Spoilers below for up to episode 7 of Haunting of Hill House
Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, starring Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser and more, is one of those rare shows which stays with you. So far I have seen up to the beginning of episode nine. It’s been so emotionally devastating that I’m still trying to decide whether to watch the last two episodes. I find myself caring so much about the characters that I don’t want to know what happens. Honestly I’ve also read the spoilers because I don’t want to be surprised when characters die. (Who am I kidding I’m totally going to watch it.)
I’ve found the fifth episode most impactful so far. That’s where we learn that Nell herself is the bent neck lady and that her death by suicide is the specter that’s been haunting her since she was a child. The last minute of this episode, when we follow the bent neck lady as she appears to Nell throughout her life, is just masterfully crafted. I can’t remember a more impactful scene on television. This series needs to be nominated for so many Emmys and Golden Globes.
I also wanted to talk about the fact that there is black mold in the house. This was a sad and realistic twist on the original novel by Shirley Jackson. Writer/Director Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game, Hush, Oculus) took major liberties with the book and the mold angle was a smart one. I’ve seen several of his films and will definitely watch more. He’s directing Doctor Sleep, the official follow up to The Shining based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. That stars Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson and is filming now. It’s due for release in 2020. Until then I guess I’ll have to terrify and depress myself by watching the rest of this series and filling up on his back catalog.
Oh and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all the ghosts in the background on this show. There’s just so much to unpack, discover and analyze. It’s rare that we get such a smart, well crafted horror series (also see the vastly underrated Bates Motel) and I’m here for it.
Photos courtesy Netflix press
If anybody here has read the book and watched the show, can you let meknow If the two are similar? I’m a big fan of the book but I’d like to know in advance if they are anything alike. My favourite books are always made into movies and shows that are terrible and nothing like the source material
The plots aren’t similar at all, but the characters are. I haven’t read the book, but I just finished the series last night and have been living in the subreddit for it since then! The show is absolutely amazing
ohhh can you link the subreddit? Or give me directions to it?
I’m not sure if the link will go through, but if you google “the haunting of hill house reddit”, it should come up. it’s /r/HauntingofHillHouse
I read the book years ago. As far as I can see, they’re not very similar. I don’t really want to say any more, in case someone wants to read it and wouldn’t appreciate spoilers. I will say that the ending came as a bit of a shock.
It’s a loose interpretation, more like they borrowed the material. I’m a big fan of the original story and movie and I still liked it.
I’m obsessed with the book (Shirley Jackson is probably my favorite author — read her biography by Ruth Franklin if you haven’t yet!). I watched the first two episodes of the show and had to stop because it was too creepy for me. Based on the first two episodes, I would say that the characters and the plot are much different, but Hill House is the same. There are also fun little Easter eggs from Jackson’s body of work peppered throughout.
Bonus: Stephen King, another Jackson fan, tweeted that he usually dislikes revisionist stuff but he thinks the show is close to a work of genius!
I’ve heard so many good things about the storytelling and craft in this that I wish I wasn’t such a wimp and I could watch horror…
I’m a wimp and I watched it by myself and it’s dark bedroom! I promise it’s mostly just creepy and unsettling, and not tons scary. There’s a couple jump scares that will startle you. I liked it so much that I’m making my husband watch it with me now. We just watched episodes 5 and 6 and I really think they’re amazing.
This is good to know. I started to watch it even though I’m like Belluga. My husband made me stop after ep 1 because he was worried I’d scare myself too much. I was kind of getting the feeling though that it was more along the lines of what you described, so now I can tell him we’re finishing it.
I’m a wimp! My advice – watch it during the day, not at night right before sleep. Some episodes left me a bit jumpy and couldn’t sleep.
Also, whenever you feel something is coming, hit pause and advance a few seconds to see what it is. That helped me a lot.
Re-watching this series, absolutely got hooked. Also cried like a baby for the characters. It’s a beautifully crafted series. Cannot say enough about it.
Me too I binged watched and have to watch again to really get it all. It’s beautifully acted/written. I have encouraged 2 people at work to watch. Soooo good.
Me too. I was on episode 2 already crying when Shirl discovers Nellie is dead. It’s been a week and I’m still thinking about the show.
I cried last night watching Nell dance with Arthur through the house. 🤷
Omg, Nell and Arthur! So many tears streaming down my face. I was telling myself, at least she got to “see” him again, I said to my husband, a lot of people would die for a chance at seeing someone they’ve lost. I think I was just trying to make myself feel better. lol *sob*
Massive Spoilers below….How many of the plot twists did you all get?
I never guessed that Nell was actually the Bent-Neck Lady. It was legitimately shocking for me when that was revealed.
I didn’t guess that the Red Room was like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter until Steve says he was in the game room and his dad (I think that’s who he said it to) responded “game room?” Rewatching it, there are so many subtle clues before that. I’m slow.
