The third installment of Netflix’s The Haunting series never truly materialized, but an upcoming horror book adaptation could be the perfect unofficial follow-up to the Mike Flanagan series. Based on Shirley Jackson’s book, The Haunting of Hill House first premiered on Netflix on October 12, 2018. The show was an instant hit and received wide acclaim from viewers and critics. Its success eventually spawned a follow-up series, The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Loosely adapted from Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, The Haunting of Bly Manor repeated its predecessor’s success, paving the way for another potential installment in the franchise. Unfortunately, even though both Mike Flanagan shows performed well critically and commercially, The Haunting‘s third season never happened. While its future remains ambiguous, an upcoming horror novel could fill the gap left by the Mike Flanagan series.
Mike Flanagan has done three shows since The Haunting of Bly Manor — The Fall of the House of Usher, The Midnight Club, and Midnight Mass — and none serve as direct follow-ups to his The Haunting series. The director is presently focusing on his upcoming Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck, suggesting that a third installment of The Haunting is not happening anytime soon. While it is unfortunate that The Haunting‘s future is still uncertain, an upcoming horror novel adaptation, How To Sell A Haunted House, could be the perfect unofficial successor to the Mike Flanagan series.
Despite being a movie, How To Sell A Haunted House can be seen as a spiritual sequel to Flanagan’s The Haunting because, for starters, its title is perfectly in sync with the other two installments of the series. Even from a storytelling standpoint, the original How To Sell A Haunted House book focuses on the complex familial ties between a brother and sister, which seems reminiscent of the tainted sibling relationship in The Haunting of Hill House. Similar to Hill House, the book also follows the classic Kübler-Ross stages of grief, potentially making it a thematic companion to Flanagan’s work.
As reports suggest, Legendary Entertainment acquired the rights to Grady Hendrix’s bestselling novel, How To Sell A Haunted House. Filmmaker James Ashcroft, best known for his directorial work in 2021’s Coming Home From the Dark, was appointed its director. The film will be produced by Grady Hendrix and Adam Goldworm’s Aperture Entertainment, along with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures. Although it has been nearly a year since Legendary Entertainment won its rights, no new updates surrounding its casting have been made.
However, when it comes to its story, the movie will likely stay close to the narrative elements of the original book. The book’s storyline follows Louise who learns her parents have passed away but dreads returning to her old home and dealing with its sales and her parents’ belongings. More than anything else, she also does not want to meet her brother, Mark, who has always been envious of her achievements. Little does she realize that her issues with returning to her town are trivial compared to the problems she will face while selling a house that does not want to be sold.
As Mike Flanagan has confirmed on several occasions, the third installment of The Haunting series was supposed to adapt Richard Matheson’s 1971 novel Hell House. The horror auteur had even titled the project The Haunting of Hell House to make it a perfect fit for The Haunting series. Unfortunately, the book’s rights were not available, preventing Flanagan from adapting it.
Since Mike Flanagan is now focusing on other movie and television projects, it may seem unlikely he will ever return to creating a follow-up to the Netflix horror series. However, the director has offered some optimistic insights (via EW) into his plans for the franchise’s future by saying he could revisit it if he gets the “right piece of IP” with “the right ghost-centric story” to work with. Hopefully, the stars will eventually align for The Haunting series, and season 3 will see the light of the day. Till then, audiences can embrace Flanagan’s other projects or similar movies like How To Sell A Haunted House.