Summary

• Mike Flanagan's new series, The Fall of the House of Usher, serves as a strong successor to his Haunting anthology series.
• The series draws from Edgar Allan Poe's story while exploring psychological and supernatural realms like its predecessors.
• With similar gothic elements and themes of madness and decay, The Fall of the House of Usher offers a haunting experience.

Mike Flanagan has received an abundance of praise for his horrifying Netflix series, and although he won't be making a third season of his Haunting anthology at this point, his next series, The Fall of the House of Usher, is undoubtedly a strong replacement. In 2016, Mike Flanagan came to prominence with his film Ouija: Origin of Evil. In the intervening years, he has created some unforgettable Netflix horror projects such as Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club. However, Flanagan's most terrifying horror shows are The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

The Haunting series captured audiences' attention through disturbing content and haunted house atmospheres. The Haunting of Hill House is based on the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, while The Haunting of Bly Manor is based on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. There's demand for a third season, but Flanagan doesn't plan on making it. noting, "I’m much happier focusing on other things… and being that I’m no longer at Netflix, that ship has definitively sailed." Thankfully, fans aren't entirely without their thrills, as The Fall of the House of Usher will fill that void.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher Is The Closest We'll Get To The Haunting Season 3

The New Show Is Like A Spiritual Successor To The Haunting Series

Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher is a strong alternative to a Haunting season 3. The new series, based on the story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe, follows siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, heads of a lucrative pharmaceutical company that must face their dark pasts when their heirs begin dying. Though the series isn't part of the Haunting franchise, the two share similar qualities that make The Fall of the House of Usher worth watching for those who enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Mike Flanagan is in talks to direct the next installment of the Exorcist movie franchise (via Deadline).

Like the Haunting series, The Fall of the House of Usher is a book-to-tv adaptation. Flanagan has a talent for taking macabre texts, translating them to the screen, and bringing old stories into modern perspectives, which made The Fall of the House of Usher the perfect next project for the creator. Additionally, The Fall of the House of Usher shares themes with the Haunting series, such as all three series involve families in a haunted house setting. With Mike Flanagan at the helm, The Fall of the House of Usher offers the same frights as the Haunting series.

The Haunting Of Hill House & The Fall Of The House Of Usher Similarities

Both Netflix Series Explore Supernatural Events That Psychologically Impact The Characters

The Fall of the House of Usher explores the psychological and supernatural realms with a fresh storyline and characters, drawing from literary sources, much like its predecessors drew from Shirley Jackson and Henry James. The Fall of the House of Usher masterfully blends human emotion with ghostly encounters, retaining the gothic elements of the Haunting series that fans loved while introducing new settings and hauntings. Much like his previous works, Flanagan delves into themes of madness, isolation, and familial decay.

The slow unraveling of the characters’ psyches and the inevitable tragic end are all elements that will resonate with fans of the Haunting series.

Flanagan weaves these elements into the narrative to create a rich, haunting experience that mirrors the depth and complexity of Hill House and Bly Manor. The crumbling estate in the series serves as both a setting and a character, much like the omnipresent mansions in the Haunting series. This method of storytelling, where the environment reflects the inner turmoil of the Fall of the House of Usher characters, is a hallmark of Flanagan’s approach, ensuring that the essence of Poe's original work is not lost but rather enhanced in this modern adaptation.

The Fall of the House of Usher also explores the psychological fragmentation and supernatural occurrences emblematic of Flanagan's previous series. The slow unraveling of the characters’ psyches and the inevitable tragic end are all elements that will resonate with fans of the Haunting series. While a standalone story, the series acts as a thematic continuation of the existential and spectral explorations in the Haunting series, making it a fitting successor that carries forward the legacy of both Poe and Flanagan’s storytelling prowess.

Source: Deadline