AHS: What You Need to Know About the Real Mystery of the Lost Roanoke Colony

American Horror Story returned several weeks ago, and season six has been full of the same chills and surprises we're used to. Season six, aka Roanoke, features an old farmhouse and a yuppie couple eager to get away from city life. But the biggest mystery of all is one word, Roanoke, and it takes us all the way back to high school history class.

Roanoke, also commonly known as the Lost Colony, was a 16th-century colony established on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. Led by John White, a renowned artist and close friend of the settlement's founder, Sir Walter Raleigh, it was the first British settlement in North America by the English, and White's granddaughter, Virginia Dare, was the first English child born on North American soil.

Settling was not easy, and after running into problems with the local tribes, White returned to England to ask for help. It took him three years to return, but when he finally made it back to Roanoke in 1590, the colony was gone and there was only one clue as to the fates of the inhabitants: the word "Croatoan" carved on a fence post.

In the years since, the mystery of Roanoke has been fertile ground for countless ghost stories and conspiracy theories. The show seems to have put its own spin on the story, and we've even flashed all the way back to the colony's decision to leave their settlement. Naturally, the writers have included a sinister and supernatural explanation for the disappearance, but we may never know what really happened to those people.