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The Haunting of Bly Manor Opening Titles: The Eyes Don't Have It

Offering a take on Henry James' 1898 psychological gothic horror novella "The Turn of the Screw" (with new twists and additional influences in the mix) where a young woman caring for two orphans in the English countryside finds herself confronted with some ominous forces, Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor continues the chilling anthology vibe first laid down by The Haunting of Hill House. Now with a week to go until the series premieres on October 9th, series creator Mike Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy are offering viewers a look at the season's opening credits- where if the eyes truly are mirrors to the soul, then these folks have some things to hide.

The Haunting of Bly Manor this Fall (Image: Netflix)
The Haunting of Bly Manor this Fall (Image: Netflix)

Now here a look again at the official trailer for The Haunting of Bly Manor, premiering October 9th on Netflix:

From The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy comes THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, the next highly anticipated chapter of The Haunting anthology series, set in 1980s 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.

Producing partners Flanagan and Macy drew from the iconic supernatural stories of Henry James, to create the ensemble drama which also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, and Tahirah Sharif. The series is executive produced by Flanagan and Macy for Intrepid Pictures, along with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television.

Macy recently revealed that the writing team was able to dive into more than just James' "Screw" for inspiration this season, also including "The Jolly Corner" and "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes" in the mix. "The process is the same, in that it's a literary remix," Macy explained. "You want to update the story, you want to find whatever fertile ground for elevating the character that you can in the source material, but we obviously took some liberties in updating it with a more modern setting" (and you might want to check out 1961 "Screw" adaptation The Innocents since it has a "huge, huge influence" this season).

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020)
THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020)

With the list of directors for The Haunting of Bly Manor including Yolanda Ramke & Ben Howling (Cargo), Ciarán Foy (Citadel, Sinister 2, Eli), Liam Gavin (A Dark Song), and Axelle Carolyn (Tales of Halloween: "Grim Grinning Ghost"), the interview also included more details on some of this season's characters. Taking place mostly in 1987, the season finds Victoria Pedretti as American tutor Dani Clayton, who hopes for a new start caring for the Wingrave children: Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Flora (Amelie Bea Smith). Kate Siegel has been cast in a still-unrevealed role; while Oliver Jackson-Cohen portrays not-so-nice Peter Quint, who we have a feeling is going to learn to respect Bly Manor the hard way. Henry Thomas portrays Henry Wingrave, the wealthy uncle of the two orphaned children who is more than happy to support the kids from as far away as possible (never a good sign).

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020
THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR Cr. EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX © 2020

We also have Amelia Eve as groundskeeper Jamie and Rahul Kohli as chef Owen- both seemingly fine within the confines of the manor. Joining them are Tahirah Sharif's previous governess Rebecca Jessel and T'Nia Miller's manor manager Hannah Grose. As for the theme, Flanagan makes it clear that the season will be more about "tragic romance" than family trauma. "It certainly provides a new way to tell a love story, and there are three of them really that beat at the heart of this season," Flanagan said. "They all have a very dark edge to them. And by the end, it's really hard to differentiate tragedy with romance. That sense of romantic longing for someone who meant so much to us—but who's gone—really is the heart of any ghost story."


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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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