Jennifer Monroe

I want to give every single thing Mike Flanagan has ever done TEN STARS, even the ones I don't love as much as the others (but The Fall of the House of Usher is top 3 for me). Flanagan has the ultimate skill - holding up a mirror to humanities foibles (and gifts) big and small, and showing us ourselves unflinchingly. He is clearly a huge literary horror fan, and yes, his stories are mostly ghost stories, but they are truly love stories (although an argument was made in The Haunting of Bly Manor, and is absolutely correct, that those are the same thing): love between family and friends and lovers, and all of the pain and beauty that comes from our temporal lives. We all die, there's no getting around it, and we all live with ghosts of one kind of another, whether it's the ghosts of regret, of decisions made, of loss, of addiction or mental health struggles in ourselves and our loved ones. TFotHoU shines that harsh light on corporate greed, corruption, what privilege can create and destroy, and even how we all have moments in which we can choose redemption instead of evil. And it's all wrapped up in his typical character-driven style but also pulls in more Edgar Allen Poe references than you can find in one or even two viewings. The cast is BEYOND perfect!! They work fantastically together. Even if you don't love spooky stories, you will find something here to fall in love with. It's great stuff. Now, quit wasting time reading this and go watch all of them! And if you are still here reading, start with The Haunting of Hill House.