The Haunting of Hill House is a great thriller/horror movie. Its mystery is what makes it so eerie and fun to watch. There are some things that are never really answered in the show...some of which probably won't or can't be answered at this point. The show does have a second season coming out. Maybe we will learn more of the history of Hill House, but for now, I have some questions about how the Red Room works and why.
1. Why is the house haunted in the first place?
the door to the Red Room
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Hill House is referred to a hungry monster which feeds off the inhabitants in the house. The Red Room is referred to as the house's stomach rather than its heart. It's unclear why the house is haunted though. Did the house become haunted by the Hills dying in it or did the Hills perish because they were living inside a hungry-monster-house? At what point do wood and nails stop being wood and nails and start being a house? There seems to be a lot of other ghosts in the house too. They may be some members of the staff of the house. It's like a "which came first: the chicken or the egg?" which is left unanswered.
2. Why are the mentally ill more susceptible to the house?
Olivia's ghost in Hill House
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It is hinted throughout the show that Olivia may suffer from some type of mental illness. Creator/writer Michael Flanagan has said that people react to the house differently. Some people are more susceptible to fall under the house's power. Olivia who is either psychic or mentally ill is the most affected. There's also that random 1920's flapper woman. We find out that her name is Polly and that she was mentally ill. She married into the Hill family, after meeting Mr. Hill (the tall floating man who bricked himself into the basement) in an insane asylum. They all seemed to have died because of the house. What makes the house pick off the mentally ill versus the other residents? Are they easier prey?
3. Why doesn't Hugh believe Olivia more about the house if he knew she was "sensitive"?
Hugh & Olivia
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There's a really cute scene where Hugh tells Steven that Olivia was the kite to his string. He kept her grounded and she brought life to him, but if Olivia and Hugh are as in love as they say they are ....then why doesn't he trust her more if she truly does have supernatural powers. It seems she is repressing psychic abilities which she brushes off as migraines. On the other hand, if she isn't psychic, then why doesn't her husband encourage her to seek help for the migraines? Olivia tells Theo that Hugh knows she is "sensitive".
4. Why can the house haunt some people outside of the house and not others?
Luke looking at the Floating Tall Man
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Generally speaking, ghosts residing in haunted houses cannot leave the house. Later on, when they are in the house together, Ghost Olivia tells Hugh that she was not with him outside of the house. He only imagined her to help him cope. Luke sees the tall man with a bowler hat outside of the house. He only sees it after leaving rehab. Maybe the floating tall man represents Luke's own ghost or demon and he is imaging it the same way the Hugh imagines Olivia's ghost. However, this is inconsistent. Nell sees herself as a ghost outside and inside of the house. While she is sleeping in bed with her husband, he dies of a brain aneurysm. Then the Bent Neck Lady appears. She appears before he dies though, so we know it's not the same type of scenario as Luke seeing the Tall Man. We also see Nell fall through time as the Bent Neck Lady. We see her in the room with her past self and her dead husband. So her ghost does leave the house. Is there some reason that Nell's ghost was able to leave the house while Tall Man and Olivia's ghost were only imagined outside of the house?
5. Why is time not linear?
Nell falling through time to warn/haunt her former self
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It is never really explained why Nell's ghost travels back in time to try to warn her former self about the house. Her time travel happens very fast. She's standing over her younger self in bed as the Bent Neck Lady. Next, she's scaring young Nell above the couch. She is even there when her husband dies. It is never explained why she never sees the Bent Neck Lady while she is married, maybe it is just a coincidence. Maybe her husband made her stronger emotionally. Maybe ghosts latch onto different people the same way the house latches onto different people. This would explain why she wouldn't see Bent Neck Lady while in a happy relationship, she was essentially a different person. She was able to get over waking up in the middle of the night frozen, unable to move. Then when her husband dies of a brain aneurysm, she begins haunting/warning herself all over again because now she is suddenly alone and more alone and scared about the future. The show is pretty inconsistent with the logistics of the ghosts, especially in regards to Nell.
6. Who was the woman who comforted Abigail after her death?
mysterious woman after taking Abigail's hand
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The idea has been floated that the mystery woman who comforts Abigail after Olivia gives her tea laced with rat poison is none other than Mrs. Dudley's mother-in-law. Mr. Dudley tells us his mother worked in Hill House and died there. This is part of the reason why Abigail was so sheltered and why Mr. & Mrs. Dudley do not stay at the house after dark. They fear the ghosts in the house will take them as well. Mr. Dudley tells Hugh that his wife was starting to act strangely after working so long at the house after she bore a stillborn baby. It's possible that the mystery woman could be the mother-in-law who died at the house. It makes sense that she would want to comfort her granddaughter and take her under her wing in the haunted house.
7. What was the deal with the ghostly clock repairman?
Steven looking at the clock repairman who is later revealed to be a ghost
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The repairman seemed to only serve as evidence that Steven did in fact see ghosts as a child. He wrote in his book about the repairman, but his father said he never hired such a man. He also stated that the clock was in excellent condition, and only a professional could repair such a clock. Poppy and Hazel are the only ghosts who give us any backstory about the Hills living in Hill House, and the clock repairman is not one of them. Was he someone who died in the house? If he was just there to repair the clock, could he really have been there long enough after dark for the house to influence him? It's clear that the clock is in such great shape because he constantly seems to be tending to it.
8. Who were all the random ghosts in the background throughout the show?
ghostly woman in the background peering out behind a wall in the basement
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You may have noticed some of the hidden ghosts throughout the season of Hill House. They often appear in non-scary moments in the background. The first one I noticed, was in episode 7. It's safe to assume that these ghosts all live in the house because they somehow died in it. However, some of them appear more ghoul-like while others (like the clock repairman appear more human than ghost-like. When Poppy reveals herself to Olivia, she appears human. Meanwhile, her sister-in-law Hazel appears as a nasty looking zombie while resting in her sick bed. It is unclear what causes some ghosts to appear ghoulish while others appear more human. It doesn't seem that Hazel was trying to scare Olivia. She even goes as far as to warn her that Poppy is a liar. Ghosts can decide how they will appear to others outside the spirit realm, but why does there seem to be so much inconsistency with how the ghosts of Hill House choose to present themselves?
9. Why didn't any of the adults question the tree house?
Luke in the tree house
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Another plot hole in the story is no one in the house ever questions the rooms the Red Room makes. Hugh tells Steven there is no way in hell that he built a tree house for them while they were trying to flip the house. Steven has the game room, which the twins are seen in at some point. Theo has the dance studio. The other two girls are shown on the other side of the door to the Red Room trying to get the door open while Theo is in the dance studio. This begs the question: where do all these rooms exist? It's clear that Theo is behind the door to the Red Room, so how did she get there if the door never opens? Steven and Luke are both in the tree house at some point. The kids see Mom go into her reading room. Do these rooms exist at the same time? How do you get a tree house that is inside of a house indoors? Luke spent a lot of time in the tree house, he surely mentioned it. If the tree house really didn't exist as Hugh later claims, why didn't its lack of existence come up before while his kids were young? There are several occasions where Steven is asked, "Where's Luke?" and his response is that he is in the tree house. If there was no tree house, wouldn't someone have asked what the hell he was talking about? It makes sense that the tree house wouldn't be there upon their arrival when they first move in. The house hadn't yet learned its inhabitant's needs. Wouldn't Hugh question how the tree house got there if he knew that he didn't build it? Wouldn't he be worried or pissed if some strangers were wondering around onto his property building his kids tree houses?
