So, we all know that The Haunting of Hill House was a smash hit a couple years ago on Netflix. I watched it in its entirety and found it to be one of my favourite series. Then I got to thinking that I should probably read the source material and inspiration for the TV series, going by the same name and written by Shirley Jackson all the way back in 1959.
It is safe to say that I really enjoyed the novel!
However, it occured to me that, at least for me, this adaptation is a rare case that it was on par with the original novel.
Albeit EXTREMELY different from one another, both the adaptation and novel capture terrific and flawed characters and the ability to create haunting atmosphere. Jackson's novel does these things by having the setting of a classic 19th century style gothic structure, and the adaptation refines the original setting and outline to fit it more within a more modern style.
Jackson's novel has a very limited cast of characters, but definitely goes in depth about humanity, loss and a plethora of other themes (not to mention the idea of the paranormal)
The television series takes those themes and ampts it up a bit with adding more characters and giving more backstory to them, and intensifies the themes that were just mentioned.
This story works in both mediums. The novel packs a punch and really gives you insight on the character of Eleanor (who is the main character in the novel) and what cognitive dissonances shes experiencing while at Hill House. The television series, with having 10 one hour ong episodes, is able to mold its own narrative and give characters more spotlight and development.
In my opinion, this is one of the rare cases where the story of Hill House is successful as both a book and a series. For those who have not yet read or watched it, let it be known that they are very different from each other! Do not expect a lot of cross over from the two, but let them shine in their own medium.
So, with thag being said, I want to know all of y'all's opinions on this. Do you agree? Disagree? Also, can you guys think of any other book to movie or TV stories that you found to be equally enjoyable? Let me know!
I think that quote happened on the scene when they were outside the house and the girl was holding a dead kitten? I'm not sure.
A ten episode series on Netflix based on the 1959 book by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House is, for me, a must watch on regards to television horror. Following the Crain family both past and present, it has set the bar for me with regards to episodic horror in the long format of a television show.
Television horror has always been a bit of a bust for me. I've found the longer you drag on or make a horror story last, the less effective it becomes by means of exposure. Don't get me wrong, there are some long blockbuster films I've been either terrified or enthralled by. But ten-ish hours is a tall ask for someone to be engaged in that feeling of dread. Especially if the series was binged in two nights as opposed to the one a week schedule that is normally expected of a TV show. Whoops. But I was absolutely invested barely a single episode in. It hits hard and fast with characterisation and scares alike. In my mind it truly only gets better as the series goes on, with all of the pieces falling together and mysteries revealing themselves episode by episode.
At times, it's uncomfortably brilliant to watch. Real hide behind the sofa stuff. At times it's uncomfortably human to watch, when the various "ghostly" elements take a back seat to raw human drama. It's gripping in each instance and it showcases a real proof that scary media doesn't have to purely be about ghouls and goblins. It can be a lot closer to home.
To add, it's so well directed and shot all around that it's a display piece at times. Episode Six springs to mind predominantly, but throughout the entire series I found myself appreciating small and large details alike. I loved the hidden ghosts in the house that you had to look out for in quick scenes (or in some cases just be made uncomfortable by the obviousness of), I loved the relationship of the Crain family and all their messed up little quirks and secrets, slowly revealed and expanded upon with every passing episode. I loved the aesthetic of the Hill House and how it not only contrasted with the "home" environments of all the characters involved as they became adults, but how it played with the idea of linear time and any sense of normal architecture.
There are flaws. It relies on a few cheap horror and scare tropes, namely the man who goes mental for two chords on a violin really loudly when something pretty ordinary happens just to shake the audience up. And the story can be slightly muddled when compared to the source material
... keep reading on reddit ➡Honostly I wanna see more of the Crain family especially more of the Crain sisters because Im really interested in the matriach power.
I cant believe I missed it on my first watch. We know that the female members of Olivias family are always special and that Theo has touch psychic power and Nell kept seeing the future deaths. I thought there was nothing special to Shirley but she was the one who saw in her dream that Nell was in the red room,
Now that Stevie has a daughter and Shirley too has a daughter, I am really interested a sequel, set in the future maybe with all of them somewhat using their power like in Insidious or something especially after leaning that the showmakers somewhat drew inspiration from Dr Sleep.
This tv series is a master piece.
Many people referred to it as the "best thing in horror" and "the only horror show worth watching" which I have a big problem with. The Haunting of Hill House is horror for people who don't like horror. It is a supernatural thriller at best and to be honest, it drags a little. The dialogue meanders and becomes laborious the whole show is two episodes too long. Channel Zero is what horror TV series should aspire to. THOHH is a dull and self indulgentattempt at a horror series.
