Two very different horror classics are getting the miniseries treatment before the end of the year, and both have new teaser trailers.
Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor draws from “the iconic supernatural stories” of Henry James, according to the streaming service’s summary, including the 1898 ghost story The Turn of the Screw. The series is co-executive-produced by Mike Flanagan, who previously adapted Shirley Jackson’s 1959 horror classic The Haunting of Hill House as a 2018 Netflix miniseries. This new season of The Haunting anthology series stars several of the same actors in new roles, including standout Victoria Pedretti, who went on to co-star in the second season of the Netflix series You (based on Caroline Kepnes’ 2014 psychological thriller). The Haunting of Bly Manor is set in the 1980s, and if it’s anything like the previous Haunting miniseries, it will treat its source material as a mere starting point and head off into new, unsettling directions. It’s set to appear on Netflix on Oct. 9.
Flanagan is a vastly talented director who previously helmed outstanding movie adaptations of horror master Stephen King’s novels Gerald’s Game (1992) and Doctor Sleep (2013). (Kirkus reviewed the Doctor Sleep film last year.) However, he’s not involved with the next major King adaptation: a new, nine-episode CBS All Access miniseries of The Stand (1978), which tells the story of the relatively few survivors of a horrific superflu. King wrote the final episode of this series, which includes a brand-new ending; other episodes will be written by director/executive producer Josh Boone, who directed the 2014 film version of John Green’s 2012 YA novel, The Fault in Our Stars. The miniseries’ large cast includes Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg and Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård, and will premiere on Dec. 17.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
