Shirley Jackson’s 1959 iconic ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ is the staple for haunted house stories and now Netflix wants to bring a new iteration of the novel to the small screen. While movies based on the book were released in 1963 and 1999 titled ‘The Haunting,’ this will be the first time an ongoing series is set to bring this story to life.
The idea was born from Amblin TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey who worked with Paramount TV which had the rights to the story and their combined pitch finally landed on Netflix’s desk where we’ll see it air. Mike Flanagan (‘Ouija: Origin of Evil,”Oculus’) has been tapped to write, direct, and produce the 10-episode series with his producing partner Trevor Macy also on board as an Executive Producer.
With ‘Stranger Things’ having been such a massive success it should come as no surprise that the streaming service might want to expand on their homegrown horror selection.
The idea behind the series is that we’ll be following four people who are spending a summer in a haunted house to try and prove that the supernatural exists. It hasn’t been made clear if these are professional ghost hunters or have been chosen for some other reason at this time. However, with a full summer stay in their future, it should be interesting to see how they break that down into only four episodes unless they don’t quite make it until the end or things are left off for a second season.
I’m curious as to if we’ll actually see that the house is haunted or follow the style of the novel and first cinematic adaptation which could have all been in the mind of a woman who was mentally ill.
Whichever direction they take the story, Netflix enjoyed the pitch so much that a pilot was passed on and this ended up being a straight-to-series order. This network decision wasn’t too surprising as both Flanagan and Macy have a current tie to Netflix as they’re behind the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Gerald’s Game’ which the studio has lined up to release.
While Amblin TV is no stranger to scripted series and has worked with Netflix in the past, this will be their first scripted series on the network.
Source: Deadline
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
