One of the best Netflix original series made thus far (the third best, according to us) is surelyThe Haunting of Hill House, and fans are mighty curious to see how the follow-up seasonThe Haunting of Bly Manordiffers from that brilliant first season. Released in 2018,Hill HouseadaptedShirley Jackson’s iconic horror novel of the same name, but also expanded upon it in exciting and emotional ways while bringing in other Shirley Jackson stories to fill out 10 episodes’ worth of story.Doctor SleepandOculusfilmmakerMike Flanaganserved as showrunner and directed every episode, resulting in a truly brilliant piece of horror storytelling.
It was revealed whenHill Houseended that the specific story of the Crain family was over, but Netflix then announced that Flanagan was returning to spearhead a second season with new characters and a new story – this time based on the work ofHenry James. The result isThe Haunting of Bly Manor, which is primarily based onThe Turn of the Screwand follows a young governess (Victoria Pedretti) in the 1980s who is hired by a man (Henry Thomas) to look after his niece and nephew at the massive (and haunting) estate known as Bly Manor.
In a new video released by Netflix (which debuted onEW), Flanagan elaborated onBly Manorand what makes this season different, dubbing this series “The Hauntinganthology”:
“The Haunting of Bly Manoris the second installment inThe Hauntinganthology. We started with Shirley Jackson’sThe Haunting of Hill House, and this follow-up season is a standalone adaptation based on the ghost stories of Henry James. Henry James’The Turn of the Screwis one of the most influential ghost stories ever written. What struck me as a really wonderful opportunity for this season was Henry James wrote other ghost stories as well, most of which have never been adaptation. The opportunity to go further into Henry James’ library, to look at some of his other ghost stories, to try to find a way to bring them all together, it was a challenge that we really couldn’t say no to.”
But ifThe Haunting of Hill Housewas a family grief drama,The Haunting of Bly Manoris a Gothic romance, Flanagan reveals:
“What setsBly Manorapart is that at its heart it’s a love story. It’s a Gothic romance story. When you look at the word ‘romance’ it conjures up images in your mind. Gothic romance means something very, very different, steeped in mystery and doom, incredibly passionate emotions that swung into the darkness of human nature.”
The filmmaker – who is currently shooting the Netflix original horror seriesMidnight Mass– further teased that the ghosts inBly Manorwill be used as conduits to explore human emotion:
“Similar toThe Haunting of Hill House, I really wanted to play more with ghosts as an expression of emotional wounds that we do carry around. How the past and present can echo each other, that moments don’t fall like dominoes they fall like confetti.The Haunting of Hill Houseis about a very tight family andBly Manoris about strangers. A family that is created. All the people who inhabit Bly Manor come from completely different backgrounds and get to know each other through friendship, tension, conflict, and love.”
The tremendous ensemble cast ofBly Manoralso includesOliver Jackson-Cohen,T’Nia Miller,Rahul Kohli,Amelia Eve,Tahirah Sharif,Amelie Smith,Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, andKate Siegel, with Pedretti taking the lead role this time around.
And if you thoughtHill Housewas emotionally devastating, just wait until you see what Flanagan does with a Gothic romance:
“If there’s one thing that I hope fans take away from this season of Bly Manor, I think it’s that wonderful connection between a great love story and a great ghost story. The two are really the same thing, how each of us when we fall in love is kind of giving birth to a new ghost, something that’s gonna follow us for the rest of our lives. I hope that that intermingling of a ghost story and a love story is really impactful for people, and I think by the end of this season the line between the two is pretty much obliterated entirely.”
Well that sounds heartbreaking. Another key difference betweenHill HouseandBly Manoris that Flanagan did not direct every episode ofBly Manor, so we’ll see some variety behind the camera this time around.
Check out the full video below, and hold on to your butts.The Haunting of Bly Manorpremieres on Netflix on October 9th.
