#so you know in the first scene? steven and theo wake up and steven tells theo to go back to sleep

[elizabeth-mitchells]

*young nell crain crying her little heart out after seeing a ghost that will haunt her for the rest of her life*

me: ah my comfort show <33

[zoominlumen]

Steven Can Taste Ghosts?

I have a theory regarding The Haunting of Hill House. I am rewatching for the 3rd or 4th time right now and I’m in episode 3: Touch.

It seems to me that each of the Crain children has a different sensory connection to the apparitions of Hill House.

Nell: Sound

Luke: Smell

Theo: Touch

Shirley: Sight

Which leaves

Steven: Taste?

In this episode, Luke and Nell are trying to figure out the communication system with a pipe leading from one of the spare rooms to the kitchen beside the dumbwaiter. Theo says it’s like a telephone for inside of the house, and takes Luke upstairs to the other end. When they enter the spare bedroom, they have this exchange:

Luke: Ugh, what is that smell?

Theo: What smell?

Luke: You can’t smell that?

Theo: Smells the same in here as the rest of the house.

Luke climbs up onto the bed and only once Theo touches the pillow does she say, “This was a sick bed.”

Luke, by the way, only sees the Tall Man from far away, and as the day after Nell’s death passes, the Tall Man begins to get closer, but only coming up behind Luke, where he can’t see. Luke has to rely on his other senses, and the Tall Man doesn’t make any noise when he moves; he glides. But he may be close enough to smell:

Remember that later on in the episode, as Liv gives Theo her first pair of gloves, she says that, when they first moved into the house, Nell said it was ‘Loud’.

That got me thinking about how Nell, on multiple occasions after her death, interrupts the family when they are yelling at each other, like she is still listening. There is the scene where she knocks over her own casket after Steve shouts “My problem is that the wrong parent died!” And there is the scene where Nell appears as a ghost to scream at Theo and Shirley while they’re yelling at each other on the drive to Hill House.

Shirley is a sleep talker, and the first time that we see her sleep talking, she says ‘Dancing in the red room’ which we find out later, Theo does. She is also the only one of the Crain children who, when they all wake at 3:03 as Nell dies, says, ‘Nelly’s in the red room’. She sees things, but mostly in her dreams.

(I would also argue that Shirley sees the most apparitions leading up to the Crain family’s return to Hill House.)

Everybody knows that when Theo touches something, she has an innate ability to understand that thing, so I won’t bother explaining.

That only leaves Steven and the sense of taste. ‘Steven can taste ghosts’ sounds ridiculous, but, the way that the red room manifests for him includes his estranged wife kissing him and feeding him fries, with a bowl of fruit on display beside them. She tells him to eat, because it’s the best cure for writer’s block. Watching the scene again, I swear there is a moment of confusion on Steven’s face, both in the moment after the kiss and the moment after she feeds him the fry. And as his fantasy breaks down, the apparition of Leigh calls him an ‘Eater’ and says that their baby will be an ‘Eater’ too.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk about how Steven Crain can taste ghosts, for some reason.

[bloodnikki]

Thoughts on The Haunting of Hill House...

I think we should all take a moment to look at why The Haunting of Hill House is so good both as an adaption as well as it’s own piece.

Let’s start with it as an adaption.

As an adaption of a book/movie, it is very different. It has it’s own feeling and a wildly different story. Where as the book dealt with a group of people studying the haunting of Hill House, the series deals with a family coming to terms with their haunting.

But it isn’t so far removed that it feels too different! And that is important, because this makes it feel respectful to the source. The names of characters are taken from the book. There are scenes that are clear references to the original work and lines that are almost taken straight from the text of the book. 

In short, it is clear that the Tv Series and the Book are two different houses, but the ground work/the frame is the same. The core of it is the same while we, as viewers, enter unsure of the layout of the building we are about to enter. So, old fans have a lot to look forward to when they sit down to watch it.

As It’s Own Piece... 

There is a lot to say on it. It is truly a work that shows the beauty of visual storytelling. It has a very strong opening and closing episode, much like the book has a strong opening and closing. But I’ll touch on this in a little bit.