Abigail actually being real and not Luke’s imaginary friend/ ghost wasn’t something I guessed either.
I figured that out that Abigail was real. I didn’t get either of the other ones. Nell being the bent neck lady was really effective storytelling, but I don’t really see how it makes any sense logically speaking and that kind of took me out of it.
I didn’t see any of that coming until Olivia talks about her Reading Room and Luke and Theo go “huh? Where’s that?”
I also find it interesting that Hugh was the only one the door never opened for.
What really got to me was that Olivia foresaw her twins’ deaths – suicide and drug overdose – years in advance. Luke had been going in that direction for most of his life. Nell’s trauma so deep everyone accepted her apparent suicide. It seems the House poisoned her so deeply it somehow spilled over her children.
It wasn’t until after that I realized the door never opened for Hugh, that one still bugs me.
I figured something was going on because I caught the comments about the reading room, and Mrs Dudley going “where?” about the toy room and game room, but didn’t put it together that it was the Red Room. and never noticed the tall skinny window that’s in each of the rooms!
The bent-neck lady thing floored me. It was so well done.
I actually *did* suspect that someone very close to Nell (if not Nell herself) would be revealed as the Bent-Neck Lady!
I would like to take this moment to recommend a 2003 South Korean ghost movie called ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ (as well as a 2007 episode of Doctor Who, “Blink”). Both can be found streaming on Amazon Prime, both are excellent, and I think it was VERY evident that the writer/director of Haunting of Hill House is a MASSIVE fan of both…!
One more thing!! Although I wasn’t personally surprised by the show’s biggest reveal — because I had a lot of help from outside references! — it absolutely packed an emotional wallop that floored me. Like… I *knew* the reveal was coming, I’d been anticipating it and I knew it was gonna be reeeeally sad, but dammit! It still got me! Right in the guts! THAT is a pretty good trick. Hats off to Mike Flanagan.
I need to watch this.
Such a fan of the original 60’s film though… I hope it lives up.
My sister has seen it and says that the kids characters have the same names as the main characters in the film, which is a nice touch.
The Kids characteres and the adult characteres are the same, just the kid version and the adult version, that’s why they have the same name.
I’m in love with this show.. it’s amazing and very well done.
I never read the book though. Can someone tell me that the story of the book its like the movie with Caterina zeta Jones, Owen Wilson among others? Because in that movie the characteres are not brothers and sisters…
I do not think they were brother and sisters in the book. The character Shirley is also new and an homage to Shirley Jackson. The movie you are talking about takes the name from the book but is pretty far off otherwise if I remember correctly…
OMG YES! I hate this genre but I LOVED this series. I will re-watch it because I wanna see what I missed. I hope you write about the next 3 episodes because they’re so good.
But Nell’s episode stayed with me because it was heartbreaking – she was the reason she lived in fear her whole life, post-Hill House. And when you realise the reason behind the house’s sickness… greatest series of the year, by far.
I had nightmares the night I bingewatched 5 episodes lol.
Really good tv show, loved it even if the last episode got me even more confused than all the Revelations so far. I’m still not sure of what I have understood or not lol
I cried so much while watching this that I thought I must be hormonal. I completely love horrors but have never cried watching one, so I’m really glad other people are finding it emotional. It really is amazing.
I cried so much watching it. It’s been a long time since a tv show made me feel like that I think is because of Nellie. She deserved so much more 😔
I binged the whole series in one night!!! And I loved Bate’s Motel. Both were fabulous shows. I’m a horror buff so none of the twists/turns were surprising. They didn’t do anything original. The bent neck lady is an old premonition movie trick. However, all the hidden ghosts were so easy to miss!
Before I start complaining, I just want to be clear that I lovvvvve this show, deeply. The writing and acting are so good.
BUT, I think placing it in the horror genre is a mistake. For me, grief, loss and family minsunderstandings are the main things. I have never cried as hard as I did for Nell, that episode just slayed me. And Luke. Kid Luke breaks my heart every time, and having recently lost someone to addiction, his adult storyline pains me so thoroughly.
The spooky, ghosty stuff barely registers, because the whole thing is so damn sad. A couple jump scares startled me, but the stuff like the mummy in the wall, meh. Interesting, but not scary.
Also, like someone else mentioned, something about Nell’s storyline is confusing to me. So if it was her all along, was she responsible for her husband’s death?
I still have 2 episodes to watch, so maybe it is explained, but also, why is sweet Liv a zombie-thing, when she tries to pull Luke into the ground? I don’t get why they are mean and destructive. Why did she scare Theo and Dad in the funeral home?
I do love it, but it is breaking my heart.
the best guess I had was that Bent Neck Lady showed up in traumatic times – Arthur dying, going back to Hill House, buying heroin for Luke. so in death, she revisited her traumatic experiences, and in her life she determined that the Bent Neck Lady was responsible for it. the times she showed up in the house were the house messing with her.
