'The Haunting Of Hill House' Season 2 Is Happening, But It Won't Look Like Season 1

Fans of Netflix's ghostly drama The Haunting of Hill House can breathe a sigh of relief, because the streaming service has finally officially picked up a second season of the show. Speculation around a second season has been rampant among the fandom since the show debuted over four months ago in mid-October. Now, we know for sure that The Haunting of Hill House Season 2 is happening, but do not expect it to look anything like Season 1.

Due to the feeling of finality in the Haunting of Hill House Season 1 finale, many fans were curious as to how a second season might work. One of the directions that showrunner Mike Flanagan proposed the show could go in was to become an anthology series, leaving behind the characters and setting of Season 1 for a completely new haunting tale. And it turns out, that is exactly what is going to happen. Season 2 will turn Haunting into an anthology series, with the upcoming installment being called The Haunting of Bly Manor. That means fans can say goodbye to the Crain family and Hill House for good, as the new run of episodes shifts focus to a new set of characters at Bly Manor.

The newly announced Season 2 title also lets fans know what the new season will be about. Bly Manor is a reference to The Turn of the Screw, a 1898 horror novella by Henry James, which will be the new source material for the next story in the franchise. The novella centers on a governess who is hired to look after two young orphans in a country house after their parents' deaths. Shortly after she arrives, the governess begins to see ghosts in Bly Manor, and becomes convinced that the two children can see them as well. In the end, the governess shield the boy from one of the ghosts and looks down to see he has died in her arms.

The Turn of the Screw is iconic in horror literature for the differing interpretations that critics have drawn from the story. Some readers believe that the governess is mentally unstable and the ghosts were never there, while others ponder what the ghosts may have really been doing in that house. Fans can be sure that The Haunting of Bly Manor will expand on this short story a lot. The novella has been adapted multiple times before now, such as 1961's film The Innocents and 1972's prequel film The Nightcomers. Steven Spielberg is also currently producing a big-screen modern adaptation of The Turn of the Screw that is due out on Jan. 24, 2020 — it is called The Turning and will star Mackenzie Davis (Tully), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), and Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) as the governess and two orphans, respectively.

Interestingly enough, The Haunting of Bly Manor is also scheduled to premiere in 2020, so fans can get ready for some comparisons to The Turning when they are both released. Look for The Haunting of Bly Manor to hit Netflix sometime next year.