It's You, It's Me, It's Us: Is Mike Flanagan's 'The Haunting of Bly Manor' a Romance or a Horror?

Dani and Jamie - The Haunting of Bly Manor (Flanagan, 2020)

The Haunting of Bly Manor (Flanagan, M. 2020) follows the story of a young American woman who is hired as an au pair to look after two children, Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Flora (Amelie Bea Smith), at a manor in the English countryside. She is forced to confront a number of ghostly beings that reside in the home whilst attempting to escape the ghosts of her past. The series is loosely based on the novella The Turn of the Screw (James, H. 1898) and is told through the format of a ‘ghost story’ at a wedding ceremony in the present day, in which the narrator is looking back at events that occurred in the late 1980s. In the final episode of the series, when the story has concluded, the bride-to-be states “you said it was a ghost story, it isn’t... it’s a love story”. The series can be seen to activate a multitude of genre conventions both for horror and romance, however, do these influence the overall category of the text, and can The Haunting of Bly Manor be referred to solely as a romance series, as opposed to a horror? Firstly, Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (J. A. Radway, 1991) acknowledges that “genre is never defined solely by its consecutive set of functions” but is instead constructed by the “interaction between characters and their development as individuals”. The interactions between an abundance of the characters throughout The Haunting of Bly Manor can arguably confirm this hypothesis through there being several romantic affiliations between the central characters representing a variety of conventions and narrative paths implying the romance genre as opposed to horror. One of the more prominent pairings of the series is between Bly Manor’s housekeeper, ‘Hannah’ (T’Nia Miller), and the chef, ‘Owen’ (Rahul Kohli), can arguably be seen to exhibit the characteristics of the ‘will they, won’t they’ convention, as well as highlight a more tragic ending to a romance which could perhaps be a gravitation towards a more supernatural tone. The use of this trope “provides the show with an added layer of tension that lures audience members in” (Marie, J. 2014), and also allows the audience to familiarise themselves with the genres at play. Beginning in the first episode of the series, ‘The Great Good Place’, subtle hints at an attraction between Hannah and Owen are peppered in to set the scene for their relationship, commencing the familiar ‘will they, won’t they’ trope through the awkwardness of their characters as well as the inability to admit their feelings to one another. This convention has been utilised in a number of sitcoms with prominent romance themes such as The Big Bang Theory (Lorre, C. 2007-2019) and How I Met Your Mother (Bays, C. 2005-2014), which adds comedic relief to the series, and also allows it to embody a more light-hearted and romantic appearance rather than supernatural horror. The developing relationship between Hannah and Owen conforms to the statement from Radway in the sense that the interactions between their characters act as a more prominent signifier of the true message and purpose of the series, which suggests that Flanagan’s intentions were to tell a number of love stories, that just happen to involve ghosts.

Owen and Hannah - The Haunting of Bly Manor (Flanagan, 2020)

