What do The Twilight Zone and the Haunting of Hill House 2 have in common? I gave you a humongous hint in the title. More than a hint, actually. I gave you the answer. It’s their trailers!
Well, one is an actual trailer. The other is a teaser. Both got me excited. I’m a huge Twilight Zone fan, and the Haunting of Hill House turned out much better than I expected. (I’m really not much of a fan of the book. IMO, this is a rare time the TV or movie adaptation was better than the novel that inspired it.)
Anyway, one will start this year, in just a couple weeks from the date of this post. The other we’ll have to wait until Halloween 2020 for. (FYI, the Halloween part isn’t confirmed. That’s a guesstimate. But the 2020 part seems solid.)
Let’s take a look at both shows.
The Twilight Zone – Premieres April 1, 2019 on CBS All Access
What will stay the same and what will be different?
One obvious thing is the music. You can’t have a Twilight Zone reboot without the familiarly haunting “do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do,” can you?
An obvious difference is the host. Since there’s no way to resurrect the original, Rod Serling, it stood to reason there’d be a new one. Enter, Jordan Peele.
I have to admit, if you asked me to guess the host, I wouldn’t have been able. There are so many possibilities really. Given the whole #MeToo movement, I might’ve guessed a woman. Peele wouldn’t have come first to mind. But I gotta say after seeing him in first the Superbowl trailer advertising the TZ reboot, and then the official trailer? He now seems like the obvious choice.
Judging from the official trailer, it appears there are a lot of nods to some of the original Twilight Zone episodes. Such as, the one where William Shatner sees a monster on the wing of a plane (“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”), and the one where a little boy (that was played by Billy Mumy from Lost in Space fame) uses his mental powers to control everyone and get his way (“It’s a Good Life”).
I’ve been excited, then disappointed, about Twilight Zone reboots and revivals before. Twilight Zone: The Movie from the 1980s was disappointing. So was the series that aired from 2002-2003 with host Forest Whitaker. (Who, speaking of odd choices for a TZ host, was a really odd one.)
I didn’t get to watch many of the The Twilight Zone episodes when the series was rebooted in the 1980s. It ran for four years so it must’ve been okay. If you remember seeing it, let me know what you thought of it.
So…I’m cautiously optimistic. Also, I’m a little bummed because it looks like I’ll have to subscribe to CBS All Access to watch.
Which I will. At first. But if this new Twilight Zone doesn’t cut it, I’ll have no qualms about cancelling my subscription. (Do you subscribe? If so, let me know if there’s any other shows I should check out. That’ll help justify the expense.)
The Haunting of Hill House 2/The Haunting of Bly Manor – Coming 2020
There aren’t a lot of details about this one yet. I’m glad a second season is coming, but I’m equally glad they’re letting the Crain family rest in piece. I couldn’t see how they’d realistically write another season around them and do the story line justice.
No worries there. Instead, it looks like they’ll aim to make this an anthology series similar to American Horror Story. That means fresh characters (but maybe the same actors?) for us to get involved with.
It also appears they’ll draw inspiration from literature again, too. This time Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw.
Here’s the teaser trailer Tweet:
A new Haunting is coming. Can you guess where it takes place? Listen closely… pic.twitter.com/vqzrd3z4NZ
— The Haunting of Hill House (@haunting) February 21, 2019
And here’s the confirmation of the new season’s title:
You guessed it. The HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, a new chapter in the Haunting series based on the works of Henry James, is coming in 2020. pic.twitter.com/nvhRBEfH2E
— The Haunting of Hill House (@haunting) February 21, 2019
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Which of these are you looking forward to?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’m looking forward to seeing both of these !!!! I grew up watching The Twilight Zone with mom and dad. So, I hope it give chills like it did back then. Plus, I see (Glenn) is in the previews !!! Also, I just love The Haunting of Hill House, ( even better the second time around ). So I’d almost bet money, that The Haunting of Bly Manor, is going to be awesome !!!!!!