There are no plans to continue Netflix’s Haunting anthology after Bly Manor

According to creator Mike Flanagan, there are no plans to continue his Haunting anthology series now – and maybe not ever.

Despite the overwhelming success of Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, it doesn’t sound like the anthology series will be causing any more scares.

At least not any time soon.

Creator Mike Flanagan took to Twitter this week in answer to a fan question about additional chapters in the Haunting universe, with decidedly depressing results.

“At the moment there are no plans for more chapters. Never say never, of course, but right now we are focused on a full slate of other Intrepid [Pictures] projects for 2021 and beyond. If things change we will absolutely let everyone know,” he wrote.

Of course, that’s certainly not a declaration that he’ll never do another Haunting series. But it feels like the end of an era anyway. “There are no plans for [X]” is often a nice, public relations-approved way of saying no, without being a jerk about it, after all.

The Haunting of Hill House is loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s classic horror story of the same name and was a surprise hit for the streamer when it debuted on Netflix in 2018. Highly anticipated follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor is an adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. And though it is a very different series than Hill House, Bly Manor is immensely watchable in its own right, with a compelling Gothic romance at its center.

It’s hard not to wonder what sort of story Flanagan would tell in a third outing. Particularly when it looks as though now we’ll never know. (Or at least probably won’t. I’m trying to be optimistic.)

On the plus side, the writer/director/producer has already got another Netflix project in the works: Horror series Midnight Mass, which follows the story of an island community that begins to experience miraculous events and frightening omens after the arrival of a mysterious priest.

How do you feel about the prospect of no more Haunting? Do you think the series might come back at some point?