To start off I want to say that not necessarily this movies and tv serires are a part of the same universe but instead that they are thematically very similar and all deal with the concept of an evil place. This three properties talk about haunted places, but not in the traditional sense, because there are no literal ghosts, demons or monsters, but the place itself is evil, Hill House is a messed up place, where people went insane and died for several generations, trapping their tormented souls in the house, the hotel room 1408 have a very similar history of madness and suicides and the Overlook hotel made Jack Torrance go insane and try to kill his own family, and it also have trapped souls.
Another thing in common between this three doomed localities is that they seem to defy laws of space and time, Hill House had a room which appeared different for every person, denying any logic, and it also have some time loop going around since Nell was torment by her own death ghost decades before she actually died. The room 1408 also traps it victims in some kind of time loop, almost impossible to escape. The Overlook hotel seems a little bit more "normal" in terms of space, but then that picture of Jack in the 20's shows up in the end, confirming that the place also mess up with time.
The last connection I want to do is that all this movies (and tv series) have one theme in common, trauma. All the ghosts from these properties are not necessarily real ghosts (altough in the logic of the universe they can be) they are memories associated with traumas, this is more evident in the Haunting of Hill House, where every character was haunted by a ghost that somehow was associated with a fear they had, in Room 1408 John Cusak's character is haunted by the death of his daughter, a trauma that he never managed to overcome, and he also have so visions of his deceased father if I'm not mistaken, and at least the case of The Shining, while there are some ghosts that doesn't connect directly with the family the main theme is domestic abuse and violence, the wife (I forgot the name) mentions that Jack used to drink a lot and that once he really hurted their son, while their stage in the Overlook goes longer, Jack starts to get more and more violent, until he snaps and try to kill his wife and son, making their trauma and fear to come to life.
So the gist is: Hill House, Room 1408 and the Overlook Hotel all have space-time distortion properties, they all somehow know your fear
... keep reading on reddit ➡#Haunting of Hill House
Premise: Mike Flanagan's re-imagining of Shirley Jackson's novel focuses on the grown-up siblings who lived in Hill House including writer Steve Crane (Michiel Huisman) and his two sisters (Elizabeth Reaser and Kate Siegel) as they return to face their past.
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I finally was able to watch the series this weekend and finished it last night. I love anything horror and will give anything a chance. I especially love horror tv shows because I can enjoy it for longer. But holy shit, this one has taken over my emotions. Haunting of Hill House is the best written and directed show I have seen in a long time. Everything about it was beautiful, from the cast, to the tiny details, the spirits, and even the sounds and music. One thing I really loved was how limited the background music was. The silence throughout the show made it even more real. I’ve seen a lot of people saying “it wasn’t scary at all”, but honestly it was incredibly freaky. NOT in the normal horror way, but in the way that my mind was entranced every single minute. It played with my emotions and I think that is truly scary. You start feeling what the characters feel and you feel their pain and suffering. One part in particular is the episode with the bent neck lady (I won’t spoil it). The end of that episode had me gasping for breaths and it broke my heart. Anyways, what did you all think of it? Would love to hear your thoughts! And if you haven’t watched it, please check it out!
Looking for a good, short drama miniseries to get into. In the past I've really enjoyed the above series as well as The Terror, The Pacific/Band of Brothers, True Detective, some of Channel Zero, Fargo was ok, Black Mirror and probably more that I'm forgetting. Outside of limited series, some favourites are Mad Men, Mindhunter and Twin Peaks.
Mostly I like slow-burn/complicated dramas that are a bit twisted, bonus for if they get close to genre territory (particularly horror) without going full-on American Horror Story (which I didn't really like).
Thanks in advance for any recommendations!
I am looking for proposals for chapters for an academic book on the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House to be published by McFarland & Company.
While the existence of shows such as American Horror Story, Preacher, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Stranger Things, The Terror, Castle Rock, The Strain and Penny Dreadful gives the impression we are living in a golden age of horror television, The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix seems to be a game-changer that takes small-screen dread to a new height. Less than a month in release, the series has garnered a great deal of praise and media discussion. Stephen King called it “nearly perfect” and “close to a work of genius,” Nerdist posted an article entitled “Why You Should Watch The Haunting of Hill House,” the show has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, was praised in GQ as “the first great horror TV show,” and in Forbes as “perfect for Halloween.” Critical reaction has been mostly glowing, albeit with some very obvious critiques of the series (see, for example, Holly Green’s “How Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House Betrays Shirley Jackson,” which found the series “egregious and disrespectful.”) The show thus is controversial (especially its ending and its approach to its source material) and yet is also highly regarded as effective horror television.
