Writer and director Mike Flanagan cemented his status as a horror auteur with his 2018 Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House. A reimagining of Shirley Jackson’s Gothic novel, Flanagan beautifully portrayed the psychological ambiguity of the original story through the lens of a family torn apart and then drawn back together via the titular house.
Along the way, the series also provided some of the year’s best scares. Yet what makes Hill House so haunting is not what goes bump in the night, but the emotional context painted across the manor’s infinite walls. Watch above as we dissect how Flangan used one of his scariest ghosts to evoke the empathy that has become the hallmark of his style.
Written and narrated by Jenn Adams of Psychoanalysis. Edited by Perry Froelich.
Editor’s Note: If you are having issues viewing the video below, watch it on YouTube.
