It's currently filming and will be 'much scarier than Season one.'

If the Easter Bunny owns the Easter holidays and Santa/Jesus have a duopoly over December, the case could be made that Mike Flanagan is the patron saint of Halloween. Granted, we're not sure if that's a title that the writer/director wants, or what that job actually entails, but damn is it interesting! Why does he deserve this spooky accolade? Well, the director is the man responsible for Doctor Sleep, the very good followup to The Shining that's released this week - you can read our spoiler-free review here. However, to most people, Flanagan first appeared on their radar during the Halloween season of 2018 because that's when his beloved series The Haunting of Hill House was released on Netflix - he also directed the excellent Hush which is also available on the online streaming platform too. After becoming a firm favourite with fans and critics alike, we weren't surprised to learn that a successor show, The Haunting of Bly Manor, was given the go-ahead and yet again, Flanagan is the main creative force behind the project which is an adaptation of Henry James' beloved novel, The Turn of the Screw. As for the plot, the new story unfolds over Christmas Eve as a group of friends gather around to share ghost stories. One of the guests, a man named Douglas, begins to tell the tale of two children (Flora and Miles) and their governess (played by Victoria Pedretti). The governess is hired by a man to take care of his young niece and nephew after the death of their parents. However, both children are strangely distant and oddly silent. The children also live in a forlorn estate and are frequently haunted by a mysterious evil. With growing horror, the helpless governess realises these fiendish ghouls want the children. However, both children are drawn to the darkness for reasons unknown. In terms of a release date, Flanagan told The Wrap that Halloween 2020 is looking like a safe bet. “I don’t know the date but, you know, I left the set to come here. It’s probably Halloween again, if I had to guess. You’re going to like it. It’s cool!," he said. Production on The Haunting of Bly Manor began last month and it will star Victoria Pedretti, Henry Thomas, Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Kate Siegel , Catherine Parker (all of those actors appeared in The Haunting of Hill House but they'll be playing new characters in the follow-up). Other cast members include newcomers Rahul Kohli, T’Nia Miller, Amelia Eve, Benjamin Ainsworth and Amelie Smith. Ciaran Foy (Eli, Sinister 2), Yolanda Ramke & Ben Howling (Cargo), Liam Gavin (A Dark Song), and Axelle Carolyn (Tales of Halloween, Grim Grinning Ghost) will all be directing episodes of The Haunting of Bly Manor. As for Flanagan's next project, Doctor Sleep is released in Irish cinemas on 31 October.