‘Haunting of Bly Manor’ Trailer Promises New Life (and Death) After ‘Hill House’

“There you are. Now let’s come up with a story.”

These are the first spoken words in the trailer for Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, the second installment in the Haunting anthology horror series from creator and director Mike Flanagan — and given the tall order of living up to the inaugural outing, The Haunting of Hill House, the words are more than apt.

From Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy and featuring returning Hill House players Victoria Pedretti, Henry Thomas and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Haunting of Bly Manor takes its cues from the works of Henry James, with specific inspiration drawn from The Turn of the Screw — and those who do not know the extent of that story are advised to either make it a priority to read before Bly Manor drops October 9 on Netflix, or steer clear of it altogether in order to avoid the frightening twists at the heart of the nine-episode series.

At the least, the Bly Manor trailer highlights the vaguest of the show’s central premises: that it’s a story of a young governess (Pedretti) who comes to work at a wealthy family’s country house, caring after two children, and negotiating some otherworldly operations all the while. The trailer gives a tease of some of those supernatural goings on: jerky head movements, hands that should not be where they are, an ominous silhouette with glowing eyes … sure, we’re not at Hill House anymore, but the Haunting spirit remains alive and well.

Okay, well, not alive, and perhaps not even well. But, you know. Anyway, there’s a literal well in the trailer, which you can watch here.

The Haunting of Bly Manor arrives October 9 on Netflix.