The first cast member has been revealed for The Haunting of Hill House Season 2, which is called The Haunting of Bly Manor. The second season of the incredible Netflix series will take the show in an anthology direction, telling a new story with a new setting and new characters, all with writer/director Mike Flanagan back at the helm. And now Deadline reports that Victoria Pedretti, who stunned as Nell in the first season of the show, is set to lead Bly Manor.

The second season is based on Henry James’ iconic novella The Turn of the Screw, which follows two young orphans who are looked after by a young governess in an old country mansion. Pedretti will play the governess Dani.

The idea with this Haunting anthology series, it appears, is to tell a new haunted house story each season, and while I’m not sure how long Flanagan can continue to write and direct full seasons of this thing, I’m extremely enthused that he’s back at the helm for Bly Manor. It’s doubly impressive when you consider he went straight from The Haunting of Hill House to shooting the Shining sequel film Doctor Sleep, which stars Ewan McGregor and hits theaters later this year.

Pedretti was astoundingly good in The Haunting of Hill House so I’m excited to see more from her here, but she also has a lead role in the upcoming second season of the Netflix series You. More casting for The Haunting of Bly Manor should be announced relatively soon (more Hill House cast members perhaps?), but for now check out my lengthy interview with the series’ cinematographer which delves into making that incredible one-shot episode “Two Storms.”

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Image via Netflix
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Image via Netflix