The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix: Trailer, Release Date, and More

The Haunting of Hill House was much more than your basic haunted house story. Based on Shirley Jackson's classic 1959 novel of the same name, the Netflix series delivered memorably creepy scenes, including one stunningly choreographed long shot, along with a few terrifying jump scares. The truly chilling thing about the adaptation, though, was its ability to seamlessly blend supernatural thrills with thoughtful explorations of childhood trauma, grief, addiction, and strained family relationships. And now there's more frightening fun ahead from this series.

After the success of Hill House, writer-director Mike Flanagan, who also serves as showrunner, and producer Trevor Macy decided to renovate the eerie series and turn it into an anthology series, The Haunting. The second season, called The Haunting of Bly Manor, will draw its inspiration from Henry James' classic works, including the 1898 horror novellaThe Turn of the Screw. Based on that source material alone, we can infer that The Haunting Season 2 will be every bit as frightening and smart as Hill House when it arrives. Let's take a look at everything we know so far about The Haunting of Bly Manor so far, including casting, trailers, and more.

The premiere date is soon. The Haunting of Bly Manor is set to premiere on Friday, Oct. 9, just in time to help kick off spooky season.

The Bly Manor trailer will give you chills. In September, Netflix revealed the official Bly Manor trailer, giving viewers a look at this season's haunted house and the creepy children who call it home.

A number of Hill House stars will return for Season 2. Bly Manor reunites much of Hill House's Crain family. Victoria Pedretti, who played Nell Crain in Hill House, will play the new au pair at Bly, Dani Clayton. Henry Thomas, who played Hugh Crain, will play Henry Wingrave, the wealthy estate owner who hires Dani to care for his niece and nephew, Miles and Flora Wingrave. Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who played Luke Crain, will play Peter Quint, Henry's charming but dangerous valet. 

They'll be joined by Kate Siegel, who played Theo Crain, and Katie Parker, who played Poppy Hill, who will appear in Bly Manor in secret roles. Carla Gugino, who starred as the matriarch Olivia Crain in Hill House, has also hinted that she may be returning for The Haunting of Bly Manor, but nothing is confirmed.

New faces are joining the cast. iZombie favorite Rahul Kohli has joined Bly Manor as the estate's chef, Owen, who is described by Deadline as "a small town guy with a worldly mindset, who has returned to the country to take care of his ailing mother."

T'Nia Miller (Years and Years) portrays the family's housekeeper, Mrs. Hannah Grose. Young actors Amelie Smith and Benjamin Ainsworth play Flora and Miles Wingrave, respectively. Tahirah Sharif will play Rebecca Jessel, the children's governess before Dani. And Amilia Eve will play Bly's groundskeeper Jamie.

It's set in the '80s. Rather than bring James' work fully into the modern day, Flanagan opted to set Bly Manor in 1987. So get ready for a lot of rad '80s fashion.

The season adapts several Henry James stories. When Netflix announced Hill House Season 2 would be titled The Haunting of Bly Manor, it became clear that James' chilling gothic romance novella The Turn of the Screw -- about a governess taking care of two orphaned children in a potentially haunted country estate in England -- would be a big influence on the season. However, Bly Manor won't just draw from The Turn of the Screw and will actually incorporate elements of several of Henry James' other ghost stories.

"The thing I have access to, that no other adaptation of The Turn of the Screw has, is the rest of Henry James' ghost stories. I get to use all of them," Flanagan told Games Radar. "The Turn of the Screw has been adapted so many times. We know how perfectly it fits into a feature film format. We're doing a whole season of television. The Turn of the Screw is only one of a dozen stories that we're telling. All Henry James; all thematically linked."

The Book Behind The Haunting of Bly Manor Proves It'll Be Just as Creepy as Hill House

"I think of The Turn of the Screw as the backbone of this season -- the through line that carries us from beginning to end. But we get to go off into The Jolly Corner and The Romance of Certain Old Clothes, and so many other of these wonderful ghost stories that people haven't seen adapted before," he continued. "It's all wrapped up in what seems to be familiar, but that familiarity goes away really early in the first episode. It says, 'We're off on a whole other road.'"

There will be nine episodes. Creator Mike Flanagan confirmed in September that The Haunting of Bly Manor will be nine episodes long, which is one episode less than The Haunting of Hill House was. The show's official Twitter feed revealed (most of) the episode titles in late September. All of the episode titles are taken from Henry James stories, so with a little sleuthing it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out the unknown title for Episode 8, if you're so inclined.

Episode 1: "The Great Good Place"
Episode 2: "The Pupil"
Episode 3: "The Two Faces Part 1"
Episode 4: "The Way It Came"
Episode 5: "The Altar of the Dead"
Episode 6: "The Jolly Corner"
Episode 7: "The Two Faces Part 2"
Episode 8: "___ _______ __ _______ ___ ______"
Episode 9: "The Beast in the Jungle"

The poster for the season is seriously creepy. On Aug. 24, Netflix shared the first look at Bly Manor -- an ominous image of a woman walking into the water with an equally ominous manor looming in the background. Netflix has since released a number of photos from the new season.

It'll be "scarier" than Hill House. It sounds like Bly Manor will ramp up the spookiness quite a bit -- and even feature some surprises for those familiar with Henry James' work. Flanagan told Birth.Movies.Death, "For Henry James fans, it's going to be pretty wild, and for people who aren't familiar with his work, it's going to be unbelievably scary. I already think it's much scarier than Season 1, so I'm very excited about it."

5 Ways The Haunting of Bly Manor Will Be Different From Hill House

Prepare to spot more hidden ghosts in Season 2. One of the most exciting aspects of The Haunting of Hill House was the fact that fans could watch and re-watch scene after scene to spot all the ghosts hidden throughout the series. Flanagan said the same will be true in Bly Manor -- with a twist. 

"This season we wanted our hidden elements to tell their own story," Flanagan told Vanity Fair. "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."

The Haunting of Bly Manor will premiere on Netflix on Friday, Oct. 9. The Haunting of Hill House is streaming now on Netflix.

PHOTOS: The Haunting of Bly Manor: First Look Photos