Horror mastermind Mike Flanagan blew followers’ minds in an enormous approach in 2023 with the discharge of the blood-soaked and emotionally harrowing The Fall of the Home of Usher, which shortly grew to become certainly one of my favourite horror collection of all time. Regardless of adapting a wide range of works from Edgar Allan Poe, the restricted collection wasn’t a part of Netflix’s Haunting anthology alongside Hill Home and Bly Manor, however it seems Flanagan did certainly have a particular objective in thoughts for Season 3 had all the pieces labored out in his favor. And OMG, it might have been the perfect one but, as a result of he was aiming to place his signature spin on the works of literary icon Richard Matheson.
That’s proper, Mike Flanagan was 100% on board to ship The Haunting of Hell Home, which followers began clamoring for as quickly because it was apparent how superb Hill Home was when it was launched in 2018. Only one letter’s variance from Shirley Jackson’s haunted abode, however a wildly totally different method to the foundational horror subgenre, and with a slew of equally lauded novels and tales to complement the core nightmares inside Belasco Home. Flanagan’s reveal got here to followers in probably the most distinctive and unpredictable approach potential: as a foreword for a beautiful re-creation of Matheson’s seminal story, set to be launched by Suntup Editions (by way of Bloody Disgusting). In his phrases:
After I tailored Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill Home as a Netflix collection, there was a lot discuss the best way to proceed the Haunting anthology. We adopted Hill Home with The Haunting of Bly Manor, based mostly on quite a few ghost tales by Henry James. Had there been a 3rd season, I needed that season to be The Haunting of Hell Home. It was truly the primary title we explored when Hill Home was over, however the rights had been spoken for and there didn’t appear to be a path ahead.
Because it so usually goes, particularly on the planet of horror, licensing rights prevented what might have doubtlessly been each Mike Flanagan’s finest Haunting season in addition to probably the most achieved adaptation of Richard Matheson’s bibliography but. All due props the place they’re deserved for fan-favorites equivalent to 1973’s The Legend of Hell Home, Will Smith’s I Am Legend, Kevin Bacon’s Stir of Echoes and others, however all of that materials after which some would have turned to pure gold within the fingers of Flanagan & Co. Assuming whoever owns the rights to that e book and others would have been keen to coordinate. (A seemingly related state of affairs occurred when Flanagan’s thought for an Elm Road mission was thwarted over rights points, which is able to by no means not upset me.)
The Midnight Mass creator continued, drawing consideration to the legacy of Matheson’s influential 1971 novel, saying:
I don’t know that there has ever been a haunted home story as downright cinematic as Hell Home. It’s written by a person who thought visually, who had a aptitude for cinematic set items, viewers expectations, and visceral thrills that eluded a lot of his literary predecessors. That is without doubt one of the causes I Am Legend [also by Richard Matheson] resonates so deeply, and Stephen King is right when he says: ‘With out his I Am Legend, there would have been no Night time of the Residing Useless.’ With out Hell Home, I’d argue that there could be no Poltergeist, no The Conjuring, no Insidious.
Contemplating he is has delivered at the least two of the simplest haunted home horrors of any platform or format — which does not even get into all of Flanagan’s glorious motion pictures and TV reveals outdoors the Haunting reveals — it stands to creative purpose that he ought to have the ability to someday make himself at house inside the partitions of Emeric Belasco’s fright-filled residence. Even when it will now most likely should exist outdoors of any connections to Hill Home and Bly Manor, since Flanagan’s general take care of Netflix expired after Usher. I imply, it could possibly be a C-SPAN Unique Collection, and I might nonetheless be downright possessed by anticipation.
I am positively not going to cease hoping for the day when Hell Home‘s rights are freed up, however that is solely assuming the Midnight Membership creator can be first in line to grab them up. And that is additionally assuming the e book is not at present being tailored by somebody far much less proficient.
- It is All Linked: Richard Matheson wrote the screenplays for a number of of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe variations within the Nineteen Sixties, equivalent to Home of Usher, The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum and Tales of Terror.
Whereas he will not be bringing Richard Matheson’s wealthy storytelling to the display anytime quickly, Mike Flanagan is deep into his newest Stephen King adaptation, The Lifetime of Chuck, which co-star Mark Hamill has wrapped filming on.
