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Madoline Plattenberg

Victoria Rego

EN112

16 November 2020

The Haunting of Bly Manor: Best of 2020

I wasn’t always the biggest horror buff and I would stray away from them most of the

time. As I grew up I slowly understood the deeper meanings of each story, how the plot and

characters can connect in our own lives, and why horror is such an underrated movie genre in

general. I realized that not every horror story is entirely about the genre as a whole. There are

underlying topics that are covered within the plot that solidify how much depth is actually

apparent in that film or show. The Haunting of Bly Manor is the best “horror” show of the year

as it resonates on emotional levels with the audience through themes of loss, sacrifice, and

betrayal, is a near accurate recreation of the original story “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry

James and the film “The Innocents” by Jack Clayton, and shows how horror films hold a buried

realism that humans live with every day.

The Haunting of Bly Manor is a Netflix series created by Mike Flanagan that is

considered a gothic romance and focuses on a woman who takes a job as a nanny at an English

manor. She cares for two orphans, Flora and Miles, who lost their parents early in life and now

have to face life without them. Dani Clayton is the nanny of the Bly Manor. She found the job

through an ad placed by Henry Wingrave, the young children’s uncle, for the nanny position. She

insists she’s the best one for the job as she is a teacher and can help the kids with their studies

and points out that the nanny before her obviously didn’t want to stay or wasn’t good enough as
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the position had been open for months. She didn’t entirely understand until later on why the

nanny didn’t stay at the manor. Her backstory makes it hard to want to hire her and she talks as if

she’s trying to make up for something that had happened in the past. The statement that got her

the job however was, “Now I understand death. I know what loss is”. As she settles into the

position she begins to deal with evil spirits and having to deal with issues that come with being

the manor’s sole nanny.

Large themes of the show revolve around love, loss, and family. Early on we can see that

Danny is dealing with loss as she responds to someone who knows about her plans to move, “I’m

not running from anything”, “And it hurts me when you say that”. As she was packing she was

removing cloths that covered her mirrors and this indicates that she is running from her own

reflection and is in denial. As watchers and fans of the show, we can relate as we see these

themes intertwine with our very own lives. Whether it be a family member, friend, acquaintance,

we’ve all lost someone and can sympathize with Dani in that it’s hard to move on. We’ve all

been in denial about something we didn’t want to accept. In my own life it’s hard to accept when

I fail at something or when I’m not doing well at something. In the end we have to eventually

accept the truth of situations. We don’t find out until later on that she was grieving for her

boyfriend’s cruel death. His death is why she would cover her mirrors as she would keep seeing

the reflection of him in it and it was a reminder to her that it was her “fault” as it was a car

accident. Another character who has to deal with loss and having to accept the truth of situations

is Hannah Grose. We can see this when Hannah tries to ignore how her memories are becoming

repetitive as she would always reply to Owen with, “Haven’t we done this before”. She is trying

to become ignorant to the fact that she died and has to move on. Those who are going through

trauma, a loss of a loved one, or in denial about something important tend to want to stay in the
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same place as it is what they’ve always known. This behavior, even though it doesn’t necessarily

have to do with trauma or loss necessarily is called Environmental Psychology. From an article

written by Shekhar Chandra, “He found that most students choose the same seat over and over.

Their behavior reflects the act of developing small personal territories around a seat, which

makes them feel more comfortable. He also observed that even if students can’t “personalize

their space and defend it against the invasion of other users when they are absent,” they still sat

in the same positions”. In the end the conclusion was that familiarity was a way to gain control

of their environment in any way they could. This can be seen in the show through various

characters and the way the show added this into the storyline can give something to those

watching that they can think about or relate to. Many people who turn to familiarity when they

are experiencing loss, trauma, or betrayal may experience the stages of grief. According to Dr.

Bronanno, “the bereaved exhibit different patterns of grief reactions across time, ranging from

overwhelming feelings of loss for long periods of time (more than two years) to less pronounced

feelings of sadness over a year or less”(Cavallo, 2012). He continues to go on about how

everyone has their own level of resilience and that large amounts of sadness for weeks on end

that then suddenly stop are normal. It is a natural process to “allow people to regain their

equilibrium” and go back to living their lives. As someone who has dealt with loss, the memories

that come with those are the hardest to forget. In the show, memories and remembering each one

are what it seems like the characters value the most.

Later into the show Dani meets a young woman named Jamie who was the manor’s

groundskeeper. They end up falling in love as time progressed and by the end of the show they

move in together. Dani later sacrifices her own mind and body to that of the lady of the lake.

