The Haunting of Bly Manor: Creator Mike Flanagan and More React to Negative Review

The Haunting of Bly Manor finally hit Netflix this weekend and has been met with pretty decent reviews. The show currently has an 88% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and ComicBook.com's Charlie Ridgely called it "eerie" and "enjoyable" in a 3 out of 5 review. However, one site that was not a fan of the series was The Guardian. The review has been met with a lot of criticism, especially considering the first line of the article is, "I am not a horror fan." The author of the post goes on to say that ghosts can't be scary since they're not real, which led to the 2-star review. Many people took to Twitter, upset that someone who openly dislikes the genre would be given the task to review it. In fact, Bly Manor creator, Mike Flanagan, retweeted some of the reactions.

"This writer can f*ck right off and that goes double for whatever editor assigned them," @EricVespe wrote. "Stop getting people who don't like horror at all to write horror reviews….," @Jfcdoomblade tweeted. These posts, which Flanagan retweeted, can be viewed below:

This writer can fuck right off and that goes double for whatever editor assigned them. https://t.co/wEuhxUrm7k

— Eric Vespe (@EricVespe) October 10, 2020

Stop getting people who don’t like horror at all to write horror reviews....

— Reynaf Terror (@Jfcdoomblade) October 9, 2020

There were many other reactions to the review. You can read a sample below:

Can we stop this now? Can we stop parading disdain for a whole genre as some sort of point of pride? And can we please commission writers who understand or at the very least respect the genre? There are plenty. https://t.co/NuvJCyTYtH

— 𝔄𝔫𝔫𝔞 𝔖𝔫𝔞𝔭𝔰: 𝔘𝔫𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡 (@annabdemented) October 10, 2020

That first paragraph proves exactly why this person was the wrong person to review #BlyManor. I’m tired of reading poor horror reviews from people who don’t like and therefore don’t understand the genre 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/1R8rUFJQ1p

— Slayvid Opie 🎃 (@DavidOpie) October 9, 2020

This to me feels like an editorial failing on the part of the publication, too. Why would you assign a writer to review a show in a genre they actively despise? https://t.co/1Wixtl4605

— Carly Lane-Perry (@carlylane) October 9, 2020

Flanagan also took to Twitter to thank fans and explain why he's currently "disconnected" from the response: "Really grateful that so many of you are spending your Friday with #TheHauntingofBlyManor. I'm on set today, and I was also on set when Hill House launched two years ago, so both times I've felt weirdly disconnected from it. But so relieved and happy to see people enjoying it," he wrote.

Have you seen The Haunting of Bly Manor yet? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!