans have been waiting for since the initial take on the horror genre in season one. The writing may be dazing and hard to follow at first, but within the coming episodes we are sure in for a delight as we learn about this year’s characters.

The cinematography and editing is also astounding, coming from a movie buff. Each shot, each cut and each line from the characters fits together as if it were puzzle pieces.

Overall, we are in store for a phenomenal season. Ryan Murphy has continuously outdone himself, and this season of AHS is no exception. -Zac Franklin

Rating: 5 out of 5