Lady of the lake, formerly Viola Willoughby, owned Bly Manor centuries prior. She had
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suffered from a lung disease but was killed by her own sister, inevitably becoming trapped in

purgatory (the family’s chest) with all of her jewels. Her very own sister married her husband

betraying her. When her sister had opened the chest to sell Viola’s jewels that were left for her

daughter, she was killed by Viola and had left her sister’s husband as a widow. The husband

thought the chest was cursed so he and Viola’s daughter took the chest and through it into the

lake. Now centuries later the lady of the lake wakes, walks, and sleeps every day with one goal,

to grab anyone in her way and to drag them back to the lake with her. This backstory of Viola’s

life really shows how much karma can come back to those who deserve it. This also shows that

those closest to you and least expected can betray you. Many individuals can agree that they’ve

had moments with people where they didn’t deserve to be yelled at, scolded, or punished. Viola

in particular didn’t deserve to be killed by force, treated less than while sick, or to get her own

husband stolen from her from her own sister. Those who treated her in such ways ended up with

their own fates, just like we do in our own lives when we go against our morals. Viola ends up

with her own endless cycle of a curse which can relate to how some of us go about our lives

causing others pain and suffering to make others feel how we feel. This is a lesson that doing so

will not make your own situation better as it will remain the same. In the end, Dani saves Violet,

who is being carried into the lake, by allowing Viola to be tied to Dani. “Just when Flora’s

perfectly splendid little head looks destined to sink, a desperate Dani shouts out the words she

heard Peter and Rebecca say while trying to assume control of Flora and Miles: “It’s you, it’s

me, it’s us.”(Chaney, 2020). As Dani sacrifices herself for her family and for those she loves she

also breaks the spell that Bly Manor was cursed with. As the years pass she is haunted by her and

knows that she will take her over at some point in her life. She knew it was time to leave Jamie

when she kept seeing Viola (the lady of the lake) in her bathtub, water pitchers, and in windows.
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“But in a metaphorical sense, the agony of having that fate hang over her head, to come true at

an unspecified date, is not so different from being someone with a debilitating physical or mental

disease. Anyone who has been in that position may relate to Dani in these moments, since they,

too, try to press on with life while knowing their time could be cut short” (Chaney, 2020).

Anyone with mental or physical illnesses can really sympathize with Dani, as she was living with

the knowledge that she wouldn’t be alive someday, those too who have physical or mental issues

can relate in that their emotions could push them over the edge one day or their physical illness

could end their life. Representation of mental illness in the horror genre has mostly been

portrayed very badly. With stigmas surrounding mental health it was continually perpetuated.

These stigmas are actually why society has taken so long to bring them to light, “It’s only in

recent years that horror films have begun to handle the subject with more thoughtfulness, using

well-crafted stories and character representation” (Pementel, 2020). These are sad truths but this

show was able to bring these issues to light, midst the horror inside the manor, which many

shows can’t achieve successfully.

Not only does this show appeal to anyone who watches, those who are familiar with the

story “The Turn of the Screw” or the film “The Innocents” can enjoy it as well. The main

premise of the story, “two innocent children being preyed upon by a pair of malevolent ghosts”

is simple but effective (Williams, 2020). This main premise allows the show to create versatile

plots that go off of a simple foundation but will catch the watchers attention for long periods of

time. Most of the elements of the show appeared in the film, “Miles breaking the neck of a white

pigeon, Dani finding a music box and a photo of Peter Quint, and the song "O Willow Waly" -

are lifted from Clayton's adaptation and are not present in the original short story. There are

many other nods to the unique and chilling world that Clayton built, like the roses that Peter
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Quint and Miles pick, the statue garden, and the shot of Miss Jessel standing among the reeds

across the lake from Flora” (Williams, 2020). The elements that are adapted and used in the

show are unique and tasteful. Those who have read and or seen either the book or film would

appreciate the small nods to each element. Those who haven’t seen or read either will appreciate

the details and depth of each character, use of props, and the way scenes were placed as they all

connect and watchers can see how all of the pieces in the story align by the middle of the show.

The ending of the show also appears in the story and the adaption but with a slight twist, “the

governess succeeds in releasing both Miles and Flora from the clutches of Bly Manor's resident

ghosts, but at a great cost. Flora has a fit of temper in which she screams at the governess that

she hates her, and then falls very ill afterwards (Williams, 2020). She is taken away by Hannah

Grose to stay with her uncle Henry. Miles is left behind with the governess and she finally gets

him to see Peter Quint’s ghost. This shock actually kills him and the governess has to be with

him during his death. This ending would be fairly different from the show’s ending, where Dani

takes the fall for Miles and Flora as they are lifted of any memory of Bly and when Flora and

Jamie meet at her wedding once again, she does not remember a thing about her childhood.

Watchers can appreciate that the writers of the show created the twist to make sure Flora and

Miles held a happy life while Dani took on the baggage of the manor. The downside is that Flora

and Miles forget about all of their memories in the manor completely. Many people who deal

with individuals with amnesia or Alzheimer’s can relate in the fact that it is unsettling and a sad

burden that they can’t remember certain people or memories from their past.

