This Haunting of Bly Manor Video Essay Digs Into the Series’ Unique Approach to Horror

This Haunting of Bly Manor Video Essay Digs Into the Series’ Unique Approach to Horror

Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor pierced the veil a few weeks ago, but you wouldn’t be alone if you were having trouble getting its spooky, heartfelt story out of your mind. A new video essay digs into the Henry James-inspired series, examining how it both taps into and repurposes some familiar horror tropes.

There are some spoilers in the video, created by horror expert Louise Blain, so on the off chance that you haven’t binged Mike Flanagan’s latest, here’s one of these:

Illustration: Jim Cooke
Illustration: Jim Cooke

“You’ve seen it all before, but not quite like this,” Blain says, pointing out tropes like the haunted house, “the ghost who doesn’t know they’re dead,” the lady in white, evil dolls, and more, and explaining how Bly Manor manages not to do what the audience might expect in each case.

[referenced id=”1516481″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/10/the-haunting-of-bly-manor-delivers-spooky-horrors-with-surprising-heart/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/06/le7eu5zzlcjfjgqfcpgb-e1601930512481-300×182.jpg” title=”The Haunting of Bly Manor Delivers Spooky Horrors With Surprising Heart” excerpt=”It’s been two years since Mike Flanagan and Netflix turned classic horror novel The Haunting of Hill House into a series that earned raves not just for its story, characters, and creativity, but also for scaring the bejesus out of viewers. Can lightning strike twice? The Haunting of Bly Manor…”]

The Haunting of Bly Manor is now streaming on Netflix.