10 of the scariest moments in The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House season 1 production still. Photo: Steve Dietl/Netflix

The Red Room

Perhaps the best way to describe the horror of the final episode and this scary moment in particular is to encompass everything into one explanation of the Red Room. That room with the red door is a place of horror, but it is also the epicenter of Hill House. However, as Nell’s ghost explains, it’s a stomach — not a heart.

This room provides visions to the members of the Crain family, and each vision is a taste of horror couched in pretend happiness. It is hard to narrow down the scary moments in this episode because they all wrap up into something that helps conclude the story of Hill House and the Crain family.

From Steven’s private horror and Leigh’s pregnancy turning into a moment that is equal parts Exorcist meets Alien, to Luke’s heroin overdose-inspired nightmare of death and destruction, this room is at the heart of the evil, and it is terrifying.

Evil wants to destroy this family, and the Red Room is doing a fine job of doing that. There is no better way to wrap up our scariest moments list than to make it clear that this house is, as Steven Crain says, “born bad.”

The Haunting of Hill House has plenty of scary, chilling moments that made us jump and gasp throughout all 10 episodes. Of course, this series is a slow build that gives us an ultimate conclusion to the horror, which is why we’ve tried to pull together the moments that scared us from the start and helped draw us into the story of this haunted family. Ultimately, this series succeeds in being the perfect blend of horror and suspense to keep us watching until the final (mostly) satisfying conclusion.