1) Lighting! So, for everyone use to watching horror or even passing viewers to the genre, you know that most horror series/movies are very dark. They use darkness to showcase the larking monsters. Normally lighting only the main character or just enough to give a sense of dread.

Hill House series doesn’t have overly dark scenes. In fact, it does the opposite. All scenes in Hill House are well lit. Even scenes taking place in the dark of night, have a good amount of lighting. This is because the house is a character. In fact, the house is just as important a character as the family.

So, every scene in Hill House is well lit. You are always aware that you are in Hill House or you become aware of the swift to Hill House easily. Details of the rooms in Hill House are always clear to see.

2) This is because, Details are very important. The series uses a lot of symbolism to convey meaning. In the use of color, to the use of personal relationships, the details in a scene are important. 

3) Due to the fact of how things always Cycle back. The book and the series have an open and closing that cycle back into each other. This is an element that is reinforced throughout the show. Events keep getting circled back to, much like Nell’s bent neck lady, to enhance the story. Sometimes even showing there is no clear start or finish. Time isn’t a fixed idea. We learn something new from each retelling and pick up new elements that flesh out the story with each cycling back. Each family member has a piece of the story and each piece doesn’t make sense without the others. Everything cycles back near seamlessly 

2) details. Details that make the viewing enjoyable when you rewatch it. There isn’t a wasted scene or line to be found. We either learn something important to a character or we see something important to the over all narrative. Case in point Shirley waking up to say “Nell’s in the red room” in the first episode and start of the next. 

This is brought up a few times. It is said when Huge goes to bed to his wife “Shirley is sleep talking again” Shown twice as they repeat the scene of her waking up saying that in the second episode, after we just saw in the first, and again by Olivia in a later episode in the scene where she talks to Theo about them being sensitive people.

By the way, can we all agree that the way we are introduce to the family, in the Hill House flashback, is amazing. It perfectly sets up each of their characters. Shirley pretty much sleeps through Nell’s cry for help. Theo is unsure how to help Nell, but she waved away and doesn’t even come to the room to help. Just goes back to her own room/world. Steven, the older brother, tries his best to comfort Nell, but can’t. Huge comes in trying to make things better while Luke is ignored. He is quickly forgotten in the scene. Huge is the last person to talk to Nell before he leaves the room to check on the kids.

Much like he is the last person to talk to Nell before she enters the house. He calls to tell Steven to check on her since he is closest. Luke is all but ignored as they play telephone in the first few scenes. In fact we don’t see him until after Nell dies. Shirley passes Nell’s call off, not evening speaking to her youngest sister. She let’s Steven do it, much like Theo let Steven handle Nell that night with the nightmare, while Theo has nothing to do with the game of telephone much like Shirley sleeping through the events of the nightmare. In this way, it shows a bond between the sisters that is reinforced later by showing they sort of live together.

Porch light on means come home. Shirley’s model of the forever home being smashed by possibly, most likely in context of the scene, her mother’s ghost. I could list on and on about the use of color and little details.

Details that are easy to over look, but really make a difference to the overall story. It’s the way that events cycle back that are just so enjoyable to watch.

4) Just like the transitions between scenes are enjoyable. The cuts are just so beautiful done. They flow so nicely from one scene to the next. Making it hard, at times, to place the start of one scene to the next in our minds. A visual cycling back to the idea that there is no real start or finish to a moment. Time isn’t a line of events that happen one after the other, but a series of moments happening all at once around us. The opening of a door or fridge, leads effortlessly into the opening of the past, a memory of what happened in Hill House. Going down a hallway leads you down a different one.

The biggest weakness to The Haunting of Hill House, is Shirley. Her character, both young and old, doesn’t do much within the story. Her damage due to the house feels rushed compared to the others. We don’t get as much time with her compared to her siblings. Steve, Theo, Nell, Luke and Huge are big center pieces. They feel like main characters while Shirley feels, at times, like she’s still in bed sleeping. I put her on the same status as the Dudley’s. They are there and they are important to the story, but they aren’t the soul of the story. They are merely there while things are happening, a causal force in the over all narrative. 

