Mike Flanagan believes The Haunting of Hill House could become an anthology series

The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan has ideas for a second season of the show, even as the story of the Crain family is done.

The Haunting of Hill House has proven to be a surprise hit for Netflix as a slow-burn ghost story that also acts as a poignant family drama. By the end of the first season, the tale of the Crain family has come to a fitting conclusion, even as three members of the family are tragically lost to the house itself.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mike Flanagan, who created the series for Netflix, sat down to discuss the intricate workings of the series, as well as his thoughts on a potential second season. And while there are no plans for a season 2 just yet, with the reaction the series has been getting, we would not be surprised if Netflix and other partners on the series chose to move forward with more stories.

According to Flanagan, while he does not want to speculate as to what Netflix, Amblin, and Paramount might decide to do, he did say, “that as far as I’ve ever been concerned with this, the story of the Crain family is told.” However, while the Crain family’s story may be finished in Mike Flanagan’s eyes, he did say that he “think[s] that there are all sorts of different directions we could go in, with the house or with something completely different.”

With a story that has already received closure, we understand where Flanagan is coming from. However, we also like his idea of a potential anthology. And considering he admitted that there were stories they wanted to tell but did not have the time or even the funds to do so, we bet there is plenty of material that could be brought together to create a second season of Haunting of Hill House.

As Flanagan pointed out, there are other directions the series could go because, “the show is about haunted places and haunted people, as Steve says, and there’s no shortage of either. So, there’s any number of things we could do, in or out of Hill House.”

This means that the series could follow in the footsteps of American Horror Story and become an anthology series telling the story of other haunted houses and people (perhaps connected to Hill House or Steven Crain and his mission to tell ghost stories).

Another possibility is to dive into the history of Hill House and the ghosts residing there. Even Flanagan pointed out that while they originally planned to five into the history of the house they were unable to do so in season 1, so a second season could easily delve into the many ghosts who haunt the house and contributed to the haunting of the Crain family.

Whatever Netflix decides to do with Haunting of Hill House beyond this first season, it seems as if Mike Flanagan could have a few ideas as to what direction to take the series. From an anthology series of other haunted houses to a history of some of the other ghosts in the house, there seem to be a few options the show could take if they get the green light for a second season.