The Haunting of Bly Manor: Is a Less Scary but still Dramatic Follow-Up

I am not a big fan of the horror genre, in fact I have avoided tried avoiding horror films for some time but it has been inevitable, given that I do review films and series. Thanks to Mike Flannagan’s “The Haunting of Hill House” I have been able to appreciate and enjoy the horror genre. I had the guts to watch a horror series because of all the raves I have been hearing from fans and non-fans of horror. I learned that even though, I am a big coward, I can still appreciate a good medium of horror, one that does not employ tricks, jump scares or needles gore. I’ve always been a big Stephen King fan, but I think I get away with reading horror novels by speed-reading through the scary parts. “Bag of Bones” was probably the scariest King book I’ve read, I’ve already started with “It” though, so let’s see if that will still hold true after I finish reading about the dancing clown.

I started to watch Ari Aster’s films, I appreciated Jordan Peele’s forray into the horror-thriller genre and I even saw “The VVitch” -although I had to watch 2-3 RomComs just to “wash it away” from my system, I still think about it at times.


Though a self-confessed coward, and who would cover their eyes with their eyes at an anticipated scary scene and the person who screams in the cinema then laughs at themselves after, I have somehow been watching more and more horror films of late, and appreciating them beyond their promise of frights and scares.

There and Back Again

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (L to R) AMELIE BAE SMITH as FLORA in THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR. Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020

Which brings us back to Mike Flannagan’s “The Haunting” anthology series, with its first one “Hill House” breaking barriers and endearing fans with its unique take on the horror genre. It was no surprise that the follow up (Flannagan worked on “Doctor Sleep” -found the book better, would still love to see the director’s cut, any leads to that would be much appreciated) two years later was highly anticipated.


Like its predecessor, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is loosely based on another horror gothic story, this time, Henry James’ often adapted “The Turn of the Screw”. What I did not know and only found out after seeing the series was that, Flannagan and his writers worked on the series in such a way that, each one from the nine episodes was based/inspired or loosely based on a Henry James story~and as an avid reader and aspiring writer that was really admirable and goes to show how much the writers respected the material, but still made it relevant despite the setting of the stories.

One is unlike the other

It can’t be helped, the two seasons would surely be compared to each other, especially since, and this is my personal opinion, “Hill House” was better than “Bly Manor” this is in terms of scares, that incredible one-take (Texas Switch) episode (episode 6, “Two Storms) or the big “Bent-Neck lady” reveal and the overall themes were just far more superior than its successor. Granted, “Bly Manor” does have its moments and I was also in tears by the end. “Bly Manor” is its own story, a sad ghost story, it may not be as ground breaking as its predecessor but like I said, it has its “perfectly splendid” moments.

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (L to R) VICTORIA PEDRETTI as DANI and BENJAMIN EVAN AINSWORTH as MILES in THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR. Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020

To sleep, per chance to dream

Loosely based on “The Turn Of The Screw” and as it turns out a number of Henry James’ work, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” starts with the telling of, well, a ghost story during a (wedding) rehearsal dinner sometime in 2002. The unknown narrator tells of an American teacher, Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti, Hill House alum) in the UK who answers an ad as an au pair, to two children, whose parents recently passed. Their absent Uncle Henry (Lord Windgrave, Henry Thomas, another Hill House alum) , who seems to not want to have anything to do with them hires Dani, who seems to be running away from her own ghosts.
Dani is whisked away to a beautiful mansion in the country side to care for Flora and Miles, who will be her sole responsibility, in the house are the housekeeper Mrs. Grose, the cook Owen and gardener Jamie. While everything seems to be “perfectly splendid” on the surface, there is a lot of mystery surrounding Bly Manor, its occupants and Dani’s predecessor Miss Jessel and the tragic circumstances of her death.

The Flanagan-Haunting Treatment

The success of “The Haunting of Hill House” comes from Mike Flannagan’s treatment of a gothic horror tale. He adds so many interesting elements, he doesn’t employ jump scares you can anticipate a mile a way, rather, he plants hidden ghosts and specters in the background, a favorite added flavor is the addition of human emotions and elements to what fans would initially perceive just as a horror series. Fans were expecting to be scared but found themselves crying and hurting for these characters instead. Mind you, there are still a couple of remarkable scares here and there that would make watching the series during the day (and in the company of others), while (again, in my opinion) Hill House was better in scares and with the story but Bly Manor also has its own charms.

Perfectly Splendid!

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (L to R) AMELIE SMITH as FLORA in episode 101 of THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020

From the little hints and clues fans get to piece together the mystery that surrounds Bly Manor, like Hill House, Flannagan once again weaves his series through a non-linear timeline and using flashbacks and showing the present, while “Hill House” had a more structured storyline, “Bly Manor” will have you thinking harder, especially when not all of its characters are as reliable as you would hope them to be. Flannagan’s series are made up for multiple viewings, from trying to see all the hidden ghosts in each scene to trying to look into smaller parts of the puzzle, now that you have the bigger picture in mind, there are so many small clues and hints scattered throughout the nine episodes, one viewing won’t be enough to catch them all, and I’m not just talking about the ghosts but subtle things like a change in eye color or speech pattern.

It’s a Love Story

There is a line in the series “Dead does not mean gone” and as I mentioned in the vlog, this could be a good thing and a bad thing, for one, Flora and Miles could find comfort in the thought that even if their parents have passed, they are not really gone, and as someone who lost her Father at a young age, this too is a comforting thought. Of course, while we would like to think of our loved ones in a way, being with us, even when they have passed on, we would not want any vengeful ghosts or spirits lurking around the corners.

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (L to R) VICTORIA PEDRETTI as DANI in THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020

In a way, some ghost stories are love stories, there is a tragedy in them that transcends death. Many of the characters in “Bly Manor” are “haunted” and they they are haunted in apparently more ways than one-yes, its possible. Without spoiling anything, I was in tears when the finale wrapped up. The closing minutes of the finale are genuinely moving, depicting hope against reason, that animates so much human passion for another person.

In a way, we are all haunted, you see, being haunted just doesn’t refer to being haunted by ghosts, we can be haunted by trauma, guilt, ambition, hate, there are so many things that can bind us on this earth and sometimes these hauntings are so strong that even death cannot untether them. So far, these two Flannagan works have the theme of “sacrifice” in them and when you think about it, sacrifice, is the biggest way to show our love.

Check out our review on video as well!

So yes, a horror series can also be about love and sacrifice and that, is just absolutely perfectly splendid