Stephen King is a master of macabre, having delivered fans countless horrifying tales over the years. With The Haunting of Hill House hitting Netflix this past weekend, an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s novel, King shared his praise for the new series on social media.
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The author shared, “The Haunting of Hill House, revised and remodeled by Mike Flanagan. I don’t usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great. Close to a work of genius, really. I think Shirley Jackson would approve, but who knows for sure.”
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.
This new adaptation, from Oculus and Ouija: Origin of Evil director Mike Flanagan, is the third live-action interpretation of Jackson’s novel. Understandably, Flanagan couldn’t help but express his enthusiasm after receiving such high praise from King.
The filmmaker retweeted the comment, adding, “Some day I’ll figure out how to react things like this without shrieking like a little kid… but today is not that day.”
The series stars Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, and Victoria Pedretti.
King isn’t the only one praising the series, which currently sits at 90 percent positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, describing the adaptation, “The Haunting of Hill House is an effective ghost story whose steadily mounting anticipation is just as satisfying as its chilling payoff.”
Given Flanagan’s experience with feature films and the production value of Netflix series surpassing even theatrically-released films, the show is reportedly delivering some of the biggest frights of the year.
Brian Tallerico on RogerEbert.com claims, “The Haunting of Hill House contains some of the most unforgettable horror imagery in film or television in years.”
The series doesn’t only deliver scares, with Variety‘s Daniel D’Addario noting, “Slowly insinuating, building in power as it tells a story of repressed trauma and family discord. It’s an effective scare-fest that is at its best when the tale does more than jolt the viewer.”
The first season of The Haunting of Hill House is streaming now on Netflix.
Do you agree with King’s comments about the series? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
[H/T Twitter, StephenKing]
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