Not a Fit Place: Essays on The Haunting of Hill House proposes to explore and analyze the series from a variety of critical perspectives. The individual essays will be 4000-6000 words each. Successful proposals will explore an aspect of The Haunting in a unique manner and offers something to say that illuminates the series beyond opinion-as-analysis. Given the nature of the project and the desire to have the volume out before Halloween 2019, we have an accelerated project timeline.
The Deadlines:
I will accept abstracts on a rolling basis up until December 15, 2018. Those whose abstracts are accepted will be sent the style guide and information regarding the preparation of manuscripts.
Contributors must submit the first draft of their essays to me by April 15, 2019. I plan to have the final, full manuscript to McFarland by June 15, 2019, so we will have two months for edits and further development of essays.
Please note, no extensions can be given once accepted, so please only submit abstracts if you are certain you can adhere to this timetable. The deadline for manuscript submission is set, so the expectation is that final essay
... keep reading on reddit ➡Keeping this as spoiler free as possible.
There majority of this whole episode is made up of 6 or 7 beautiful huge tracking shots moving around these two spaces and the characters all unfold to each other in and around the shot.
They are taking place over 2 timelines and the shots transition into each other so smoothly and effortlessly.
Besides the intense tension building and the occasional jump scare, I highly recommend this series, and in particular this episode!
EDIT: seeing as this has attracted some discussion, could we please not post spoilers in the comments? I posted about this particular episode and purposely didn’t put any spoilers, and now people are in here talking about the finale and what happens?! Come on people
— as a working screenwriter, if that means anything to anyone, I will say: this show is a masterpiece of character study, mystery, and execution.
Fuck me, if it isn’t.
Bravo to Flanagan and his team.
Bravo. Period. Forever.
— EDIT: I love all the conversations being had about this. So many opinions and insights. Very cool.
Known for a long time that Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House is a horror classic, and I have not read it yet but it is on my list. Netflix recently released a tv series adaption of the book and it is incredibly spooky and really good. Just wondering how it compares if anyone has seen the show and read the book.
i’m looking for more shows in the horror genre, but obviously i enjoy some campy-ness here and there. basically anything having to do with witchcraft, demons, apocalyptic themes, and hauntings will keep my interest - not so much into zombies or werewolves, and vamps can be hit or miss.
the story has to be somewhat captivating and the dialogue/writing can’t make me roll my eyes too much. if it helps, my fave seasons of AHS are Coven and Asylum. i’m a sucker for good acting as well.
i’m just now really getting into horror so you can also suggest movies. i’m in quarantine so i have some time on my hands lol. i have Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime so if you could suggest stuff on those platforms that’d be great! thanks guys!
The Haunting of Hill House is a slow burning old style horror that draws you in and doesn't let go. Flashbacks provide an amazing understanding of characters without slowing the story down, you understand how each character got to where they are and how deep this has affected them in their adult lives.
Recommend this for old school horror fans who love chills with a great storyline
I have a mixed opinion about the new Netflix TV Show, Haunting of Hill House, but after I finished it last night, I thought some of my fellow SP sufferers might like to know that sleep paralysis is accurately depicted and part of the plot of the show. More specifically, it's part of Nell's story, and there's an interesting twist to her SP that's revealed later in the series.
I really enjoyed The Nightmare documentary, but haven't seen SP depicted in any other media, so I was excited to see it in Hill House. Would love to discuss it's role in Hill House, or hear about other shows/ films that have SP in them.
I heard about how good the new show is, Stephen King saying it's brilliant and all, I go to watch it, see a show named Haunted and jumped in, didn't realise my mistake until finishing the second episode...
The latter culminates in a big blow up between the characters and it's just so well done. It's not action like Daredevil or True Detective but it's still just as amazing to watch as it involves multiple characters in dialogues/monologues. I just watched it again to be sure: of the total 56 min runtime, the 1st 50 minutes contains ONLY 5 cuts altogether..that's just crazy. There's kids involved, too, so I can only imagine how on point the prep for this must have been.
Edit: To clarify, there were more than 2, there were a couple that were about 7-8 minutes and another was about 4 minutes making up the 50 mins total.
If you’ve seen both shows you’ll understand what I mean
Just to add on, I’d recommend this show to anyone who’s a fan of horror. Every episode is directed by Mike Flanagan (Hush, Gerald’s Game) who I personally think is one of the better horror directors around. Each episode I’ve seen so far (up to 5) has a few legitimate scares and the cinematography is so on point it’s basically like watching a 10 hour movie.