Expanding further upon J. A. Radway’s assumption, the character of Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) can arguably be seen to have developed as an individual through the lens of romance as opposed to the supernatural. Throughout the first half of the series, we see that Dani is quite closed off and running in fear from a relationship in her past. Unexpectedly for her, she meets Jamie (Amelia Eve), the gardener at Bly Manor who causes Dani to fall in love again, a relationship we see develop and open up throughout the series. One of the most cementing signifiers of the romance genre in the series is the final episode, ‘The Beast in the Jungle’, in which Dani and Jamie escape the ‘gravity well’ of Bly Manor, and move to America to pursue a life together. This appears to have the components of a conventional ‘happily ever after’ ending for a romance text, a trope that is present in many romantic fairy tales such as The Princess Bride (Reiner, R. 1987). Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the audience, Dani sacrificed her life to save Flora from a murderous demon known as The Lady of the Lake (Kate Siegel), in which the spirit of the demon possessed Dani’s body, although took a decade to fully take control. After many years of living a happy life together, Dani begins to realise the Lady of the Lake’s powers are gaining, as her murderous tendencies slowly seep through. This leads Dani to commit suicide, by submitting herself to the lake at Bly, ensuring that her true love Jamie continues to live. Although this ending is indeed tragic, and cuts short their alleged ‘happily ever after’, the ending can still conform to the traits of a romance, such as the conventions of Shakespearean tragedies. For example, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare, W. 1597) concludes with the tragic demise of both title characters. Shakespeare arguably constructed many of the genre conventions modern texts conform to today as the “universal appeal… has continued to fuel later works” (Cooper, H. 2004). Therefore, this can highlight that not every romance story is required to end in happiness, plus, suicide in itself can be one of the most romantic acts of love a character can commit, whether it be through Romeo poisoning himself, or Dani drowning in the lake of Bly Manor. In an interview with ‘Entertainment’ (queenbess, 2021), Victoria Pedretti, who portrays Dani Clayton, states that The Haunting of Bly Manor is “definitely a love story”, which cements her own personal interpretation of the story. In the final scene of the series, an aged and present-day Jamie is seen running a bath to view her reflection in the water, to see if Dani has finally let go of the spirit of The Lady of the Lake, to no avail. Following this, Jamie then leaves her hotel room door open and goes to sleep next to it, hoping and waiting for Dani to return to her. Then follows the closing shot, which shows Dani’s hand placed on the shoulder of Jamie as she sleeps, making it known that their love will outlive them. Even though they utilise the supernatural element of a ghost, it is only used in this final scene to show the pure, unwavering love between two people who did not get the conventional romantic ending of ‘happy ever after’. True love in literature and the media consistently withstands any disequilibrium it faces, in the case of The Haunting of Bly Manor it is life and death itself. The producers, in both seasons of ‘The Haunting’ anthology, have used the horror genre as a vessel to tell a story they were passionate about, highlighting that many aspects of the audience’s non-supernatural lives are scary. The demons of life have then been manifested as literal ghostly beings to be feared or conquered by the characters themselves. In the case of the first series in the anthology, The Haunting of Hill House (Flanagan, M. 2018) being familial disfunction, and through The Haunting of Bly Manor being the uncertainty and heartbreak of love in all its forms. This manner of storytelling and producing is very common in the film industry, with both classic films such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel, D. 1956) and modern texts such as Get Out (Peele, J. 2017) using the outward appearance of horror to tell a story of political or social commentary, deeply rooted in real life. This can show that although the form in which the series is presented radiates horror, it is the message behind the monsters that truly highlights the genre; love. On the other hand, The Haunting of Bly Manor’s release date and trailers could in fact imply a focus upon the horror genre. The series dropped on Netflix on October 9th, which can appear to coincide with Halloween, thematically corresponding to horror. The activation of genre in the series trailers for The Haunting of Bly Manor also indicates an abundance of horror themes, furthering the notion that the producers intended to represent the series as scarier and more supernatural than it would actually be onscreen. For example, a focal audio in the teaser trailer (Netflix, 2020) features the eerie sound of children singing, which is a very common convention of horror, as established in other works emulating this genre such as The Birds (Hitchcock, A. 1963) and Doctor Who’s ‘Night Terrors’ (Gatiss, M. 2011). Industrially, the encoded use of these elements creates the appearance of a chilling, creepy, and enigmatic series, therefore, it is possible that the producers of the series perhaps attracted the audience through their advertisement strategy and release date to give the appearance of a horror series, whilst the series itself leans more towards that of a romance. From an audience perspective, this may have disconnected the viewers from the text, who were somewhat led on by the producers expecting a pure horror, reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw. As stated in a review on the website IMDb; “problem is they marketed the show as horror, which it most certainly isn’t” (decarloj, 2020), it can be seen that audiences did in fact pick up on this strategy, which may not have benefitted the overall appeal of the series. As seen through YouTube videos such as ‘Dani & Jamie being in love for almost 12 minutes straight’ (Mccallxlahey _, 2020), and ‘65 Reasons to ship DAMIE’ (superhaught, 2020), it appears as though a number of fans have more of a focus on the love interests and their narrative, as opposed to the supernatural elements. This can imply that they accepted and embraced the diversion from the genre expectations Flanagan took when creating this series, appreciating the fact that the spirits that reside in Bly Manor are not fully intent on creating a fearful and bloodthirsty environment, but instead allow for character development and explorations of the woes of love. Additionally, partnered with the context of the previous series in the anthology The Haunting of Hill House, in which “Hill House is evil and takes over innocent souls who then kill others” whilst “the few ghosts that haunt Bly Manor are not out to get everyone” (Sandy, C. 2020), The Haunting of Hill House is seen as a more prominent and refined example of the horror genre, through it’s more fearsome ghostly figures and shocking scenes. Moreover, as stated in an article from The Guardian “it seems to have dispensed with the need for shocks, horror [and] the doling out of information at steady intervals” (Mangan, L. 2020), the apparent lack of fear felt by critics implies The Haunting of Bly Manor failed as a horror drama. It is allegedly insufficient in portraying the core elements viewers expect from horror, on top of the expectations the audience holds following The Haunting of Hill House, however, circulating back to the line from ‘The Beast in the Jungle’, “you said it was a ghost story, it isn’t... it’s a love story”, the genre of the piece is stated to us in clear terms. Although the series had the expectations and advertisement strategy of a stereotypical horror, the direction and character interactions of the series prove it to be a romance, and that “every love story is a ghost story” (Rivera, J. 2020). In conclusion, it can be said that although The Haunting of Bly Manor does exhibit numerous aspects historically and socially associated with that of the horror genre, the story told illuminates more so as a love story. The quote “you said it was a ghost story, it isn’t... it’s a love story” does appear to have a depth of truth to it, as the underlying message behind a number of the demons that resided in Bly Manor regarded the varying outcomes and acts of love humanity can commit, relating to romance conventions such as the ‘will they, won’t they’ trope, as well as the Shakespearean tragic sacrifice in the eyes of love. Although, the producers appeared to have advertised the series as primarily horror-driven through its October release date, as well as the trailer encapsulating horror conventions, which had a varying impact on both the audience and critic response to the text, the series itself radiates romanticism in several ways between the narrative and interactions between the characters. The Haunting of Bly Manor may involve The Lady of the Lake, demonic possession, and immense tragedy, but at the heart of all these components, love is the binding fo

Jamie and Dani - The Haunting of Bly Manor (Flanagan, 2020)

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