While 'The Haunting of Hill House' definitely had some truly scary moments, it felt more closer to a kind of gothic tragedy than an out-and-out horror series.
After all, it was basically a family drama script mixed with supernatural elements - which is probably why it worked so well in the first place. At any rate, the second season - 'The Haunting of Bly Manor' - looks to be stepping up the scares from the first season.
That's according to Mike Flanagan, the series creator / showrunner, in a recent interview with Birth.Movies.Death. "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," said Flanagan. The second season is based on the works of Henry James, who wrote the likes of 'The Turn of the Screw', 'The Portrait of a Lady', and 'The Wings of a Dove'.
"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," Flanagan explained. "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."
As well as this, Flanagan also discussed how he plans to use practical effects in the same way that 'The Haunting of Hill House' did, believing it gives a much richer experience for the viewer and how the old-school approach to ghosts is the way to go. "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."
'The Haunting of Bly Manor' is expected on Netflix some time in 2020.
