Released on October 12, 2018, the Netflix adaptation of Haunting of Hill House chronicles the story of a family that face the terrifying reality of what happened in their youth. The show gives us the perfect balance of horror, nasty jump scares, and uncontrollable despair.
The show alternates between the present day and the summer of 1992. That summer, the family moved into a mansion in Massachusetts in order to renovate and sell it by the end of their five children’s holidays. The family receives help from the Dudleys, the caretakers of the mansion. However, the renovation doesn’t run smoothly and they are forced to extend their stay. At this point inexplicable phenomena begin to take place in the house and plague each family member differently. They all encounter ghosts, knowingly and unknowingly, and hear disturbing noises throughout the house. The mother, Olivia, experiences what seems to be the worst of it, as she gets head splitting migraines, hallucinations, and sleep walking which almost results in homicide. Her husband Hugh kindly dismisses her complaints even though he woke up to her pointing a screwdriver to his neck…classic Olivia.
Then, one night, a frantic Hugh carries all of the children to the car and leaves his wife. The next morning, much to the dismay of everybody, Olivia committed suicide in the mansion. The children are never told what truly happened that night, and grow up bearing the trauma.
The Crain Family (Source)
Steven, the eldest son, grew up to be an author famous for his semi-autobiographical book about their spooky time at Hill House. Despite capitalizing on his family’s experience, he does not believe in ghosts and takes on a stone cold, rational approach to everything. He believes Olivia was mentally ill and blames Hugh for her suicide.
Shirley, the eldest sister, became a mortician as a means to face her fear of death. It seems as though her mother’s funeral was the most formative factor to her fear.
Theodora, the middle child, has a sixth sense. When she touches somebody, she is able to find out what the person is feeling and what they saw.
Luke, the older twin, became a heroin addict and was mostly isolated by his family after he took their support for granted. Nell (Eleanor), the younger twin and youngest sibling, suffers from sleep paralysis which grants her a visit from the terrifying ‘bent neck lady’ who has haunted her since their time at Hill House.
Theodora, Nell, and Steven (Source)
The series gives me everything I look for in the horror genre. The jump scares had me almost instinctively throw my laptop across the room, but it held a good balance with the tragedy that followed the Crains as well as the sense of impending doom that brewed throughout the episodes.
For the first time, though, a horror piece made me weep with sorrow. In the finale we finally get the full story of what happened on the night they drove away, and why Hugh kept it a secret from his children. The Dudleys, too, were affected in a way that will crush your soul and keep you up at night crying, wondering why they deserved such a tragedy, just like I did.
What makes the Haunting of Hill House so captivating is that they show the personal aspects of trying to move on from trauma and how it manifests differently. The haunting was not only a phenomenon caused by the mansion, but also the inability of the children to get closure of the traumatic experience of losing their mother. The finale was both heart wrenching and hopeful, but it left me sobbing the entire evening nonetheless.