I am not saying that her character isn’t important or could have been removed. Shirley’s character is needed. It helps setup a bunch of events. It helps move the story along faster and keeps the locations to as few places as possible. It also keeps the cast smaller, leaving more time to showcase the family. Her character helps keeps the story from becoming muddy through useless/not as important events or meeting people that won’t be important later. 

Rather, what I am saying is that I wish there could have been more done with her. Sadly, I don’t honestly think there could have been a way to do that without taking away from her siblings and the story. In a family of seven, one person always ends up having to get lost in the shuffle. That person is Shirley and for this story, the way it had to be told, that’s okay. It’s okay that Shirley slept through most of the events. It’s okay she doesn’t get up in the middle of the night to comfort her sister who is crying over the bent neck lady. It’s okay, because those that were most needed got up and were seen. 

I honestly could send more time talking about the series and the elements that I enjoyed from it. It came out on the 12th and of writing this, it is the 15th. I have sat through the show twice. I clearly haven’t picked up everything in it. I couldn’t possibly do that in two viewings. But this is just an overview of the things that I felt made the series work. 

[frankenstein-girl]

anyway you ever think about how luke was fulfilling his mother’s misguided prophecy whenever he used? like obviously he and nellie are pushed toward the very thing their mom wanted to save them from by her own actions, but luke literally picks up where she left off.

first of all, as a lot of people have theorized, the ghost with the hat is a manifestation of his trauma from that night. it also serves as a metaphor for his desire to use that follows him - and he explicitly says that he started using to cope with things from his past coming back. my interpretation of that scene is that the whole time the ghost is following him, he is tempted to relapse. when the ghost turns around and is revealed to be olivia, she says, “come home, my love,” obviously a parallel to the ending when he’s literally dead and she says, “we’re home, my love” - she wants him dead/awake. (this interpretation is even more supported if it actually is olivia’s ghost, and it could be because she says that she could hear him all these years, and he’s able to see the ghosts at other points in the series - specifically nell when he wakes up in rehab, nell and olivia at the funeral; although it also could be him projecting his trauma in a way that he understands).

also, when the twins in olivia’s vision or whatever ask what would happen if they had a bad dream, they refer to luke’s future drug use as poisoning himself, which is self explanatory. then luke and nellie both witness abigail’s death, whether or not they consciously remember it. a lot of people have suggested that they both have repressed that memory so much that it manifests itself in different ways - like the ghost in the hat - which is similar to theo’s case with mr. smiley. then luke at some level would know that his mom tried to poison him, and as he got older, he coped with that fear (his rational for his addiction) with drugs, but also continued down the same path that his mother had started. my theory is that he internalized that experience so much that he ended up emulating it.

and then the scene in the red room. the room manipulates him into basically relapsing by injecting himself with a lethal dose of rat poison. this clearly connects his addiction to his trauma from that night. then at the tea party, when he realizes that he is dead and says he doesn’t want to die, olivia tells him that of course he wanted to be there, he had been banging on the door for years. this implies that luke, at some level, wanted to die - which makes sense when you think about how self destructive addiction is. or this is a misinterpretation by olivia, and all luke wanted was a way to escape from his trauma. either way, if he didn’t get clean, he was going to end up dying, fulfilling her initial fears and her intention to poison him that night (and this, to me, makes steven’s reaction to luke seeing the ghosts at the funeral way more understandable - he isn’t just being an asshole, he just doesn’t want him to die - and he’s been watching his brother slowly kill himself for years. anyway).

tl;dr luke had unknowingly been fulfilling his mother’s wishes and worst fears as a way of coping with the trauma that he’s repressed for years and perpetuating that trauma at the same time

[aberorca]

New Cast: Part Two

Okay, guys. Part Two was really good tonight, really good. I’ll admit I still had/have some reservations about the cast after Part One but Part Two has smoothed many of those away.

