Netflix's new horror "The Haunting of Bly Manor" (opens in new tab) is Mike Flanagan's follow-up to his 2018 hit "The Haunting of Hill House" and takes inspiration from Henry James. But while many other adaptations of James' novels and short stories stick to just one, think of the 2020 film "The Turning," starring Finn Wolfhard as Miles, who adapted "The Turn of the Screw," "Bly Manor," long or short, is James' s multiple works into one story (opens in new tab). More than an adaptation, it is a love letter to James' unique brand of horror. In an interview with GamesRadar+ (opens in new tab), Flanagan said It's all Henry James, and it's all thematically linked". Flanagan also cites "A Merry Corner" and "A Romance of Some Old Clothes" as two more influential stories.

Most of all, Bry Manor is inspired by "The Turn of the Screw," but has a very different take from "The Turning" and other adaptations of the original book. No spoilers for the series here, but spoilers for James' work.

If you haven't read this one in English class, the summary is this: a governess is hired to care for two children, Flora and Miles, at an isolated country manor called Bly Manor. As she settles in, she begins to see strange men on the property. He is a former employee of the Bly family called Peter Quint, and he is dead. The tutor also sees a woman dressed in black on the property. The woman was also dead.

The children begin to act increasingly strange, with Flora talking to the ghost of the dead tutor. At a loss and thoroughly terrified, the governess contacts the man who had hired her, but then Quint suddenly appears in the window and Miles dies instantly in the governess's arms. Has the tutor lost his mind? Are the children possessed? James provides no answers, and literary critics continue to debate the meaning of the text today.

Don't be fooled by the hilarious name. A Cheerful Corner is a tribute to what might have been. Spencer, an American who has been abroad for decades, returns to his childhood home in New York City and the adjacent property he owns. Spencer has a talent for property management, but has never made the most of it in his life. He begins to wonder: what would have happened to him if he had never left New York?

Spencer realizes that the ghost of the man he might have been, a successful businessman, haunts the place and makes his nightly rounds. He eventually confronts the ghost, but the ghost overpowers him because the ghost's personality and vitality are much stronger than Spencer's. It is unclear whether Spencer is dead or just unconscious.

Two beautiful sisters, Viola and Perdita, fall in love with the same man, Arthur, who chooses to marry Perdita. Perdita and Arthur live apart from Viola, but when Perdita gives birth to their first son, Arthur and Viola meet again by chance at a wedding. When Arthur returns, Perdita is dying, knowing full well that her husband was with Viola while she was giving birth to their child. Perdita keeps her most beautiful gown in an old chest for her newborn daughter and makes Arthur promise not to harm the gown.

Perdita dies and Viola and Arthur marry. When Arthur tries to stop her, Viola insists on opening the chest. When Arthur goes to find her, Viola is dead by the chest, scarred by Perdita's ghost.