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What’s the Buzz: DC Fandome, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and More!

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Katie: The newest season of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting series isn’t arriving on Netflix till later this fall. Yet, this week saw the release of the second season poster featuring many of the cast’s faces hidden throughout. Vanity Fair gave us a behind the scenes look including new stills that introduced us to the new world we’ll be visiting, and the show’s social media teased us with a “Help Wanted” ad targeted toward a “live-in Nanny” that also featured a callable number (if you live in the UK). Of course, I called (thanks to Skype), and the voice of little Flora, one of the children of the new season, picked up (a recording, of course) informing me that her Uncle Henry would be holding interviews in five days. Which now has me questioning what will happen in five days? Maybe a trailer? With the series having been quiet for so long it certainly felt like Christmas time in The Haunting world. It’s also pretty safe to say that the hype for The Haunting of Bly Manor has been rekindled.

The show’s first season offered us hidden ghosts, some fantastic SFX make-up (shout out to Robert Kurtzman MUFX for the “Bent-Neck Lady” giving us all nightmares), and some killer jump scares (people still talk about that car scene). At its heart and why I fell in love with this series, was a story about a family overcoming the grief of lost loved ones, addiction, and mental health. The impressive thing with Flanagan is that he really appears to have a strong handle on the human psyche and understands that the things which scare people most are the emotions one must deal with. He builds upon those fears by bringing in supernatural elements that are often found in most horror based media without making them feel campy or overused.

As Flanagan states to Vanity Fair:  “At its foundation, the Haunting series is very much about haunted spaces and haunted people.” It’s a breath of fresh air to see a creator know exactly what they want their vision to be. I remember watching the first season and just thinking, “This is what American Horror Story should have been.” Compelling characters with compelling stories, comedy that isn’t forced, and visuals that are stylized but not to the point of being distracting. There was hugging of my computer screen after finishing that final episode, basically thanking it for giving me a series that proved that horror can be smartly written for television.

When I talk about “smartly written horror” I mean the tiny details that pop up throughout the series which gave the viewer a deeper appreciation for what was going on. The times when Olivia is seen without her shoes are usually times when she has been overtaken by the house. The framing of the Crain family’s “safe spaces” was foreshadowing the Red Room. Just hearing Flanagan talk about some of the elements he plans to use in Bly Manor assures me that he is taking as much care into this series as he had the previous.

Before Bly Manor opens its doors, prepare yourself by going back and watching the masterful first season that is The Haunting of Hill House. Everything about it is enriching and really brings a shining light to horror television that I deeply wished we could have had with AHS. Then if you are still in need of a good dose of Mike Flanagan’s take on horror check out Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, and Hush. Hopefully, by then we’ll have a release date. Now excuse me, I’m going to go call that number again because I have enough Skype credits to do so…and it’s really cool.

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Written by TV Obsessive

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