Part Two opens with my favourite piece of choreography, led by Nuno Silva. Nuno didn’t come out of stage door tonight which was a shame because I wanted to tell him how glad I am that he’s stayed on. For those who don’t know, Nuno plays Bane, as well as other ensemble roles but his most important role is Movement Captain. He is basically Steven Hoggett’s (Movement Director) right hand man among the cast and he works with the rest of the cast to coordinate all the complex routines that are carried out on stage, often with very large set pieces. You could really see what Nuno does among the new cast today, how he guides them and the confidence in what he does.

Samuel continues to be the star of the new cast. He really is outstandingly confident and a total natural - you’d think he’d been doing it for years and the audience is absolutely focused on him  and him alone when he’s on stage. I think it was @mrsellacott who said that James Howard told her he loves his new son, and that shows. Samuel and James have a great chemistry on stage. As James is my favourite of Cast 2, I was really looking forward to tonight because Draco has his best scenes in Part Two. His first scene, in the Voldemort timeline did not disappoint. @bounding-heart did a post about why James is so good in this role and that is never more obvious than in this scene. But he also shows love and a sadness and a pain that flows under a Malfoy cover. He rarely shouts, which I like. He exudes menace and intimidation without doing so but he has softness hiding there. When he pinned Scorpius to the desk in this scene, he released him and then shook and twitched in his left hand, the hand he had used to pin Scorpius down. He was physically expressing regret with the movement, as though it physically pained him to be violent with his child. It very much felt as though violence had become a part of who he was in this version of the world, that it was now second nature but that deep down it wasn’t welcome there, a darkness that grips to him like a parasite. So, so good from Mr. Howard.

Elizabeth Hill is an excellent actress. She plays a firm, sporty Hooch with a cool Northen accent in Part One, and a bitchy, snotty Petunia, but in Part Two as Umbridge, she is genuinely unnerving. Her Umbridge relishes in the way she speaks. She’s posh, or at least pretends to be, and she milks it for all it’s worth, letting every word slither off her tongue in the most regal way possible in her desire to feel and to be seen as royal. Her laugh doesn’t induce laughter from the audience like Helena Lynberry did - it is really sinister. Her movements when talking to Scorpius were almost flirtatious, but in a really sickening way that made my skin crawl. Superb debut in the role.

David Annen as Snape - I was really looking forward to seeing David in this role and he didn’t disappoint. He is much more like book Snape than Paul was. He doesn’t raise his voice and he appears bitter and reserved. I never liked the dynamic between Snape and Hermione in the last cast - I get that they were working together but they were too touchy-feely for my liking. That’s gone with David. His “whatever you are” to Hermione was deliciously sarcastic and snotty The “How very pleasant for me” line dripped with sarcasm and the “I exist to serve” line was wonderfully but subtly aggrieved. When he threatened Scorpius with punishment, he deliberately and obviously moved his robe to reveal the pocket in which he kept his wand, making the threat very real. It was a cool detail. When Snape is taken by the Dementors, heave the most horrific scream once they had enveloped him in their cloaks. It really did sound like someone who was losing their life in a horrific manner.

Theo came out of his shell in this performance. Yesterday in Part One he showed signs of being good but he was visibly terrified (his first professional job is one of the biggest roles in a show that has won nine Oliviers - even John said that was terrifying for them) and as a result he was very stiff (I felt bad for Jamie G in the blanket scene in Part One because I felt Theo was giving him very little to work from). But the audience was great yesterday and I think that has put some of the cast (Theo was not the only one who was clearly nervous) at ease a bit more. I think Theo is going to be very good and I look forward to watching him evolve in the role. Also, for all you Scorbus shippers - if you shipped them with Anto and Sam, you’re going to go nuts for Theo and Samuel. They obviously already have a very close relationship as actors and the chemistry between them is fantastic.

Samuel, when he came out of the lake and saw his Dad, put his arms out for a moment as if he wanted to hug him but then lost his courage. It was sweet. James just pointed him in the direction he wanted him, with military-level authority. I really liked it. Alex often used to grab Scorpius by the scruff and march him off stage; I like this less aggressive approach from James because I think it contrasts the differences between Draco in the Voldemort timeline and in the present much more.

