‘The Haunting of Hill House’ Originally Had a Much Darker Ending

Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House took viewers on an emotional journey, with the series’ final moments delivering audiences a satisfying, albeit gut-wrenching conclusion. According to director Mike Flanagan, he had previously considered delivering viewers and even more depressing fate for the Crain family.

WARNING: Major spoilers below for The Haunting of Hill House

The series focused on the Crain family who were haunted by their time living in the Hill House, which resulted in their mother’s apparent suicide, resulting in grief following them around for the rest of their lives. In their time at the mansion, one house was seemingly locked off from all access, referred to as the “Red Room,” with the series’ final moments showing the Crain family finally entering the room.

As it turns out, the kids all had spent time in the Red Room, yet its supernatural qualities allowed the room to take different forms to each of the young children, whether it be a game room or a treehouse. The one distinct quality is that, when the room is shown in flashbacks, there is a specific rectangular window that would alert the viewer to the kids’ whereabouts.

The conclusion of the story showed how Hugh Crain, the family’s patriarch, sacrificed himself to the house and its spirits to allow his children to find happiness. A montage depicted the kids’ future as they were allowed to leave their past behind.

Flanagan confirmed that he had toyed with using this montage to include the Red Room’s rectangular window to hint that the family was merely dreaming of a happy ending, despite being doomed to remain in the house.

“One thing I can say is that we talked for a very, very long time about putting the Red Room window, that weird vertical window, in the background of this shot,” Flanagan shared with Thrillist about a scene depicting Steven Crain resolving issues with his wife. “And I ultimately decided not to. It was too cruel. But there was a lot of talk that this peace might not be real. In the version we ended up going with, I think it absolutely is real. We committed to that course of action. But the suspicion you had was exactly where we were, and that kind of makes me very happy.”

While this version would have still led to passionate debates among viewers, it surely would have had a much more somber conclusion to an already dour experience.

The Haunting of Hill House is on Netflix now.

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[H/T Thrillist]