Haunting of Hill House season 1 review: Stunning psycho-horror tackles personal ghosts and demons
The Crain family are forever changed by the events of Hill House(Picture: Netflix) Families are com..
Families are complicated things. They can mess you up, and put you back together more than any other person on the planet. This is never more evident than in the case of the Crain family.
Following on from their time the haunted Hill House, the five Crain children are changed forever, with their childhood memories and experiences carving out their future in singular but all too painfully relevant ways.
We have Steven, the eldest brother and the cynic of the group, who after years of being forced to act as his siblings protector has explained away everyones experiences because he didnt experience them himself. Even wrote the book about it, to the pain of the rest of his siblings, and somehow doesnt see the issue with it because as a failing writer, he needed material.
Then theres Shirley, who has become a mortician to help those experiencing death come to terms with it in a more easy-to-swallow, and ultimately finalising kind of way.
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Theodora tries to numb her pain by not getting close to anyone, using bodies for casual sex and paying little attention to anyone else, and then theres Luke and Nell, the youngest twin siblings who were left traumatised from their time as children in Hill House. As Luke spiralled out of control with a drug addiction that sends him in and out rehab, Nell is left with the kind of depression you just cant shake.
Through an unexpected turn of events, the children are forced to return to Hill House decades after leaving in the dead of night, and confront the, quite literal, ghosts of their pasts in order to move forward.
The Haunting of Hill House does what previous adaptations of the novel does not – it moves the story forward in an organic and unique way. Rather than recreating the scenes from the 1959 novel, it shoots back to them as the episodes run through two timelines simultaneously – the original events from the 80s, and the present day Crain family now.
What could easily have been turned into a quick series of jump scares has been turned by Mike Flanagan into an all-too-real tale of grief and how to handle it. While yes, there are plenty of freaky moments throughout the season, the true horrors lie in the plain simplicity of who the Crain children have become, and just how badly their childhood scarred them forever.
The ten episode run makes sure to dedicate time to each sibling singularly, and develops their fractured family dynamic over time. As a result, its somewhat of a slow-burn to begin with – but never enough to make you give up and more than enough to push you through from episode to episode.
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Gripping, horrifying and in some cases pretty heartbreaking, The Haunting of Hill House tears you apart from the inside out but leaves you wanting more, like some weird reverse twist on the torture porn movies of the 2000s. It has an ability to kick you in the gut because it manages to sneak the ability to care for the characters past you so youre not even aware they matter until they are in some kind of trouble.
Just like actual families – the care is all too easy to ignore until something forces it to the forefront. You take it for granted.
More: Netflix
By the end of the ten episodes, youll be needing a hug, and a phone call over a cup of tea to a loved one – which is something I never quite thought Id say of a horror series.
Have fun binging over Halloween.
The Haunting of Hill House season one airs on Netflix in full from 12 October.
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