This is going to be a “lazy” post because it’s virtually impossible to binge watch this show due to my full time job as a human with an intact front lobe. However, I’d like to talk about my most A-HA moment…I KNOW this source material! I have officially watched enough horror movies to recognize this plot right away and oh boy, does it make my Halloween-loving husband proud.

I found online that this is the 35th adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, which officially makes the plot the It’s A Wonderful Life of Horror Movies. And you must retell it every few years or Henry James’ ghost comes back and murders you with meat. I don’t make the rules, I just make them up and pass them along.

If you don’t know that story, or don’t know what I’m talking about, you can reread my review of The Innocents. And even though the first episode of Bly Manor is creepy, I don’t think it compares to the humming children of the other film. And the turtle. Poor turtle….

However, I’ll give it a chance. The Haunting of Hill House (the first season of the Netflix horror anthology) was actually an amazing show and I was really glad I stocked up on boxed wine and watched it two years ago. The writing, acting, and directing was so well done. So well done, that Netflix just decided to move the set (actors, wigs, dusty furniture, and all) from the American suburbs in the late 90s to the English countryside in the mid 1980s.

I basically think anything that could have been said about the first episode was already said on the internets. There’s no way I could possibly compete with the thousands of out-of-work writers who have been alone for months and decide to indulge in spooky things and high spirited cocktails. So go click on their reviews, which probably offer a lot more commentary than my “well this scene SOUNDED important, but British children scare me so I watched it through my fingers.”

The “ghosts” are silly jump scares in the first few scenes, but once the viewer knows that they are ALWAYS going to show it up, it makes it like a Where’s Waldo? of demons. *Full disclosure, I’ve only watched the first episode. The next few episodes could explain it all away with bad prawns and shoddy electrical wiring.

I plan on finishing this before December 1 so I can jump right into that holiday season and all those scary movies. White Christmas was a warning on global warming and none of us listened.