Earlier this month the Netflix original “The Haunting of Bly Manor” was released. The series functions as a second season to “The Haunting of Hill House” that came out on Netflix in 2018. The cast of Hill House came back as new characters for this new haunting tale.“
The Haunting of Hill House” is quite possibly my favorite TV series of all time. I have watched the series all the way through countless times. That being said, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” fell short in comparison.
I loved all of the actors in Hill House. Since they were also the cast of the Bly Manor series, I assumed I would love the show just as much. That was not quite the case.
This isn’t to say I didn’t like the series, it just wasn’t what I expected.
I expected to be thoroughly frightened. Instead, the series was just sad. There was maybe one jump scare, but otherwise, it was fairly tame for a show that claims to be “horror.”
After watching Hill House, I spent hours awake, wondering if the shape in my closet was a jacket or one of the ghosts from the show come to life. I fell asleep while watching the new Bly Manor season, which is saying a lot. I have to watch cute kid’s shows after watching things even remotely scary in order to fall asleep. The fact that I fell asleep while watching Bly Manor is not a good sign.
Not only was it less scary than I had hoped, but some of the acting was less than ideal as well. Now, I liked all of the actors in the Bly Manor show. I did not like the forced accents of some.
Dani, the main character, is from America, while the other characters are English. Her voice is obviously forced, which shattered a lot of the illusion.
The plot was interesting enough, but there were a lot of things that were left unanswered, if not completely forgotten. The show did not always feel cohesive, which was disappointing.
I enjoyed watching the show, but if you want to be scared, I suggest picking something else. If you want to feel confused and sad, though, then this is the show for you.
If you’ve watched the show, I am sure you will know what I mean when I say it was not “perfectly splendid.”
I would give “The Haunting of Bly Manor” three and a half stars out of five.
