After The Haunting of Hill House successfully scared the pants off every Netflix subscriber who made the mistake of watching the show with the lights off, a follow-up was inevitable.
Even though season one brought the story of the unfortunate Crain’s to a satisfying conclusion, legions of ghost-loving adrenaline junkies wanted more from the show’s creators. And topping their efforts was always going to take some doing.
Despite the pressure associated with a sequel, show-runner Mike Flanagan has come out swinging with his predictions for season two. It has already been revealed that the new series is titled “The Haunting of Bly Manor”, and will take inspiration from Henry James’ much-loved novella “Turn of the Screw”, but Flanagan has gone even further in offering audiences a taste of what is to come.
In a recent interview with the website Birth.Movies.Death, Flanagan revealed that he believed that this season is “much scarier than season one,” adding that he is “very excited about it.”
Victoria Pedretti confirms that she is returning for The Haunting of Bly ManorAs part of a wide ranging conversation, Flanagan confided:
“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.”
Flanagan has also confirmed that the second season will also rely on the tried and tested formula of practical effects and scares, something that both he and the crew feel extremely passionate about. In his interview, he added:
“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.”
While the prospect of familiar thrills will come as a comfort to Hill House’s many fans, Flanagan also emphasised that the show is not his sole focus.
He went on tease plans for a new series, focused on religion and spirituality. Titled Midnight Mass, the show has been something of a passion project, with Flanagan describing it as “kind of my baby.” As he explained to interviewer Michael Gingold:
Watch the terrifying trailer for season one of The Haunting of Hill House here“I’ve been working on that for six years. I started writing it while Oculus was in preproduction, and it’s a very personal, scary little story. For years, I’ve sat on it and waited for the right moment; for a while I was like, ‘No one’s going to make Midnight Mass, no one will let me do it,’ and now they’ll let me do it, so I’m going to go do it while I can!”
If it’s anywhere near as successful as The Haunting of Hill House, Flanagan fans could well be in for a treat.