The Haunting of Bly Manor trailer teases fright fest

The Haunting of Bly Manor, the follow-up to The Haunting of Hill House, arrives this October on Netflix and reunites co-stars Henry Thomas and Victoria Pedretti.

The streaming service has released an official trailer that jealously guards ghoulish goings on in 1980's England.



"After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) hires a young American nanny (Victoria Pedretti) to care for his orphaned niece and nephew (Amelie Bea Smith, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) who reside at Bly Manor with the estate’s chef Owen (Rahul Kohli), groundskeeper Jamie (Amelia Eve) and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (T’Nia Miller). But all is not as it seems at the manor, and centuries of dark secrets of love and loss are waiting to be unearthed in this chilling gothic romance. At Bly Manor, dead doesn’t mean gone."

The Haunting of Bly Manor bookends a year that will be remembered for a life-changing global pandemic and began with supernatural stablemate Locke & Key.

The Haunting of Bly Manor first look

The Haunting of Hill House was a supernatural hit for Netflix in 2018 and followed the tragic tale of a family haunted by ghosts of the past and present (a theme also brilliantly explored in stablemate Locke & Key).

Henry Thomas, famous for playing Elliott in director Steven Spielberg's E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, will return in the sequel, The Haunting of Bly Manor, along with Victoria Pedretti who most recently appeared in the Spielberg-produced Amazing Stories reboot for Apple TV+.

Speaking about the new season, series creator Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep) said: “At its foundation, the Haunting series is very much about haunted spaces and haunted people. The way we make those things dance together is really going to be what’s uniform about Hill House and Bly.

“Outside of that, though, it was really important for all of us not to play the same notes we played for the first season. The first season is very much entrenched in family dynamics and death and grief and loss and child trauma. We all collectively felt like we’d said everything we wanted to say about that.”

The Haunting of Bly Manor is rumoured to stream on Netflix this October. Just in time for Halloween.

Victoria Pedretti returns in The Haunting of Bly Manor

Victoria Pedretti is returning to The Haunting of Hill House franchise for season 2 on Netflix. Pedretti played the ill-fated Eleanor "Nell" Crain to devastating effect.

Pedretti says: "Hey everyone. I'm very excited to announce that I will be returning to the Haunting universe, in season 2: The Haunting of Bly Manor. I play Dani, a governess who takes care of two very unusual children.

"Our incredible writing team is writing the new season right now and I'm so excited to get going. It will hit Netflix in 2020 and I think you're gonna love it."

“Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy are masterful at creating authentically frightening stories that leave audiences on the edge of their seats, but unable to look away,” said Cindy Holland, Vice President, Original Content at Netflix. “We’re excited to continue our partnership with them on The Haunting series and future projects to come.”

Flanagan and Macy added: “Netflix has been an important part of our story, and we’re proud to have worked with them on The Haunting of Hill House, not to mention Gerald’s Game, Hush, and Before I Wake… They’ve enabled and supported a great deal of our work and we look forward to much more.”

No spoilers because that would be a disservice to the series and fellow horror enthusiasts who haven't seen the first season. The Haunting of Hill House is gothic genius. Every frame is chillingly captivating as a dysfunctional family, led by Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), is haunted by ghosts of the past and present. Hopefully, many of the original cast including Carla Gugino will be brought back for this anthology series.