"The Haunting of Bly Manor" Trailer Is Here and It's Full of Ghosts

From Oprah Magazine

• Watch The Haunting of Bly Manor trailer ahead of its October release date on Netflix.

• The follow-up to The Haunting of Hill House will be based on Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw, creator Mike Flanagan says, mostly set in 1987.

• Some of the same cast from Hill House, including Victoria Pedretti and Henry Thomas, will return.

• Here is everything we know about the cast, plot, and October premiere of the horror series.

When The Haunting of Hill House debuted in the fall of 2018, the series quickly captivated fans and critics alike. The show was packed with eerie moments and Easter eggs (like the terrifying hidden ghosts lurking in scenes) and artful visual storytelling like the infamous sixth episode of season 1, presented as a single tracking shot. Beyond the scares, Hill House offered what many horror projects don't: It also worked as an equally-compelling drama about a dysfunctional family. We bid goodbye to the Crains in the season finale, so what can we expect from season 2? We'll soon learn everything when The Haunting of Bly Manor premieres on October 9.

In addition to the premiere date, Netflix has shared a full trailer, plus new images that give a peek at what spooky things are in store at Bly Manor this season. Based on Henry James' classic The Turn of the Screw and several other of his ghost stories, it stars You actress Victoria Pedretti, who portrayed Nell Crain on Hill House.

Pedretti plays Dani Clayton, an American nanny who's been hired to care for a somewhat strange orphaned boy and girl at an estate in the English countryside. Several of the same cast members from Hill House appear on Bly Manor as well (more on that below). And yes, there will be hidden ghosts—though creator Mike Flanagan has revealed that'll be a bit different this season.

The poster, unveiled on August 24, teases a whole new mood inspired by the James tales it's based on. It's very "girl from The Ring, but make it gothic ghost story."

Check out everything else we know about The Haunting of Bly Manor, including a look at the characters.

Ready for the Bly Manor trailer?

Weeks ahead of the premiere, Netflix released a full Bly Manor trailer on September 23.

The clip opens with Flora (Amelia Smith), one of the two kids at the center of the story, wandering the grounds of the estate she calls home. Winding up in the attic with a pile of dolls, she puts a mask on...a ghost? and says, "There you are. Now let's come up with a story."

Then, set to a piano-plinky cover of Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home," we get a long look at the residents of Bly Manor, both alive and otherwise. The tone is both bittersweet and deeply unsettling.

The series unveiled its first teaser trailer on August 31, which you can also watch below.

"I have a story," a voiceover says, "a ghost story." This teases that, as with The Turn of the Screw, the show is framed as a story told in flashback by a narrator. With the sounds of a child singing a creepy lullaby and an attic full of dolls, the mood is immediately set. And then one of the dolls moves. All this, and a giant dollhouse too? Yes please.

Several Hill House cast members are back.

A few of our favorite season 1 cast members are confirmed to co-star in new roles, a la fellow horror anthology American Horror Story.

Victoria Pedretti, who portrayed the tragic Nell Crain in season 1, is lead character Dani Clayton. An American seeking a fresh start in England, Dani takes a job looking after two "very unusual children," as she first announced on Twitter.

"Victoria and I talked at the very beginning about how to differentiate this character from Nell," Flanagan told Vanity Fair. Now that you've seen the trailer, can you spot the ~hidden ghost~ in this photo of Dani?

Henry Thomas, who was the younger Hugh Crain in season 1, and, of course, little Elliott in E.T., is also set to return. He plays Henry Wingrave, the uncle who hires Dani to look after his late brother's orphaned kids.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who played her twin brother Luke Crain, is back as well. His character Peter Quint, a scheming employee of Henry Wingrave's, will be familiar to those who know The Turn of the Screw. "Much is made about him in the book about being a very toxic person, and particularly toxic within relationships,” Flanagan told Vanity Fair.

Kate Siegel—aka the psychic, be-gloved Theo Crain—will be back in a still-mysterious role. Married to Flanagan, Siegel appears in many of his projects (which is lucky for us, because she's very good).

The final returning cast member confirmed is Catherine Parker, who played flapper ghost Poppy Hill on Hill House. Parker was the lead in Flanagan's 2011 horror feature, Absentia.

New faces have joined the cast, too.

Tahirah Sharif (A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding), plays Rebecca Jessel, the childrens' governess who held the job before Dani. Rahul Kohli (of CW's dearly departed iZombie) is the chef at Bly Manor, while newcomer Amelia Eve plays the groundskeeper. T'nia Miller (Years and Years) plays Hannah Grose, the manager of the manor.

Child actors Benjamin Ainsworth and Amelia Smith will play Miles and Flora, the two kids in governess Dani Clayton's care.

Filming wrapped before quarantine, and it will hit Netflix on October 9.

As one cast member semi-confirmed on Instagram, the show will return ahead of Halloween. It premieres on October 9.

Fortunately, production on the show ended weeks before the pandemic brought most TV and film production to a grinding halt. Announcing the wrap on filming on February 21, Flanagan tweeted, "Congratulations to the cast and crew, the familiar faces and the new, and congratulations to the filmmakers who came on board to make this season their own." In April, he told a fan that post-production had been "carrying on from home."

Set in 1987, it's based on The Turn of the Screw.

The Haunting of Bly Manor is largely based on The Turn of the Screw, Henry James’ 1898 gothic horror novella. It takes inspiration from some of James' other ghost stories as well, particularly, The Jolly Corner and The Romance of Certain Old Clothes.

"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 told Birth. Movies. Death. "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."

The Turn of the Screw is about a young governess who's hired by a mysterious man to care for his niece and nephew, Miles and Flora, after their parents' death. As time passes on the gloomy English countryside estate where they live, the governess—a classic unreliable narrator—battles fear and paranoia as she thinks she sees ghosts, and wonders if the children can be trusted. As with The Haunting of Hill House season 1, "is it ghosts, or is it mental illness?" is a major theme.

James' tale has inspired many other novels, movies, and TV shows over the years. The latest adaptation, The Turning, was released in early 2020, but Flanagan tells Vanity Fair that Bly Manor is most influenced by its best-known adaptation, 1961 horror film The Innocents. Nicole Kidman's 2001 film The Others was influenced by the story, and the book was repeatedly referenced on the show LOST.

But if Hill House was about family trauma, Bly Manor is about broken hearts. "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 told Vanity Fair. “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.”

Expect hidden ghosts and a creepy dollhouse.

While the spectres lurking in the dark corners of Hill House were abstractions—"we were just trying to hide faces and figures," Flanagan tells Vanity Fair—this season, they're like a puzzle for the viewer to solve.

"This season we wanted our hidden elements to tell their own story," Flanagan said. "And very much unlike the first season, they’re actually going to be explained. By the end of the season, you’re going to know who they are and why they’re there."

Flora's huge collection of handmade dolls will be another side story to watch out for. "The more attention a viewer focuses on Flora’s dollhouse," Flanagan continued, "the more they’re likely to see what’s happening and why." YES PLEASE.

Flanagan won't direct every episode this season.

While Flanagan helmed every episode of The Haunting of Hill House, he brought new directors on board to help with Bly Manor. "I’m really excited to be collaborating with some of my favorite filmmakers," he announced on Twitter last October.

The directors announced are Ciarán Foy (Eli, Sinister 2), Axelle Carolyn, and Liam Gavin (A Dark Song). Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling co-directed the 2017's Cargo, starring Martin Freeman.

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