The Haunting of Bly Manor is Netflix’s upcoming follow-up to the incredible The Haunting of Hill House. That show scared the crap out of me and its sequel looks set to follow suit. Over the last week, we got our first poster, a bunch of stills showing off the cast and an interview in which creator Mike Flanagan explained his thinking for the new run.
With an October release date confirmed, a full trailer can’t be too far away and now, Netflix has released a really cool bit of viral marketing that may hint at when we’ll see it. The official Twitter account for the show posted an image containing a “Help Wanted” ad with a phone number (see gallery below). Call it and you get this message:
“Hi, you’ve reached the Wingrave family at Bly Manor. We’re not here right now, but if you’re calling about the open nanny position interviews will be conducted by our Uncle Henry in five days. It’ll be perfectly splendid – we can’t wait to meet you!”
Judging by the area code, the number is located in Brighton, England, so watch out that you don’t get charged for an international call. As you can tell, though, this message fits in with the new season loosely adapting Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw. This sees a teacher tasked with educating two children on a remote estate becoming convinced that the place is haunted. The book turns on whether there really are supernatural forces at work or whether the teacher is going insane, and this voicemail message is presumably the start of that scary journey.
I always love cool multimedia stuff like this, so I think this bodes well for what’s coming down the line later this year. With the marketing blitz kicking into overdrive, I reckon we’re going to get a trailer and an official release date very soon, possibly in five days.
In any case, The Haunting of Hill House landed on October 12th, 2018, so I’d expect The Haunting of Bly Manor to land in roughly the same window. Bring it on.
