A poster and promotional photos from the second chapter in Netflix’s horror anthology series The Haunting of Hill House, entitled The Haunting of Bly Manor, were released today, granting audiences their first peek into the series’ new haunted location. Vanity Fair sat down with Hill House showrunner Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, Hush) to discuss the new season coming to Netflix in the fall and put these first photos into greater context.
The Haunting of Hill House is a modern adaption of the 1959 Shirley Jackson horror novel of the same name. Though telling an entirely new story, season 2 of the series will also draw inspiration from classic horror literature. The Henry James novella Turn of the Screw, about a late 19th century governess in London, has been reimagined in a 1980s United States by Flanagan and the Bly Manor team, via Vanity Fair. Victoria Pedretti (You, Once Upon Time…in Hollywood), who starred as Nell Crain in the anthology series first season, will now play Dani Clayton, a tutor and new arrival at Bly Manor. A still of Pedretti in her new role was one of the promotional photos released on the series’ Instagram page.
Though Henry James’ Turn of the Screw is to take center stage in season 2, it’s not the first time one of his tales was weaved into the Netflix show. Shirley Jackson’s story The Haunting of Hill House is relatively short in relation to the series, which allowed Flanagan to craftily interweave other pieces of horror literature into the anthology’s first season, stories which included James’ “The Jolly Corner” and “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes”, via Vanity Fair. Since The Turn of the Screw is novella, viewers can expect a similar mash-up of classic horror texts in season 2. In fact, co-executive producer, Trevor Macy (Oculus, Doctor Sleep) reported that in The Haunting of Bly Manor “the process is the same, in that it’s a literary remix” (Vanity Fair).
The Haunting of Bly Manor’s Twitter account tweeted the new photos with the captions “A New Home. A New Family. A New Story” (Twitter). New is the operative word for Flanagan, who commented “it was really important for all of us not to play the same notes we played for the first season” (Vanity Fair). Though the series once more centers on a family and a haunted estate, Flanagan emphasized The Haunting of Bly Manor will aim to tell a twisted love story.
Rahul Kohli, a new edition to the season 2 cast, played upon this idea of a love story on Twitter by jesting: “we made cute little romantic comedy! It’s coming this fall, and it’s suitable for all ages.” Flanagan, when speaking with Vanity Fair, hinted that Kohli’s character will be one, of many, avenue in which the series explores and exploits romantic themes for the purposes of horror. The showrunner continues, “there are major themes throughout the whole season on the difference between love and ownership, of the nature and importance of consent. And possession, which is all over Henry James’s original material” (Vanity Fair). While love is sprawling theme to conquer throughout a series, Kohli continued to joke on Twitter that the series’ various tensions might be resolved simply if his character were to shave his mustache.
The Haunting of Bly Manor is but one, of several, contribution to the collection of on-screen adaptations of the Henry James’ classic Turn of the Screw. In January of this year, The Turning, featuring Mackenzie Davis (Halt and Catch Fire, Blade Runner 2049) and Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, IT), attempted to adapt James’ novella, but was met with tepid critical response, via Rolling Stone. However, the 1961 adaptation, The Innocents, served as point-of-reference for Flanagan while crafting The Haunting‘s second season. “The Innocents is such a huge, huge influence on this season in so many different ways,” Flanagan remarked when speaking to Vanity Fair.