The Haunting of Bly Manor teaser trailer spins a new ghost story — and October premiere

It's nearly time to begin a new ghost story, The Haunting of Bly Manor, the next tale from the creators of The Haunting of Hill House.

The first teaser trailer for the new nine-episode season arc in Netflix's anthology series arrived Monday, delivering chilling footage and the long-sought premiere date, October 9.

The teaser begins with the voice of Flora Wingrave (Amelie Bea Smith), a young girl in 1980s England who, with her brother Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), lost her parents at an even younger age and, more recently, lost her au pair (Tahirah Sharif). "We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow," Flora sings. It's the eerie tune "O Willow Waly," a song written by Auric and Paul Dehn that can be heard in director Jack Clayton's 1961 film The Innocents. The inclusion here is no coincidence; both The Innocents and The Haunting of Bly Manor are interpretations of author Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw.

Then, a different voice begins to speak: "I have a story, a ghost story." It's a voice that sounds a lot like (but not confirmed to be) actress Kate Siegel, who played Theo Crain as an adult in the Hill House season. We know she returns for the Bly Manor story, but her role hasn't been revealed just yet.

Victoria Pedretti, who previously played Theo's sister Nell Crain, takes the lead role this season as Dani Clayton (no doubt meant as a nod to the director of The Innocents). Dani, an American running from her own ghosts, is the new au pair replacement hired by the children's emotionally distant uncle Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) to watch over his niece and nephew at the family's estate in the town of Bly. As the trailer shows, that scary feeling that something is lingering just beyond her sight begins to set in rather quickly.

For Hill House, series creator Mike Flanagan found the fun in hiding ghosts around the setting in plain sight. You just needed to open your eyes. The trailer for Bly Manor, too, has ghosts lingering about, including one hiding within a pile of dolls in the manor's basement.

Rahul Kohli plays family chef Owen, Amelia Eve plays groundskeeper Jamie, and T'Nia Miller plays housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. Oliver Jackson-Cohen, another Hill House alum, also returns in the role of Peter, who makes life very difficult for those who live on the grounds.

In just over a month's time, we'll find out what other twists and turns this new story will take.

Related content:

• Everything we know about The Haunting of Bly Manor (so far)
• Welcome to Bly Manor: Next Haunting of Hill House season reveals first look
• Haunting of Hill House star returning as new character for season 2's Bly Manor setting