Flanagan On Scrapped Third “Haunting” Plans

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Suntup Editions has announced a fine press limited edition of Richard Matheson’s 1971 novel “Hell House”, a new edition of the book containing a foreword by Mike Flanagan.

Flanagan of course is the horror master behind Netflix’s limited series “The Haunting of Hill House,” “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “Midnight Mass,” “The Midnight Club” and more recently “The Fall of the House of Usher”.

Both “Haunting” series and ‘Usher’ serve as an amalgam of the collected works of famed gothic authors – namely Shirley Jackson, Henry James and Edgar Allan Poe respectively.

In this foreword, Flanagan reveals that had there been a third ‘Haunting’ series for Netflix, it would have been an adaptation of “Hell House” and thus likely several of Matheson’s other works. Here’s an excerpt via Bloody Disgusting:

“When I adapted Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House as a Netflix series, there was much talk about how to continue the Haunting anthology. We followed Hill House with The Haunting of Bly Manor, based on numerous ghost stories by Henry James.

Had there been a third season, I wanted that season to be The Haunting of Hell House. It was actually the first title we explored when Hill House was over, but the rights were spoken for and there did not seem to be a path forward.

I don’t know that there has ever been a haunted house story as downright cinematic as Hell House. It is written by a man who thought visually, who had a flair for cinematic set pieces, audience expectations, and visceral thrills that eluded many of his literary predecessors.

That is one of the reasons I Am Legend [also by Richard Matheson] resonates so deeply, and Stephen King is correct when he says: ‘Without his I Am Legend, there would have been no Night of the Living Dead.’ Without Hell House, I’d argue that there would be no Poltergeist, no The Conjuring, no Insidious.”

In Matheson’s 1971 work, the Belasco House has stood empty for over twenty years – its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror, deviancy and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide or insanity.

A new investigation has been launched, backed by a wealthy publisher who will soon die, who brings four strangers to the house in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. For one night, they will investigate and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.

Flanagan has finished his Netflix deal and is now over at Amazon where he’s developing a multi-film and TV adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” fantasy saga. He also recently directed the non-horror indie film “The Life of Chuck” also based on a King work.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

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