Mike Flanagan/Kate Siegel Panel
Motor City Comic Con
Suburban Collection Showplace
Novi, Mich.
Nov. 14 2025
The humanity within horror stories may not be the primary draw for fans. It is for writer and director Mike Flanagan.
Famous for his acclaimed Netflix horror series’ "The Haunting of Hill House,” “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “Midnight Mass” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Flanagan spoke on a panel with his wife, actress Kate Siegel, at Motor City Comic Con this past weekend. The couple talked about their work together and future projects.
Flanagan discussed how he doesn’t set out to write horror; he sets out to write human, even to the point of saying his stories often have more scares in them than he would like. He also spoke at length of his inspiration from Stephen King, who shares his focus on the human experience, especially as Flanagan is in midst of adaptations of King’s “Carrie” and “The Dark Tower.”
A charming Spiegel added levity to the panel. She frequently joked and flirted with Flanagan as she spoke of her work, including her foray into directing and how it gave her a sense of intimacy in storytelling “when you feel like your hand is all the way up in there.” She also spoke of her relationships with her characters from Flanagan’s shows. In a tender moment, she spoke of the challenges of portraying Erin in “Midnight Mass” – a role Flanagan said he wrote with her in mind – that touched on her own personal vulnerabilities. She had an easier time with Camille – the ruthless PR head in “Usher” – and said she was interested in playing more villains.
Half the panel conversation was answering questions from the audience. The line of questioners continually reached the back of the room. Fans heard anecdotes from some of their favorite series, like the dramatic backstory of Siegel’s real scream in the boat scene of “Midnight Mass” and how actor Bruce Greenwood inserted himself as one of “Hill House’s” hidden ghosts, becoming Flanagan’s favorite.
We also learned that it was never the child actors who messed up the epic one-shot scenes in “Hill House” – some that went on unbroken for 15 minutes – and how the scenes were blocked as a play and took months to rehearse.
I consider myself a mild horror fan but a snobby one – which is why I’ve been a Flanagan fan since “Hill House” was first released on Netflix in 2018. Never have I found a horror story so compelling that I was at pains to consume the next episode as soon as possible to understand the mystery and dive into these fascinating broken characters – even if it terrified me. I’ve often compared “Hill House” to a horror version of “This is Us” – a prime example of humanity-centered storytelling – as you watch how different members of a family cope with the same trauma in parallel timelines. I enjoyed hearing Flanagan speak to this, which is how he’s able to adapt existing classic horror stories and transform them into something richer and more meaningful than just scares.
Motor City Comic Con in general was a more peaceful experience on a Friday afternoon/evening that my previous visits, which had always been on chaotic Saturdays. I enjoyed being able to take a leisurely pace to walk through the vendor booths and had a nice chat with cartoonist Guy Gilchrist – famed as the creator of the Muppets newspaper comic strip – who was selling original sketches.
The people-watching is always fabulous as well; I admire the time, effort and creativity the die-hards put into their costumes. I didn’t spend much time at the celebrity booths, which this year included cast members from “Scream” and “Twilight.” I did, however, receive an awkward hug from Kellan Lutz – Emmett Cullen from “Twilight” – who approached me after he saw me staring at him and Peter Facinelli (Carlisle Cullen) start to leave. I am a “Twilight” fan (apparently not a very good one), because I recognized Peter right away, but it took me a minute to figure out who Lutz was when he came up to me. It was cool to meet him (for free!). But I wish I had sorted things out sooner and really hope he didn’t pick up on my initial confused stares …
While I was only there for a portion of the three-day convention, it was a great mix of learning and play, with some fun surprises along the way.
