Written by Steven Allison
“Big boys know the difference between what’s real and imaginary.” That’s what an exceptionally misguided father believes as he assures his terror-stricken son that ghosts don’t exist. Gifting the boy with a dusty old bowler hat (later collected by the very real ghost of a man it once belonged to – uh oh), his vow is nothing less than fallacious – as every member of the Crain family ultimately discovers.
Of course, I’m speaking about Mike Flanagan’s much-extolled The Haunting of Hill House, currently streaming on Netflix. Gripped ever so slightly by the skittish heebie-jeebies that come part and parcel of a hangover, I binged on all 10 episodes of the fantasy-horror-drama over the weekend. It was 2am, deathly silent, and black as pitch by the time I’d guzzled the lot and let me tell you – big boys (I’m 34) most certainly don’t know the difference between what’s real and imaginary. If anyone had been privy to me sweeping the room for a spectral presence before donning my earplugs and eye-mask, I’m sure they’d attest to that.
To put it quite simply, The Haunting of Hill House was nothing short of a petrifying 10-hour ride on a ghost train at the most forbidding funfair the human mind could possibly conceive. Loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s renowned 1959 novel of the same name, the show is a welcome and refreshing departure from the formulaic scares that we’re usually treated to in the run-up to Halloween.
Flashing between past and present with effortless transition, seasoned director Flanagan navigates us expertly through the gruelling efforts of the Crain family as they come to terms with troubling memories of their former home and the circumstances that forced them to flee from it years before. Unlike reality (as far as we know), time in the family’s world isn’t linear, and the series doesn’t handle its timelines as such either. Requiring a hefty level of concentration, viewers are eased back and forth between the subjective experiences of five siblings in childhood and adulthood. A complex (but not convoluted) narrative composition for sure, but if you pay attention very closely, you shall be rewarded.
Following the apparent suicide of youngest sibling Nell, the others are brought together in an emotion-fraught reunion. Joined by their estranged father Hugh, and in some vague way by their mother Olivia (that’s all that I’ll say on that), the Crains thrash out their issues in a series of conflicts as they come to understand each other and the events that got them to this point.
The psychological demons that haunt these characters in adulthood are just as terrifying as the malevolent spirits which have followed them since their Hill House days. Sleep paralysis and drug addiction compete with a bent-neck lady and an oddly tall, cane-tapping man in a ferocious bid to disquiet all who watch. It’s this twofold approach to fear that gives The Haunting of Hill House the exceptional depth that audiences don’t usually find while being bombarded by the usual tropes featured in horror titles. For anyone seeking a fresh take on the genre, this series is just the ticket.
We’re all a product of our pasts – about that, most will agree. Yet, few can realistically claim that our adult selves are shaped by the endeavours of a house (and its incorporeal pawns) determined to coax the living to “wake up” – which, as you’ll learn, refers to being pulled into the darkly grotesque and forlorn realm of the dead. It really would be a challenge to imagine such an existence. The Crains, however, can swear to this, and the performances of those who depict the family members in both earlier and later years (see below for details on the cast) are so flawlessly credible that it’s easy to forget that the characters aren’t real people. Excellent casting and skilful acting make for the perfect marriage in this show, leaving viewers with no choice but to fully invest themselves in every Crain.
A visual banquet, this bone-chilling Gothic horror is so convincing that it’ll have you soiling your pants. You’d better make sure you get some laundry detergent in before watching The Haunting of Hill House. But do watch it – there’s no disappointment to be found here.
The key cast (earlier years, later years) is as follows: Hugh (Henry Thomas, Timothy Hutton); Olivia (Carla Gugino); Steven (Paxton Singleton, Michiel Huisman); Nell (Violet McGraw, Victoria Pedretti); Theodora (McKenna Grace, Kate Siegel); Shirley (Lulu Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser); and Luke (Julian Hilliard, Oliver Jackson-Cohen).
