The Haunting of Hill House depicts a seemingly normal family confronting the ghosts from their past, both literally and figuratively. Viewers of the Netflix series might have noticed that the female members of the Crain family weren’t exactly as they seemed, with series director Mike Flanagan detailing Olivia, Shirley, Theo, and Nell’s abilities.
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WARNING: Minor spoilers below for The Haunting of Hill House
The Crain family moved into the Hill House specifically to renovate it and sell it for profit, only for a number of horrors to unfold. Flanagan detailed how this wasn’t merely a coincidence and that it was a supernatural gift of Olivia Crain that somehow drew the family to the home, leading to a number of terrifying events.
Flanagan detailed to Entertainment Weekly, “To steal from Stephen King, we talked about how the characters ‘shine’ and that Olivia, being sensitive, as she puts it, kind of having a type of emotionality that is supernatural in the way she processes it, that she would have passed that down to her daughters, and that each of them would have gotten a splinter of that from her, if she was the prism of it. Theo gets the touch and Shirley has the dream sleep and the intuition and Nell is able to look across time.”
The series and Shirley Jackson’s original novel can be enjoyed as nothing more than a spooky tale, yet they also explore themes of grief and the ways in which it can rip a family apart. While viewers might have wondered if the house granted the family these abilties, Flanagan detailed what made the Crain family so unique.
“For the house, Olivia certainly is the big meal,” Flanagan explained. “I think that that side of her, which is something that we really, really loved about Jackson’s book, both Eleanor and Theodora, that they had this unique sensitivity, this special paranormal energy to them. I think that absolutely drew her to the house and I think it’s what powered the engine of the house for decades, ultimately.”
A modern reimagining of Shirley Jackson’s iconic novel, The Haunting of Hill House explores a group of siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country. Now adults, and forced back together in the face of tragedy, the family must finally confront the ghosts of their past — some of which still lurk in their minds while others may actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House.
Interestingly, Flanagan will get another opportunity to explore characters with a “shine,” as he’s directing the sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep.
The Haunting of Hill House is on Netflix now.
Did you pick on the Crain family’s connection to the house? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
[H/T Entertainment Weekly]
