With The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan has made a franchise out of retelling old horror stories. A woman (Carla Gugino) goes to a dinner at an old Northern California convent. As the bride and groom talk about the ghost stories associated with the place, the woman tells her own ghost story, which she says “isn’t my story.” Flash back to 1987 in London. A young American, Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti), goes to the offices of Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) for a job interview. When she’s almost hit by a taxi, she sees a reflection of a man in the window. Wingrave has been looking for an au pair for his niece and nephew, Flora and Miles. They live in the sprawling Bly Manor; both their parents died two years ago and their last au pair died mysteriously. He’s had the job listing open for months because of the rumours that swirled around what went on up there. Even though the interview doesn’t go well, she runs into Wingrave and convinced him she can do the job. Dani is escaping something herself, she returns to her hostel room and we see that she’s covered all the mirrors. The Haunting of Bly Manor tries to scare people through silence and creepiness.