Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House was one of our favourite TV shows of 2018, but the story of the troubled Crain siblings seemed too self-contained to extend it for another season. Not to worry, though; the horror hit will return, this time with an all-new set of characters and story. It’s going anthology, baby!
This is according to a report in Deadline, which surfaced at almost the exact moment Netflix shared a cryptic teaser for season two on Twitter. Check it out:
A new Haunting is coming. Can you guess where it takes place? Listen closely… pic.twitter.com/vqzrd3z4NZ
— Midnight Mass (@midnightmass) February 21, 2019
Yeah, that tells us nothing, except that we’re definitely going to have the bejesus scared out of us all over again.
Fortunately, a few minutes later, Netflix revealed the new season’s title, as well as the source material. Instead of Shirley Jackson this time around, inspiration will come from the works of Henry James, especially 1898 haunted-mansion tale The Turn of the Screw:
You guessed it. The HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, a new chapter in the Haunting series based on the works of Henry James, is coming in 2020. pic.twitter.com/nvhRBEfH2E
— Midnight Mass (@midnightmass) February 21, 2019
And there’s even more good news wrapped up in this for horror fans: The Hill House re-up is part of a larger Netflix deal for creators Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy. Per Deadline, which notes that season two of Hill House may include some of season one’s actors returning in new roles (shades of American Horror Story), longtime creative partners Flanagan and Macy will work on developing new series for Netflix, focusing on “horror, thriller, supernatural thriller and sci-fi though they are said to also be open to other genres.”
Flanagan is very busy at the moment — lest you forget, he’s also directing Ewan McGregor in the big-screen sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep—but based on that teaser, we’ll be “expecting” more Haunting come 2020.