Ever since Netflix released its newest original series last month, The Haunting of Hill House has taken the world by storm. With its suspenseful scenes and timeline alternating between the past and present, the show keeps you clicking “next episode.” If you’re like me, you binged all ten episodes in just two days and absolutely yearned for more. In an attempt to further dive into the story, I found some fun facts and hidden meanings that you may have missed.
1. The Crain Siblings Represent the 5 Stages of Grief
This theory shocked both myself and other viewers when realizing just how accurate it is. A fan posted this realization on Tumblr writing, “The moment you realize each of the Crain kids represent one of the stages of grief.” Other viewers took notice and this theory blew up on social media, even catching the eye of the show’s creator Mike Flanagan, who responded on Twitter with a simple, “Good catch…,” confirming the theory.
Confused how each of the characters represent the stages of grief? I got you covered. The five stages are, in order: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The oldest sibling, Steve represents denial. Throughout his life he viewed his family as mentally ill, refusing to accept that they were living with ghosts. Going down the line from oldest to youngest, Shirley would be the next stage, anger. It seemed that in every situation that affected the family, she would respond in anger. She took her feelings out on those around her. Most notably, she held a constant grudge against Steve for writing a book about the family’s experiences, yelling at him and throwing fits. Theo represents bargaining. When she is unable to feel anything, she becomes desperate to do absolutely anything to just feel again. She is always rationalizing everything around her and even became a psychologist in order to figure out what exactly is going on with her patients. Luke is a prime example of the stage of depression. He uses heroin to cope with his feelings and the trauma he endures. Nell the youngest sibling, represents the final stage of acceptance. At the end of her life, she returns to her haunted, childhood house, and comes to terms with all the crazy events from her life. She ultimately surrenders to the house, spending the rest of eternity with her mother and waiting for the other family members to join at some point down the line.
2. Hidden Ghosts in the Background of Scenes
In each episode, you can find multiple ghosts hiding in the background of shots. I’ve compiled a few of my favorites below.
Episode 1
When Olivia steps in the room interrupting Mrs. Dudley talking to Steve about the gospels, a face can be found listening in behind her.
Episode 3
Theo looks down at the newly discovered, likely haunted basement right before going down to check it out. A figure can be seen hiding behind the rungs of the ladder.
Episode 5
In a close-up shot of Olivia, a face is seen to the left of her head.
Episode 7
As Hugh inspects the mold in the basement of the house, a blonde, creepy figure lurks around the corner to watch him.
3. Twilight Reference
The present-day version of Shirley Crain is played by Elizabeth Reaser who also played Esme, the vampire mom in the Twilight series. As a Twilight super-fan (yes, I’m a nerd), I freaked out when they made a reference to the story in one of the episodes. When Nell’s body is brought to the morgue Shirley’s husband, Kevin, recommends that someone else do Shirley’s job of “fixing her up” for the funeral. He suggests, “Why not send her to Carlisle? They’ll do a great job there.” Carlisle is Esme’s husband in Twilight.