Based (loosely) on the 1959 novel by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House follows the five Crain siblings. Though it is stated in every description of the show that the siblings grew up in the house, they really only spent a summer there. I watched this show per the request of my mother and roped my boyfriend (who has never been much a fan of the horror genre) into watching it along with me when I was home for winter break. Now, I have never read the book, but I have seen a few of the multiple film adaptations that have come from it. I have heard countless times that the opening paragraph of the book is one of the best within the horror genre, ending with the eerie statement “whatever walked there, walked alone.” Given that I have limited knowledge about the book, I watched this show with few expectations in mind.

 

Something that I didn’t expect this show to do was focus on the effects of personal and familial trauma. The show is told from the perspective of Steven Crain (Michiel Huisman) who has written a best-selling book, “The Haunting of Hill House,” based on his family’s experience in the haunted house. Steven, the eldest Crain, has had trouble connecting with his family since the summer at Hill House. The book he wrote was a compilation of stories that they told him, and his siblings resent him for exposing their private lives for profit especially because he doesn’t even believe the events themselves to be true. Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser) is the most upset about this exploitation and tells Steven that nobody is going to take his money – after he offers them compensation. In spite of this, both her husband and sister Theo (Kate Sigel) take Steven’s money.

The five siblings each represent a stage of grief. Steven is denial, Shirley is anger, Theo is bargaining, Luke is depression, and Nell is acceptance. Throughout the show, it is clear to see how the summer in Hill House affected each of the Crain children. Steve secretly got a vasectomy so that he would never pass on his family’s genetic legacy of madness, Shirley sees her marriage as a kind of business, Theo fears intimacy so much that she wears gloves to protect herself against feeling things too strongly, Luke is addicted to heroin, and Nell suffers from night terrors which lead to her return to Hill House and, ultimately, her own suicide.

 

Yes, The Haunting of Hill House is a chilling adaptation of the novel. But it is also an unsettling tale of how our relationships deeply affect us. It is well worth the watch.