The Haunting of Hill House was more than just some ordinary haunted house show. Based upon Shirley Jackson’s classic 1959 novel of the same name, the Netflix series delivered memorably creepy scenes, including one stunningly choreographed long shot, along with a few terrifying jump scares. However, the truly chilling thing about the show was its ability to seamlessly blend supernatural thrills with a thoughtful explorations on childhood trauma, grief, addiction, and strained family relationships.
After the success of Hill House, creator Mike Flanagan decided to renovate his eerie series and turn it into an anthology, titled The Haunting. The second season, called The Haunting of Bly Manor, will draw its primary inspiration from Henry James’ classic 1898 horror novella The Turn of the Screw. Based on that source material alone, we can infer that The Haunting Season 2 will be every bit as frightening and smart as Hill House was. Let’s take a look at everything we know so far about The Haunting of Bly Manor so far.
It will arrive in 2020. The Haunting of Bly Manor is set to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2020. Flanagan confirmed in a July podcast interview with ReelBlend that the series had wrapped before any coronavirus pandemic-related shutdowns and that his post-production team has been working to complete the season virtually.
“I don’t expect to be delayed one bit. We didn’t really miss a step,” Flanagan said. “We’ve been jamming through [post-production]. It’s been going great. It’s definitely later this year. It’s not going to get kicked off until 2021 or anything.” Though an exact release date has yet to be announced by Netflix, Hill House debuted in October 2018, so we have a haunting suspicion we’ll see Bly Manor follow suit and premiere this October.
The Book Behind The Haunting of Bly Manor Proves It’ll Be Just as Creepy as Hill House
It will adapt several Henry James stories. When Netflix announced Season 2 would be titled The Haunting of Bly Manor, it became clear that James’ novella The Turn of the Screw — about a governess taking care of two children in a potentially haunted country estate — would be a big influence on the season. However, Bly Manor won’t just draw from The Turn of the Screw and will actually incorporate elements of several of James’ ghost stories.
“The thing I have access to, that no other adaptation of The Turn of the Screw has, is the rest of Henry James’ ghost stories. I get to use all of them,” Flanagan told Games Radar. “The Turn of the Screw has been adapted so many times. We know how perfectly it fits into a feature film format. We’re doing a whole season of television. The Turn of the Screw is only one of a dozen stories that we’re telling. All Henry James; all thematically linked.
“I think of The Turn of the Screw as the backbone of this season — the through line that carries us from beginning to end. But we get to go off into The Jolly Corner and The Romance of Certain Old Clothes, and so many other of these wonderful ghost stories that people haven’t seen adapted before,” he continued. “It’s all wrapped up in what seems to be familiar, but that familiarity goes away really early in the first episode. It says, ‘We’re off on a whole other road.'”
A number of Hill House stars will return for Season 2. Bly Manor is shaping up to be a reunion for Hill House‘s Crain family. Victoria Pedretti and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who played the troubled twins Nell and Luke Crain in Hill House, have both boarded Bly Manor. They’ll be joined by Kate Siegel, who played middle sibling Theo Crain, and Henry Thomas, who played the Crain patriarch, Hugh. Catherine Parker, who played Poppy Hill, has also joined the cast.
In the new season, Pedretti will play the governess, Dani, who is charged with caring for two “very unusual children,” per the actress.
Jackson-Cohen will portray Peter, “a charming fellow” who lives in the eponymous estate and makes “life very difficult” for everyone else, according to the actor. (And if you’ve read The Turn of the Screw, you have an idea of what time of trouble Peter may cause.)
Siegel, Thomas, and Parker’s roles in Bly Manor are still being kept under wraps. Carla Gugino, who starred as Olivia Crain in Hill House, has also hinted that she would be interested in returning for Bly Manor but nothing has been announced.
New faces are joining the cast. iZombie favorite Rahul Kohli has joined Bly Manor as a series regular. According to Deadline, Kohli’s character is described as “a small town guy with a worldly mindset, who has returned to the country to take care of his ailing mother.”
T’Nia Miller (Years and Years), Amelia Eve, and young actors Amelie Smith and Benjamin Ainsworth have also been added to the cast. Smith and Ainsworth, respectively, play Flora and Miles, the children under the care of Pedretti’s governess Dani. Miller and Eve’s roles have not been announced.
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The Haunting of Hill House
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