“Horror films and shows work on much deeper levels when, underneath all the gory,

ghoulish stuff, there is suffering that resembles the actual human suffering of everyday

existence” (Chaney, 2020). I enjoyed reading this quote because when I watch horror I don’t just
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see “horror” I see all of the themes that are “in plain sight” per say. Most won’t be able to notice

that most of what happens in horror happens to us in our everyday lives. Loss, sacrifice and

betrayal appear in most shows because that is what we as humans can all relate to as we have all

of those things. Flora and Miles were orphans, but were still able to find family in Dani, Hannah,

Owen, Rebecca, and Henry. They experienced loss through not having parents but in the end lost

those memories because love and family overpowered that loss. Betrayal was felt when Viola

was killed by her own sister who also stole her husband once she passed. Rebecca felt betrayal

when Peter drowned her. He promised they would always be together forever. She didn’t know

that once he possessed her that he would walk her body to the lake so she would be trapped with

him in the “memories”. Those watching can relate, no matter who you are as everyone

experiences betrayal, loss, and situations with family. Its emotional watching strangers on

camera have to deal with their own issues, and sometimes if you are invested in a story, it feels

like it’s your own problem that you have to deal with as well. “..One truth remains self-evident:

horror movies universally mirror the anxieties of their age and their audience” (Muir, 2019). This

is something to really think about as we don’t realize that there are certain things in our lives that

we avoid, things that make us uneasy or anxious and that’s the beauty of horror, it’s what we live

with every day of our lives, and most people don’t realize that. In the show the characters don’t

realize they are living in a horror film per say but are going through horrific situations that

someone in everyday life could go through. That’s the lesson, without the everyday hardships,

twists and turns, and anxieties of life we wouldn’t have horror films to watch and relate to as

there wouldn’t be any relatability within them. “But, again, why the shift in the 1990s towards

the naturalistic end of the horror spectrum?”…“Several aspects of changes in Western culture

may account for this. In the past the monster as the expression of evil and the ‘culture other’
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tended to be externalized and came from ‘beyond,’ especially with the emphasis on supernatural

evil. With modernity the monster as become more natural, less distant and removed, more like

us, and at the same time perhaps also become the dual object of fascination and repulsion” (Muir,

2019). Muir further explains that the “serial killer becomes the ideal representation of our fear”

and that “They arise from within our own culture and social sphere, and they present a very

human face of evil… “Perhaps indicating our fears that social institutions cannot restrain the

darker aspects of who we are” (Muir, 2019). He gives really good points that prove how horror

films and shows connect with our everyday lives and who we are as people. Muir is trying to

explain how our darkest fears and thoughts are what make up our lives and what makes up the

foundation of horror is in the modern world in comparison with horror in the 1990’s.

At the end of watching this show, you can take away more than just scary ghosts or an

evil manor. The Haunting of Bly Manor holds a healthy balance of realistic and relatable themes,

background information, as well as depth that make the show the best, in “horror”, of the year.

Loss, sacrifice, and betrayal play a great role in our lives as well as the characters as this can be

seen throughout each episode. The horror genre from the past gives inspiration to horror in the

present through reinterpretations of stories like “The Turn of the Screw” and films like “The

innocents”. Horror in general has a buried truth that we experience in our everyday lives. Many

people like to watch scary films and shows because it’s nothing that would happen in their

lifetime but the aspects that horror’s foundation lies on are built from our daily experiences that

are both mental and physical.

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Works Cited

Cavallo, Jo. “The Science of Resilience: Exploring the Process of Grieving from a New

Perspective.” The ASCO Post, 2012, ascopost.com/issues/september-1-2012/the-science-

of-resilience-exploring-the-process-of-grieving-from-a-new-perspective/.

Chandra, Shekhar. “The Psychology behind Why You Always Pick the Same Seat.” Quartz,

Quartz, 2018, qz.com/1349508/the-psychology-behind-why-you-always-want-to-sit-in-the-

same-seat/.

Chaney, Jen. “Let's Discuss That The Haunting of Bly Manor Ending.” Vulture, Vulture, 15 Oct.

2020, https://www.vulture.com/article/haunting-of-bly-manor-ending-finale-analysis-

review.html.

MUIR, JOHN KENNETH. HORROR FILMS OF THE 1990S. MCFARLAND, 2019.

Pementel, Michael. “Representations of Mental Health in Horror: From Establishing Stigmas to

Tearing Them Down.” Bloody Disgusting!, 16 June 2020, bloody-

disgusting.com/editorials/3513603/representations-mental-health-horror-establishing-

stigmas-tearing/.

Shaw-Williams, Hannah. “Every Henry James Ghost Story In The Haunting Of Bly Manor.”

ScreenRant, 13 Oct. 2020, screenrant.com/haunting-bly-manor-every-henry-james-ghost-

story/.
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