With the coronavirus pandemic causing various film and TV productions to be halted, we're quite fortunate that the sequel to The Haunting Of Hill House, The Haunting Of Bly Manor, finished production before lockdown was introduced.
After Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Shirley Jackson's beloved book became a global phenomenon, the talented director is back with a horror anthology that's going to be "much scarier than Season one."
As for the plot, The Haunting Of Bly Manor unfolds over Christmas Eve as a group of friends gather around to share ghost stories. One of the guests, a man named Douglas, begins to tell the tale of two children (Flora and Miles) and their governess (played by Victoria Pedretti).
The governess is hired by a man to take care of his young niece and nephew after the death of their parents. However, both children are strangely distant and oddly silent.
The children also live in a forlorn estate and are frequently haunted by a mysterious evil. With growing horror, the helpless governess realises these fiendish ghouls want the children.
However, both children are drawn to the darkness for reasons unknown.
Thankfully, Netflix have released a bunch of new images from the show ahead of its release this Autumn.
In a previous interview with The Wrap, Flanagan said that he's hoping the show is released around the Halloween weekend.
As you can see in the poster below, there are horrific secrets hidden beneath the water.
In a previous interview with BirthMoviesDeath, he said that the new series in the horror anthology will be "much scarier than Season one."
“We’re looking at all the ghost stories of Henry James as the jumping-off point for the season, so it very much is a whole new deal. It’s a cool way to expand on some of the things I loved about season one, but within the framework of a new story, without having to be restrained by the decisions we made last time. For Henry James fans, it’s going to be pretty wild, and for people who aren’t familiar with his work, it’s going to be unbelievably scary. I already think it’s much scarier than season one, so I’m very excited about it," he said.
Aside from this, the director of Doctor Sleep and Hush will be looking to use as many practical effects as possible on The Haunting Of Bly Manor.
"That’s part of the DNA of The Haunting for me—that old-school approach to the ghosts. In particular, we’re having an enormous amount of fun talking about how to take some of the ideas from season one about hidden ghosts and things like that, and find new gears for them this time. It’ll be the same type of story, and we’ll treat the ghosts very much the same way," said Flanagan.
The Haunting of Bly Manor is expected to arrive on Netflix in 2020, with the Halloween weekend previously mentioned as the likely premiere date.
The Haunting of Bly Manor will see some of the Hill House stars returning, but they'll be playing new roles.
For example, Victoria Pedretti, Henry Thomas, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel , and Catherine Parker are all returning but they'll be playing new characters in the follow-up series.
Other cast members include newcomers Rahul Kohli, T’Nia Miller, Amelia Eve, Benjamin Ainsworth and Amelie Smith.
Ciaran Foy (Eli, Sinister 2), Yolanda Ramke & Ben Howling (Cargo), Liam Gavin (A Dark Song), and Axelle Carolyn (Tales of Halloween, Grim Grinning Ghost) will all be directing episodes of The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Netflix have released a bunch of new images from The Haunting Of Bly Manor and here's a look at what's in store when it's released this Autumn.
