'Haunting of Hill House' Season 2 Cast: All Signs Point to an Anthology

Netflix premiered a new hit this Halloween with The Haunting of Hill House, and while Season 1 seemed to wrap things up neatly for the Crain family, some fans aren’t so sure. However, the series creator’s response suggests that if there is a Season 2 (and it’s looking like there might be) it will need to feature new characters.

Spoilers for The Haunting of Hill House Season 1 below.

Not everyone escapes the house alive in The Haunting of Hill House Season 1, but Steve, Shirley, Theo, and Luke manage to make it out and move forward with their lives.

However, some fans have suggested that they never really made it out of the house’s Red Room, where each character was forced to confront a dream. This theory hinged on the fact that theses dreams contained red objects, and in the season finale we see adult Luke with a red cake. Was this a sublte suggestion that he never actually made it out of the Red Room and was actually still dreaming?

According to series creator Mike Flanagan, the answer is a clear cut no.

“If they’re still in the Red Room, it robs Hugh’s sacrifice (and the show itself) of any meaning,” he told TVLine, adding that “the ending can be read at face value.”

“At face value,” that ending is a true ending for these characters. So, if Netflix does renew The Haunting of Hill House for Season 2, that means the show would need to become an anthology with totally new characters, right?

Flanagan already said as much in previous interviews.

“The story of the Crain family is told. It’s done,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I love the idea of an anthology as well. But to me, I felt like the Crains have been through enough, and we left them exactly as we all wanted to remember them, those of us who worked on it.”

He added that they even discussed ending the season with a cliffhanger, but wanted “a certain kind of closure.” That, too, seems to shoot down the theory that the characters were stuck in the Red Room at the end of the finale.

If The Haunting of Hill House becomes an anthology, any of the actors could return for a second season, similar to the way American Horror Story recycles its actors into new roles. Carla Gugino, who played Olivia Crain, specifically told The Hollywood Reporter she’s up for playing someone new.

“Mike Flanagan said he would be interested in the notion of an anthology, where some actors come back to play different characters,” she said. “If I was invited and I was able to, I would really love to, just because I do love to collaborate with him.”

Haunting of Hill House Season 2 might not be confirmed just yet, but based on these recent quotes we already have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Now Netflix just has to renew the show and we’ll be in business.

The Haunting of Hill House is now available on Netflix.

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