Check Out This First Look at Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House

In recent years, Netflix has increasingly styled itself as a destination for original programming rather than a media archive, and that means they need to have original programming for all times and scenarios—including the Halloween season. To that end, we’re getting the second season of Castlevania this October—something we’re quite excited about at Paste—but also of particular interest is The Haunting of Hill House. Directed by Mike Flanagan, who is also taking on 2020’s Stephen King adaptation Doctor Sleep, this newest adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel will take the form of a 10-episode series … and our first look at the photos (which you can see below) are appropriately spooky and gothic in tone. The series premieres on Oct. 12, 2018.

The series synopsis from Netflix is as follows:

The Haunting of Hill House is a modern reimagining of Shirley Jackson’s legendary novel of the same name, about five siblings who grew up in the most famous haunted house in America. Now adults, they’re reunited by the suicide of their youngest sister, which forces them to finally confront the ghosts of their own pasts… some which lurk in their minds… and some which may really be lurking in the shadows of the iconic Hill House.

If you know The Haunting of Hill House, or have seen either the 1963 or 1999 theatrical adaptations—both called simply The Haunting—then you know that Netflix isn’t kidding when they say “reimagining.” The original story was about a group of psychic-sensitive strangers who are brought together for an experiment in Hill House, rather than a group of siblings. Instead, the sibling nature of Netflix’s re-work, coupled with the reference to events that take place in both the past and the present, bear a striking resemblance to the time-looping plot of Mike Flanagan’s own underrated 2013 horror film Oculus. Could it be that the director is trying to replicate one of his own works, within the frame of The Haunting of Hill House?

This is yet another high-profile Netflix project for Flanagan, who has sort of become the service’s go-to director for original horror content. Three of his horror films—Hush, Before I Wake and Gerald’s Game—have all seen their premieres on Netflix, as will Hill House. Along the way, Flanagan has built up his stock as a dependable genre director, which is presumably how he got the Doctor Sleep gig.

Check out the bloody, grim photos from The Haunting of Hill House below. The series hits Netflix in full on Oct. 12, 2018, with a cast that includes Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser, and Henry Thomas.