I think Arthur did actually die of an aneurysm, she just blamed the ghost. and she didn’t see the ghost while she was with Arthur because she was finally happy.
that’s the only way I can make sense of it.
Sadly, the Olivia that accompanies Dad of Today (Timothy Hutton) isn’t a real ghost, but rather, the imagined projection of a man in grief. He talks to her all the time, and he is guided in life by what he thinks she would say.
Huge spoilers follow.
The real Ghost Olivia is still warped by the madness that overtook her at the end of her life, and she would still like very much for each of her family members to come live with her in her “forever home.” It is very sad, but also very frightening.
Some ghost movies — mostly Japanese ones, I think — have this trope where a beloved family member is somehow *distorted* by a traumatic death. I personally find the idea of a loving family member who is now a vengeful spirit to be uncanny and also impossibly scary. So: In death, Olivia is not the caring wife and parent that her family remembers but, instead, a ghost with unfinished business. EEK.
(As for Arthur, I remember having a sadder thought: Did he die of shock *because* he recognized the ghost as Nell?)
I was excited for this one and it went far beyond my expectations …. until the final episode. It really does get you attached to the characters, and is brilliantly done. I just felt like the last episode was a massive let down, and felt more like an after school special. It really ruined it for me. But some amazing acting from the grown ups and kids in this one, far too many things that made me go “ooohhh” afterwards haha.
Last episode also left me unsatisfied. Like, it was to easy. Read someone on reddit theorize that they’re still in the red room, that makes so much more sense.
Agree 100 percent. Loved loved loved it but the last episode left me cold
I am with you. I liked it until then. The last episode was craptastic. Everyone get together and sing kumbaya now.
The final few are so packed with answers and surprises. The last episode was so beautiful I cried through the last 10 minutes (when the Dudley’s came back I lost it) then just sat in silence for a while after. I couldnt believe they were able to tie just about everything together. I think I’m going to rewatch it and see all the things along the way that I didn’t know to look for till the end.
Yup. Dudleys. Bawled.
I have read the book and absolutely loved this show. I believe this series actually surpassed the book because it took the best aspects of the book and turned it into an amazing family story. While Shirley was a gifted author, I didn’t emphasize with the characters in the novel. However, this show really did well to use a family story. This genre doesn’t bother me but for some time now, most films in this genre lacked depth. Thus, this series was the most pleasant surprise and I stayed invested for the family (haven’t cried this much since watching Train to Busan, which I highly recommend to any fan of this series too).
I cried a lot with the last two episodes, it’s more than just a scary show, it’s about human relationships. I loved it! There were many twists I didn’t see coming. The Bent Neck Lady was amazing and took me by surprise. Also, Steve is Daario Naharis on GOT. Dayum!
Yeah and I’m glad he’s in such a good series because everyone will know he’s Daario lol.
This. Show. Was. Awesome. It’s a must-see. It’s like that piece of literary excellence you can’t put down.
Luke’s episode broke my heart. This show has it all, I am so impressed with it. And even though I know Nell is the bent neck lady I’m still scared s*&t-less.
OMG
https://www.buzzfeed.com/noradominick/this-haunting-of-hill-house-theory-just-made-me-cry-of-the
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this!!!! O_O
This show is like “This is Us” for the jaded.
I love the original movie and story. This show is a VERY loose interpretation, but still is a good story in its own right. I cried a lot at the end, LOL.
This show is so good you have to watch it twice or maybe even three times to fully understand/appreciate it. So many things are being remade and replicated that when we actually get good writing, good acting, good stimulation, we latch on. It’s too far and in between these days. Yet, it makes you more appreciative I suppose. Like when you live in Ireland, it’s been raining constantly and then you actually get a full week of sunshine.
Can I just say, the Internet is heralding episode 6, “Two Storms,” as the best episode, which legit gives me some (much-needed) hope for humanity. I love that other people are loving this!
Episode 6 is the “family dynamics” episode, and the naturalistic, overlapping dialogue gave its scenes a speed and momentum that you’d see in an Aaron Sorkin political drama. And the disorienting camera choreography — those long, uncut tracking shots! — somehow made “family drama” feel more like an ACTION MOVIE. The inside of the funeral home also had that pea-soup gray-green quality that I associate with tornados forming, and it was like you could actually FEEL the storm’s weird electricity in the air. It’s so exciting!
Regarding the storm/tornado thing: As kids, there was always the oddest thrill when storms were approaching. I remember hiding with my family in a closet, or being marched single-file to the school cafeteria to wait out the worst. It isn’t like we WANTED a tornado or hurricane to strike. But there was something so cozy about being with my family or classmates as we waited, a little excitedly, for the storm to pass us. <3