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What year is The Haunting of Bly Manor set in? The time period explained
9 October 2020, 09:05
Netflix release first The Haunting of Bly Manor trailer
Here's when The Haunting of Bly Manor is set and the full timeline explained without any spoilers.
The Haunting of Bly Manor is out and fans are already obsessed but one thing that's confusing some people is when it's set.
Unlike The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor takes places primarily in the UK. The Haunting season 2 takes us to Bly Manor, a fictional house where Dani (Victoria Pedretti) moves to work as the new governess for two children, Miles and Flora Wingrave. All is not as it seems though and an intricate story of mystery, love and, of course, ghosts unfolds.
READ MORE: Is Haunting of Bly Manor connected to Hill House? Here's how it's linked
The season takes place over various different time periods so we've put together a spoiler-free chronology for you to follow.
When does The Haunting of Bly Manor take place?
The Haunting of Bly Manor opens with a mystery narrator telling a ghost story to a group of people the night after a rehearsal dinner for a wedding. These scenes are set in modern-day. However, the story which the narrator tells becomes the focus of the series and that's set in the 1980s. The story is, of course, the tale of Dani and her experiences working at Bly Manor.
Dani begins working as a governess at Bly Manor in 1987 and the majority of the series is set then. However, there are a few flashbacks throughout the season and, as the series progresses, we learn more about the history of Bly Manor and exactly what happened before Dani moved there. As promised, we'll leave the key plot details for you to find out as you watch.
In the first episode, however, it's revealed that the governess who worked at Bly the year before Dani, Rebecca, took her own life. In other words, her death would have taken place in 1986. There are various flashbacks to Rebecca's story within the season, as well as ones further back which explain the history of Bly and its inhabitants in more depth.
As well as the costumes, there are several nods to the '80s in the soundtrack. Soft Cell's 1981 cover of 'Tainted Love' makes an appearance, as does Steve Winwood's 'Higher Love' and a whole range of classic bops.
With The Haunting of Hill House set in the 90s and modern-day and The Haunting of Bly Manor set in the 80s and modern-day, we can't wait to see what time period the series goes travels back to next.
