Haunting Of Bly Manor’s Story Was Already Told Earlier This Year (But Worse)

Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series, The Haunting of Bly Manor, manages to separate itself from The Haunting of Hill House, but shares a premise with an early 2020 horror movie—The Turning—which similarly adapts Henry James’ novel, The Turn of the Screw.

The Haunting of Hill House was a massive success for Flanagan and Netflix alike upon its release in 2018. Drawing from another work of Gothic fiction, The Haunting of Hill House (1959) by Shirley Jackson, the 10 episode series was critically acclaimed and beloved by audiences; news of a spin-off series wasn’t at all surprising. More similar to anthological works such as Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story than a direct continuation, Flanagan’s decision to adapt another classic haunting story is an interesting route to take. Other shows, such as John Logan’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which released on Showtime in 2020, attempted to work as a spiritual sequel to his original series, Penny Dreadful, but was canceled after season 1. While Bly Manor is poised for far greater success, it will likely achieve even greater notoriety for doing the same story better than another property, and in the same year.

Sigismondi’s The Turning had a lot going for it in terms of casting—Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard and Mackenzie Davis (Black Mirror, Terminator: Dark Fate) were the two primary names attached, with Joely Richardson (Event Horizon, Nip/Tuck) adding additional star power. Sigismondi is primarily known for her tenure directing music videos, and her artistic eye and aesthetic is apparent in The Turning, but ultimately didn’t do the movie any favors. A 1990s setting update turned James’ story of a young woman who goes to work as a live-in nanny for two mysterious children into slightly more modern fare, but a confusing and oddly incomplete ending helped it earn an 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. If anything, the poor reviews for The Turning got audiences even more excited for Bly Manor, and for good reason.

Mike Flanagan has proven time and again what he can do with the horror genre. Some of his earlier work, like Oculus, established him as a force to be reckoned with long before he started working on big projects like The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep. Flanagan also proved himself as a must-have for Netflix when he accomplished the feat of successfully adapting a Stephen King novel, Gerald’s Game, that for a long time was said to be impossible to bring to a feature film. One really must look no further than his work with Hill House, however, to see why Bly Manor will extend far beyond what The Turning hoped to accomplish.

Bolstered by returning actors from Hill House such as Victoria Pedretti, Henry Thomas, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Kate Siegel, Bly Manor makes perhaps its smartest move by gently moving away from the confines of its source. The Turn of the Screw has been the subject of a long-time debate regarding whether the governess in the story was seeing and interacting with ghosts or insane. Sigismondi’s The Turning addresses that debate whole-heartedly with its ending, leaving it up to the audience’s interpretation with a dreamy, overly-stylized visual of Kate’s (Davis) imagination going wild with the discovery that she might be going crazy like her mother (Richardson), who is a permanent resident at an institution. As Bly Manor doesn’t only adapt The Turn of the Screw, Flanagan has more room to play not only with other elements of supernatural and Gothic horror, but other stories by James.

These proper ghost stories could easily and seamlessly address what is likely the biggest weakness in The Turning. Flanagan has always shown a strength in his storytelling capabilities, and while he’s certainly not afraid to leave audiences with an open ending, it’s done with purpose rather than feeling like an afterthought. The Haunting of Bly Manor still has a high bar to reach in terms of competing directly with The Haunting of Hill House, which many feel is near perfect in its own right, but it’s clearly the better adaptation of James’ classic novel.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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