The Haunting of Hill House - TV Series Review

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The Haunting of Hill House is an American horror television show that was created for Netflix by American horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan in 2018. The series is an adaptation of Shirley Jackson's 1959 horror novel and has been one of the most talked about television shows of 2018. The show tells the story about the Crain family, led by parents Olivia and Hugh, who move into Hill House with their five children in 1992 with the hope of renovating the house and selling it for a profit. The family experience a number of paranormal events so horrifying they are eventually forced to flee from the house after a traumatic event happens to them one night. The show then flashes forward to the present where we see the grown Crain children struggling to deal with their memories of growing up in Hill House.



The Haunting of the Hill House features a huge cast of main and reoccurring characters.

Michiel Huisman stars as the eldest Crain son Steven. Paxton Singleton plays his younger self in flashbacks.

Carla Gugino is Olivia Crain, mother of the family, and a house designer. Olivia has psychic powers and is deeply affected by the paranormal energies inside the house.

Henry Thomas appears as a young Hugh Crain, father of the family, and Timothy Hutton plays an older Hugh in the present day.

Elizabeth Reaser is the adult Shirley Crain and the eldest daughter in the family. Lulu Wilson appears as her younger self.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen is the troubled Luke Crain and the youngest son in the family. Julian Hilliard plays him as a small child.

Kate Siegel is Theodore "Theo" Crain and the middle child of the family. Theo has psychic powers just like Olivia and is sensitive to the house. McKenna Grace plays her as a young girl in the flashbacks.

Victoria Pedretti is a standout as Eleanor "Nell" Crain. Nell is Luke's younger twin and one of the youngest members of the family. Nell was deeply traumatised by her time living in Hill House and still struggles with her memories of it years later.

Violet McGraw plays young Nell and is absolutely excellent in all of her scenes and a wonderful accompaniment to her older self.



In addition, the series also has a huge number of side-characters playing the role of ghosts. This is what makes the show so interesting. The history of Hill House is so rich and detailed. The house has hundreds of ghosts in it and so many of them have their own backgrounds and stories.



There is the ghost of William Hill who appears as a tall man wearing a bowler hat.

Hazel Hill is the ghost of an old woman who died in her bed.

Poppy Hill was the wife of William Hill in life during the 1920s and haunts the house dressed as a flapper girl.

The Bent-Neck Lady is a spectre of a woman with a bent neck who haunts Nell both in childhood and adulthood.

There is the ghost of a boy in a wheelchair who used to bang on walls for attention.

And many, many, more.



What makes The Haunting of Hill House stand out from other horror TV shows and movies is that it actually is pretty terrifying.

There are ghosts hiding in EVERY scene.

You can see them peering out from under staircases.

And crouched under tables.

And reflected in windows.

And peeking through open doors.

And sitting at tables.

And hiding under the stairs.



The Haunting of Hill House has been a huge hit for Netflix. It has an approval rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and it has been praised by critics and horror writers.

The Haunting of Hill House is currently streaming on Netflix.

I highly recommend you watch it… with the lights on.

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