One of the Hogwarts kids slipped in some of the water left on the stage but luckily they didn’t go down and carried on.

Jamie finally started to show some Harry-temper in the scene where he visits Albus in the Slytherin dormitory although he only got half-way there.  I reserved judgement on Jamie in Part One yesterday. I agree with @torestoreamends that it’s very important not to compare Jamie G to Jamie P because I think we always knew that Jamie P’s Harry would always be incomparable and I’m OK with that, because I always knew that watching Jamie Parker was a privilege. In fact, it’s very important not to compare any of the new cast with the old cast - it’s not fair on them. Of course we love the old cast, but the new cast have to be given a chance to be different and make the role their own (within the context of the character, of course). But Jamie G certainly lacked something yesterday, for example, he did not sound nearly as desperate as a parent should when searching for their missing child in a forest. I think Jamie G was another cast member who was very nervous but he did much better in Part Two today. I think he needs time and I hope that with time he will push the role and feel his way further into it. This scene wasn’t as heated as it should have been and as a consequence, the argument with Ginny where she asks how heated it got, didn’t work as well.

More Samuel gushing - in the dormitory scene when Albus is sleeping and he wakes him up, he did it in the most brilliant way that beats Anthony and James. He first whispered Albus’s name. He then said “Pssst!” When this didn’t work, he tiptoed over to Albus’s bed and in a really high-pitched but soft voice said “Albus?”. Finally, he shouted it right into Theo’s ear and Theo reacted brilliantly. I always felt Sam underplayed the comedy of this moment slightly but Theo didn’t disappoint. He sat bolt upright with a yell and then turned and started whacking Scorpius with his pillow. It was fantastic.

Annabel as Delphi - finally, finally, I have seen Annabel’s Delphi and she is supremely unnerving. John said he thought she was smashing it. Her Part One Delphi is quite awkward and bumbling and Tonks-like, which I liked. Her Part Two Delphi is almost unhinged once she is revealed and it’s scary. Some stand-out moments for me were what appeared to be genuine, yet mocking pity for the shock and horror on Albus’s face after she kills Craig. It was pity, yet it was patronising. “Aw. Did you not understand?” Brilliant. Then, when explaining how the kids fitted in to the prophecy she kissed Albus. It was “Albus” *kisses his cheek* “is the unseen child who will kill his father”. It was the most possessive, horrifying action; that Albus is this most invaluable object to her that will make her dreams come true. Somehow it reminds me of the way in which Umbridge loves her kittens:  a repulsive obsession.

Emma as Ginny did much better in Part Two - she was another I was reserving judgement on yesterday. Yesterday I really felt that she lacked Ginny’s ovaries - her “So was mine” just didn’t feel strong enough. She definitely improved on that today, although I don’t feel the same warmth from her that I’d like to feel. Like Jamie G, I think she needs some time, perhaps. But I’m optimistic.

Jamie G in the Dumbledore scene was good. I’m so much more optimistic about him than I was yesterday. He can genuinely act and his break down in Albus’s bedroom was even better. He’s not Harry yet, but there is potential there. I’m looking forward to seeing him grow into the character. Harry and Ginny kissed twice when getting Albus's message, just like in the script. (It used to be that they only kissed even though the script called for two.

On the other hand, perhaps I’m just too hard to please, because all the main cast (Albus, Scorpius, Draco, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry) got a standing ovation at the curtain call. I was slightly gutted for the rest that they didn’t but audiences do vary and I’m sure that there are shows when they will. The past two nights had a very good audience and the stage door reception was lovely. I think the cast that came out definitely felt the love and I’m glad because I think it will give them fuel.

