The 'Haunting Of Bly Manor' Episode Titles Are Full Of Clues About What's To Come

It has been nearly two years since viewers first met the morbid Crain family and learned the dark secrets of Hill House, and now it's almost time for a new ghost story to terrify fans. Season 2 of The Haunting of Hill House will look a lot different, though... because it actually won't even be The Haunting of Hill House anymore. Now officially an anthology series, The Haunting of Bly Manor will tell an entirely new story with some familiar faces. Here's everything we know about The Haunting of Hill House Season 2: The Haunting of Bly Manor, including the cast, premiere date, trailer, and plot info:

Don't expect to see the Crain family make a comeback in The Haunting of Bly Manor — showrunner Mike Flanagan confirmed the second season will have no narrative link to Season 1 at all, although he did throw in some fun Easter eggs for fans of Hill House. That said, there are a lot of similarities between the new story and Season 1, namely that they're both set in expansive mansions that are haunted by ghosts.

The Haunting of Bly Manor is based on Henry James' 1898 horror novella The Turn of the Screw, in which Bly Manor serves as the primary setting. The famous horror story revolves around a newly hired governess who is appointed to take care of two orphaned children at their uncle's country estate. As the story continues, the governess comes to learn more about the manor's grim history and begins to see ghosts.

The Haunting Of Bly Manor Premiere Date & Teaser

Netflix released a mysterious teaser trailer full of creepy dolls and unsettling children's songs to give fans a first look at The Haunting of Bly Manor. The new season is set to premiere on Oct. 9.

On Sept. 23, Netflix also released a full trailer for the show, which looks even scarier than Hill House.

The streamer also revealed a poster for Bly Manor that includes a bunch of faces hidden in the water.

Before the poster's release, Flanagan confirmed the series' production managed to avoid being at all affected by the coronavirus pandemic. He told CinemaBlend the new season will "definitely" premiere in 2020:

I don’t expect it to be delayed one bit ... We had already wrapped before the whole COVID shutdown hit all the productions ... It’s definitely later this year. It’s not going to get kicked off into 2021, or anything. Everything’s on schedule.

Flanagan posted that production had wrapped on the season back on Feb. 21, a few weeks before TV productions began shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As fans expected, Netflix will mirror its release strategy for The Haunting of Hill House and release Bly Manor in October to capitalize on the spookiness surrounding Halloween.

The Haunting Of Bly Manor Cast

While Season 2 will tell an entirely new story, there will still be some familiar faces from Hill House. Victoria Pedretti, who played Nellie Crain in Hill House, will helm Bly Manor as the governess Dani. Oliver Jackson-Harper, who starred as Luke Crain in the first season, will return to play a character named Peter in Bly Manor — inspired by Bly Manor's former employee Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw.

Additionally, Henry Thomas (Hugh Crain in Hill House) will return to the series to play the children's neglectful uncle. Kate Siegel (Theo Crain in Hill House) and Catherine Parker (Poppy Hill in Hill House) will also be back in new roles that have not yet been disclosed.

Along with the returning cast members, Bly Manor will also bring a bunch of new actors into the Haunting anthology. Rahul Kohli, best known as a star of iZombie, will play a character named Owen. As for the children Miles and Flora, young actors Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Amelie Smith will take on the roles. T'Nia Miller (Years and Years) and Amelia Eve (Enterprice) have also been cast, with Miller playing Bly Manor's manager Mrs. Grose and Eve as the groundskeeper Jamie.

The Haunting Of Bly Manor Plot Details

While the core of the new season will be based on The Turn of the Screw, Flanagan revealed the plot will also combine elements of several other Henry James horror stories. He mentioned The Jolly Corner and The Romance of Certain Old Clothes in particular, which are supernatural stories about a ghostly doppelganger and a haunted chest of gowns, respectively.

While Flanagan has not revealed many specifics about the new season's plot, he did confirm one element fans loved in Hill House will be back in a big way. The hidden ghosts scattered throughout Hill House will be part of Bly Manor as well, and Flanagan teased they will be much more important than just a fun little game for viewers in Season 2: "This season we wanted our hidden elements to tell their own story. And very much unlike the first season, they’re actually going to be explained. By the end of the season, you’re going to know who they are and why they’re there."

The Haunting Of Bly Manor Episode Titles

The best clues fans have gotten about the new story have been the episode titles, which were posted on the series' Instagram account along with telling photos on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Some standouts include the revelation that Episode 3 and Episode 7 will be a strangely spaced out two-parter, as they're titled "The Two Faces Part 1" and "The Two Faces Part 2," respectively. It also seems clear Episode 6 will adapt James' short story The Jolly Corner, since it shares the same name. The biggest mystery, though, is Episode 8, which is the only episode without a revealed title.

The post also revealed Bly Manor will consist of nine episodes, which is one episode shorter than Hill House's 10-episode season.

Look for The Haunting of Bly Manor to creep up on Netflix on Oct. 9.