The Haunting of Hill House season 1 production still. Photo: Steve Dietl/Netflix
Stormy Night at Hill House
In the flashback scenes to Hill House on the night of the storm (and in the episode featuring the family gathering around Nell’s coffin and arguing), the entire storm sequence has viewers on edge. From the ghostly visions of the original family that lived in the home to the shattering windows and Olivia mysteriously vanishing in the halls, there are a lot of scares during this single stormy night.
It’s a night of multiple ghosts, thunder and hail, a missing daughter, and of course, the Bent-Neck Lady. Even as the sequences are cut in between present day scenes at the funeral home, this is collectively a scary moment that only underscores what horrors lurk in the halls of this home.
The fact that the family is utterly terrified on that night is just the tip of the iceberg, as there is certainly more to come (which viewers know even before actually seeing it). This is a family on the verge of tragedy, dealing with more than just a stormy night. Instead, they’re dealing with a the strongest evidence of haunting yet … and they don’t even know it (not really anyway).
Even as we learn that Nell never actually goes missing, but is rather hidden from the family’s sight by a ghostly presence (the Bent-Neck Lady, aka adult Nell), it is clear that this house is going to have its way with the Crain family, and things are only going to get worse.