Speaking of stage door, April Hughes, who plays Myrtle (and is outstanding - didn’t think anyone would beat Annabel but she smashed it and even Annabel said so) was absolutely adorable. I sang her praises to her and she seemed really touched and happy and asked if she could give me a hug, so we had a hug. She’s a sweetheart! As is Sarah Miele who plays a now-Scottish Polly Chapman with purple hair (we asked her about this and she said it was just something she was told they were going to go for with the character this time). James Phoon (Craig) is adorable. I can’t remember how we got onto the subject but we were talking about the Friday Forty and I said that all my CC friends had won it at least once and I never had. He said that he played the Friday Forty every week ever since the play opened and he never won it either (he’s such a FAN!!). I told him “Now you’re in it! Even better!” and then asked if that meant that I’ll be in the play next year too. He gave a dramatic gasp and said “Oh, my God! That’s it!” and then grasped my arm and said “I’ll root for you for next year.” I told him to show me the ropes when I get cast. What an absolute doll he is. Again, the cast that came out all seemed so touched by the reception and I’m really pleased they’ve been given that confidence.

On Sunday 21st, I met Sonia Friedman. I found her at the back of the stalls and approached her, told her how much I loved and related to the play and congratulated her on all her success. I asked if I could show her something and she said “Of course” so I showed her my poster and she said she loved it because she was a dog person. I thanked her and didn’t see her after that until I passed by her yesterday when she was talking to Jack Thorne at the end of Part One about the pacing of the new cast (they had been a bit slow on a couple of bits). I don’t think she saw me as they were deep in conversation. Anyway, tonight, she came out of stage door briefly to watch the reception that the new cast received. No one realised she was there as she just lingered in the doorway and watched for a few moments - she didn’t go to greet fans. She had her hair different to usual and was wearing sunglasses so I actually didn’t recognise her even though I saw her right in front of me but she recognised me (we were standing right in front of the stage door at the barrier). She went back in to speak to someone but then came out again and came and stood next to me and said quietly “So, what did you think?” I then realised it was her and apologised, telling her I didn’t recognise her with the sunglasses and she said something along the lines of “I like to go incognito sometimes”. @torestoreamends , @mrsellacott and I had a nice chat with her and she thanked us for the support of the new cast.

I was hoping John Tiffany might come out of stage door but he didn’t (because I didn’t ask him to this time =P - I’ll tell that story in another post). My train got delayed on my way to the show this evening and I got in really late (I think @torestoreamends was panicking that I wouldn’t get in on time, she gave me big hug when she saw me and told me she’d been anxiously waiting in the aisle of the stalls to see me come in). Anyway, John was at the back of the stalls (he didn’t sit near the front like he did on May 21st - maybe he didn’t want to be inundated by fans again - more on that in another post) but anyway, I’d spoken to him on Sunday and as I walked past this evening, he looked up from his phone screen and so I gave him a big grin and he smiled back. Then in the interval, I had a brief freak-out with @torestoreamends at the Girls’ Bathroom (obviously) about how good Part Two was and then she let me go to the loo and went back to Stalls. :P On my way back, John stepped out of the Mens’ right in front of me and went back to the Stalls so I was following right behind him, seriously worrying that he was going to think I was stalking him. He noticed me and I immediately apologised and said “I’m really sorry, I swear I’m not following you, you just stepped out of the Mens’ room right in front of me.” He laughed and patted my arm and said “Don’t worry.” We got back to Stalls, right by the tech box where @torestoreamends appeared out of nowhere and we had a lovely chat with him for a few minutes. John is such a lovely, warm person, he’s so happy to talk to fans about the show. I told him that I thought it was great that the first show of the new cast had gone so smoothly and that I thought it was funny that there had been no technical hitches, given that there were so many on the 21st with a cast of fourteen months’ experience. He grinned and said “Because I kicked arse, that’s why”. So yeah. Sounds as though the tech team got a spanking for the screw-ups on the 21st.

And that’s all I’ll say about the new cast! I look forward to watching them develop and I hope everyone going to see them keeps an open mind and shows them the Potterhead love. I really think in particular that Scorbus is going to be sensational - even more so than it has been and we’ve all got lots to look forward to. I thought the ultimate test would be whether they could make me cry and they did. Happy Cast Change, peeps! x