Many adore Mike Flanagan’s horror films for adults, such as “The Haunting of Hill House,” “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” and “Doctor Sleep.” In contrast, the writer and director aimed to make his most recent show more appealing to young adults.
The Friday debut of “The Midnight Club” on Netflix is based on the novels of young adult horror and mystery author Christopher Pike. The narrative of the show alternates between a group of teens with terminal illnesses living at a mysterious rural hospice in 1994 and the spooky tales they tell each other late at night. The majority of the show’s cast consists of newcomers; however, some Flanagan regulars appear in one-off storylines.
Here is what you need to know about “The Midnight Club” and how Flanagan adapted Pike’s multiple works into a show that is both incredibly emotional and suitably disturbing.
Mike Flanagan (middle, in mask) on the set of “The Midnight Club” with cast mates.
Eike Schroter/Netflix
The creation of the world of “The Midnight Club” was no easy undertaking.
Pike is a prolific author, and according to Flanagan’s comments to journalists during a recent roundtable interview, the writers had to be creative as they went through Pike’s novels prior to scriptwriting.
“Because there are so many Pike books, we distributed them among the authors. Everyone was required to read a certain number of books, and we spent the first two weeks of the writers’ room giving each other book reports “Flanagan recounted. “We needed to be familiar with everything, but no one had time to read everything; else, we would have never completed the scripts before production began.”
According to Flanagan, the writers took certain liberties with the stories that Midnight Club members tell one another. Since each club member also portrays a role in their story-within-a-story, Flanagan and the writers modified parts of Pike’s narratives to better suit the principal characters narrating the stories. (For instance, the narrative that Midnight Club member Spence tells his peers was altered to focus on two college males rather than a high school girl, as originally written by Pike.)
The 1990s setting was also carefully considered by Flanagan and the show’s writers.
“This program was created for children of today. As a result, we never wished for the nostalgia to overpower the rest “Flanagan added.
“We wanted it to be something in the background that elderly people, like us, could enjoy,” he concluded. But it wasn’t about nostalgia, because modern children probably don’t (and shouldn’t) care.
Aya Furukawa on the film The Midnight Club
Eike Schroter/Netflix
Above all things, Flanagan stated, he wanted to ensure that the program was suitable for slightly younger audiences, although he did add that “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is “very popular with teens.”
This meant that the filmmaker communicated often with Rigby, his 11-year-old son.
Flanagan stated, “I would check in with him and bounce ideas off of him to see what he thought, and if I thought something would be too unpleasant for him to see, it felt like we were going in the wrong direction.”
The filmmaker was eager to add, however, that despite being promoted to younger readers, Pike’s work dealt with very mature subjects.
“He didn’t pull his punches when it came to violence and difficult topics that kids actually consider. In Pike’s world, bullying, death, sex, and drugs were all fair game “Flanagan claimed. My colleagues and I appreciated that he didn’t sugarcoat the truth in his works.
“Thus, while there was always a sense of like, keeping in mind the younger audience, we were careful not to condescend to them or try to regulate where the program would go,” he continued.
Ruth Codd portrays Anya in “The Midnight Club” on Netflix.
Eike Schroter/Netflix
Flanagan selected an elite cast for ‘The Midnight Club’ consisting primarily of rookies.
Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy told reporters during the interview that it was difficult to cast the ensemble of young people who carry the majority of the action in “The Midnight Club.” It was especially tough to cast Anya (Ruth Codd), a rebellious and apparently bitter amputee with a good heart who, together with other Midnight Club members Ilonka (Iman Benson) and Kevin (Digby Rigney), learns the hospice’s dark history.
“Anya was a challenging role to cast. In the book, she is described as an amputee, and we sought an actress who was. We cast a wide net in search of [her] “Flanagan remarked.
Macy claims that Codd was discovered by casting directors due to her “hilarious” presence on TikTok. Codd subsequently sent in an audition tape that Flanagan described as “eclipsing everyone else,” and then he casually accepted the role.
“The Midnight Club” featured Heather Langenkamp as Dr. Stanton.
Eike Schroter/Netflix
Heather Langenkamp, who horror fans may recall from her portrayal as Nancy in the 1984 classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” also appears on the show. In recent years, the actor had generally kept a low profile, working as a special effects makeup artist (with her husband, David Leroy Anderson) on films such as “Dawn of the Dead” and “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”
The decision to cast Langenkamp as Dr. Stanton, the hospice’s resident physician, was “one of the quickest casting procedures I’ve ever experienced,” Flanagan said. “As we sped away from the production office, I exclaimed, ‘Oh my God!’”
Ruth Codd and Heather Langenkamp on “The Midnight Club”
Eike Schroter/Netflix
Flanagan remarked that there was still opportunity for humor despite the seriousness with which he handled tragic plots.
According to Flanagan, the stories of the young, terminally sick patients on the show are treated “very seriously,” especially knowing that several of the show’s employees (including Langenkamp) had lost young loved ones to disease.
“I don’t believe any of us were prepared for how many cast and crew members were going to raise their hands and say, “I lost a child to leukemia.” I lost a young family member to cancer “Flanagan told the media. The production ultimately paid homage to the deceased loved ones of the actors and crew by placing plaques (each with the name of a deceased individual) on seats and doors on the hospice set.
While these crew members were appreciative of Flanagan’s approach, according to the director, they also pushed filmmakers to find the “humor” in the scenario, as this is what terminally ill kids would have “hung on to.”
Chris Sumpter during the classic jump scare sequence in “The Midnight Club” episode one.
Eike Schroter/Netflix
Indeed, there are numerous absurd moments throughout the series, particularly in the pilot episode, which Flanagan claims now holds the Guinness world record for the most jump scares in a single television episode. The jump scares (about twenty in total and occurring in a single scene) gradually transform from frightening to gratuitous and are finally rendered worthless, which is why Flanagan despises them so much.
Flanagan quipped, “I despise them because it seems so simple to sneak up behind someone and destroy their belongings.”
Iman Benson as Ilonka, Igby Rigney as Kevin, Annarah Cymone as Sandra, Ruth Codd as Anya, Adia as Cheri Ian, Chris Sumpter as Spencer, Aya Furukawa as Natsuki, and Sauriyan Sapkota as Amesh, from left to right.
Eike Schroter/Netflix
The Midnight Club is the first of Flanagan’s television ventures that could potentially have a second season.
Flanagan stated in an interview that the conclusion of the teen drama intentionally left some concerns unsolved.
“This was intended to be permanent. I don’t know if it will work, let’s see how things proceed. And we likely won’t know Netflix’s intentions for another month or two. However, this was intended to continue “Flanagan was exposed. “Pike has written eighty volumes, so we have access to a wealth of wonderful material.”
And if there is no second season to address the “larger” unanswered questions of the first season, Flanagan has already devised a plan to provide fans with the answers.
He quipped, “I’ll post them on Twitter, and then at least we’ll be able to discuss it.”
All 10 episodes of “The Midnight Club” are currently streaming on Netflix. You can watch the trailer below.