Anyway, that’s my plug. The title was the main point of the post, I came to that realization while I was watching the show a little toasted and just wanted to share it with you all <3
If you’re willing to bet 10 hours of your life on the chances of being either pleased or disappointed, know that you will most likely be pleased with your former self for getting on Netflix and pressing play on Episode 1 once you make it all the way through. If you’re anything like me then it takes a LOT for you to commit to anything new. That’s why I’ve watched Game of Thrones like five times instead of going through the disappointment of spending time on something new but mediocre.
The Haunting of Hill House is very very good, but in my opinion falsely advertised. The “average” person found out about it by seeing it appear at the top bar of Netflix within two weeks of Halloween, and then saw a short scary trailer depicting a haunted house and a few jump scares. If you want something with straight gore and murder, then this isn’t for you. This show portrays a different sort of horror and will creep you out not from the building music or the quick cuts to ghosts, but instead from the motifs about life and death that are interwoven throughout a delicate telling of family members dealing with their pasts and their relationships with each other. In fact, I would say that The Haunting of Hill House is around 50% horror and 50% drama.
If it’s anything though, it’s GOOD. Very good, and will probably leave you thinking about more than just the show when it’s over.
I feel like I loved these movies (and one show that felt like a long movie) because it's neither cheap, jump scare garbage, nor was it some experimental, art house content that while getting high reviews on RT, is mostly enjoyed by critics and enthusiasts.
Any suggestions? :)
For those that saw my review of The Shining earlier this week, you know that it was a pretty disappointing read. Luckily, there is a movie that fixes most of the book's issues. Well, all but one: originality.
When reading The Shining, I kept trying to ignore how much it reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House, a book that I hadn't read since I was a kid. Sure, The Shining is fundamentally constructed from old gothic horror cliches (giant abandoned estate haunted by tragedy and the evil deeds of an old aristocracy, causing the modern protagonist to slip into madness, etc.), but doing a "20th Century take" on these tropes is practically a genre itself, going at least as far back as Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls. For some reason, though, The Shining especially reminded me of Hill House, so yesterday I picked up a used copy. After getting about a third of the way through it last night, I already just want to say: I love this book.
If you enjoy classic horror in any capacity, I highly recommend you check this one out. It is truly one of the greats. Jackson is probably more well known for her short stories, but she was an absolute master of both the horror genre and the craft of writing in general. Her tone is incredibly specific and consistent. The pacing is perfect. Her characters are beautiful, vivid and instantly relatable, brought to life through dialogue that juggles being both organic and informative in a manner reminiscent of Tarantino. And reading it so closely to reading The Shining and watching its adaptations, I'm noticing lots of little details that might have inspired aspects of both. This book is a powerhouse in the genre, but it's also just a great read in its own right.
I haven't seen the television series, but I'll probably check it out later this week. I also noticed that there's already discussion on here about We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and having never read that one, I'll likely be checking it out next week as well. Ultimately, though, I just wanted to share my recommendation for this book in case anyone else is coming out of the Halloween season still thirsting for a great horror story. It's already reminding me of why this was such a legendary book and why Jackson is remembered as such a great author.
I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it. One of the last episodes and the two sisters were talking for a while and then out of nowhere that jump scare happens.
Thing about jump scares is most of the time you can tell around when it's gonna happen so you can brace yourself.
This gave no hint and it got me so bad I screamed and turned a little away while throwing up my arms in front of my face. I've never reacted like that to a movie or anything in my life lol. WTF?!
Holy shit is this an all time great jump scare or was it just one for me? I was a kid and got scared bad by the ones in exorcist 3 and end of Friday 13th but I'm old now and have seen so many movies. Yet it scared the life out of me!
Hi everyone! Any shows revolving around family members with sibling issues and different characters, bringing up childhood memories, and later reunited with one goal?
Edit: By different characters, I meant, one of the siblings is a blacksheep, one is successful in his career and is the serious type, one has a good sense of humor but with a sweet, soft side.
A quick reminder.
Last year u/The_Dalek_Emperor told us how she's going to work with Mike Flanagan on this Netflix show. Link to original post :
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoSleepOOC/comments/6jxokf/hi_all_im_in_la_writing_a_tv_show_for_netflix_and/
It's only obvious that she wasn't the only one involved in the writing process, but it does tell you how amazing the writers of r/nosleep really are.
She's written some of my favorite NoSleeps, inclusive of Borrasca, and it's more than awesome that she gets to work on such a critically acclaimed show.
Your Favourite Shows Beside The Haunting of Hill House ?
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