History Headscratchers / TheHauntingOfHillHouse2018

*** No, he saw the bowler-hat ghost in his episode when he hadn't used. He's not in withdrawal that episode - he's feeling Nell's death.
* Why is this show even called The Haunting of Hill House? If they were going to make up a completely different story and different characters, what was the point of getting the rights to Shirley Jackson's work? It seems like it's good enough on its own to not need a big-name boost, so why not adapt the book for real or call it something else?
** Because this show ''is'' an adaptation of ''The Haunting of Hill House'', just a BroadStrokes version. If you're looking for an adaptation that's mostly faithful to the text, it already exists, it's ''[[Film/TheHaunting1963 The Haunting]]'' and it's widely considered one of the scariest movies ever made. Any subsequent direct adaptation would and will exist in that film's shadow (see the [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Worst Picture]]-nominated [[Film/TheHaunting1999 1999 film]]). This show wanted to take that framework, build upon it and tell a unique story, one that would be unpredictable both for new viewers and those who love the book. Whether they succeeded or not is up to viewers like you, but even if this show had been an utter disaster that everyone hated, it couldn't hope to erase or tarnish the legacy of the novel, which is a beloved horror classic.

** Further, Steven's understanding with his father during the finale [[spoiler:(namely that Steven will take up the mantle of SecretKeeper in the wake of his father's death and subsequent haunting of the house)]] suggests that the siblings [[spoiler:will keep the house in their family and prevent others from visiting or purchasing the house, starving it of occupants to feed on.]] Sure, this is more of a pinkie promise than anything, but what weight does a contract have with [[spoiler:a ghost]] against a backdrop of supernatural evil? Given the shared trauma the Crains experienced throughout their lives due to the house's direct influence, it seems logical that they would have a vested interest in keeping it unoccupied and isolated, to prevent other families experiencing similar fates.
* Why could Steve [[spoiler: enter Luke's treehouse when no one else is ever shown interacting with someone else's version of the Red Room? Nell and Shirley couldn't get inside the room while Theo was in there, and no one else even seems to be aware of anyone else's rooms. And since Steve wrote about it in his book, he seems to have genuinely been there, rather than Luke hallucinating him there or anything.]]

*** The question is [[spoiler: if they really have been in there together. In the last episode, when the Red Rooms different variants are shown, we see a short clip from the same scene and this time we only see Luke speaking with Steve, but no Steve. Maybe Steve imagined meeting Luke in the game room, while Luke imagined Steve being with him in the treehouse?]]
*** Steve is simply out of frame in the shot. He was [[spoiler: in the treehouse version of the Red Room with Luke, probably because Luke wanted him there so the Red Room let him in.]]
* Was [[spoiler: the vision of Olivia that Hugh sees outside Hill House]] an actual ghost or a coping mechanism? [[spoiler: The Olivia inside the House seems to imply it was a coping mechanism, but how trustworthy is she?]]

*** WordOfGod says that [[spoiler: Olivia is the one who put the buttons on Nell's eyes at the funeral home, though,]] so house!Olivia lied and the shrink was wrong, simple as that.
** If she's lying then it does tie into her plan to have [[spoiler: everyone join her in the house forever. So if Hugh now believes that the visions he's been having of his wife are just hallucinations, then it gives him more motivation to join her]].

** I'm pretty sure the other body was [[spoiler: Mr. Hill, as found by Mr. Dudley and Hugh in the walls]]. Hence the "That had nothing to do with us" line that Hugh gave to the interrogating officer.
* Small detail, but after Abigail [[spoiler: has been fatally poisoned, most of the family has fled the house, and Olivia went back into the Red Room and found Abigail's corpse: who was the youngish brown haired lady in dated clothes who took Ghost!Abigail's hand and led her down the hall? Just some random house ghost, or a character from Hill House lore who'd been mentioned already?]]

* Why are [[spoiler: Nell and Olivia's spirits]] able to appear at Shirley's funeral home? Or at Steve's apartment? The mythology of the show implies that ghosts are tethered to the house.

*** The question is [[spoiler: if they really have been in there together. In the last episode, when the Red Rooms different variants are shown, we see a short clip from the same scene and this time we only see Luke speaking with Steve, but no Steve. Maybe Steve imagined meeting Steve in the games room, while Like imagined Steve being with him in the treehouse?]]

* Why is this show even called The Haunting of Hill House? If they were going to make up a completely different story and different characters, what was the point of getting the rights to Shirley Jackson's work? It seems like it's good enough on its own to not need a big-name boost, so why not adapt the book for real or call it something else?

*** No, he saw the bowler-hat ghost in his episode when he hadn't used. He's not in withdrawal that episode - he's feeling Nell's death.

** Further, Steven's understanding with his father during the finale [[spoiler:(namely that Steven will take up the mantle of SecretKeeper in the wake of his father's death and subsequent haunting of the house)]] suggests that the siblings [[spoiler:will keep the house in their family and prevent others from visiting or purchasing the house, starving it of occupants to feed on.]] Sure, this is more of a pinkie promise than anything, but what weight does a contract have with [[spoiler:a ghost]] against a backdrop of supernatural evil?

*** It wasn’t that ghost in the first place. Remember Luke used drugs to cope with trauma caused by his childhood memories. I think the “ghost” he sees is only the hallucination induced by drug withdrawal.

*** It wasn’t that ghost in the first place. Remember Luke used drugs to cope with trauma caused by his childhood memories. I think the “ghost” he sees is only the hallucination caused by drug withdrawal.

** It wasn’t that ghost in the first place. Remember Luke used drugs to cope with trauma caused by his childhood memories. I think the “ghost” he sees is only the hallucination caused by drug withdrawal.

*** The bowler hat-wearing ghost followed Luke all over the place as an adult in his focus episode, so yes, non-family members' ghosts do appear outside the house. Or at least that one does.

** The same reason Nell is able to see visions of the Bent Neck Lady. It seems that since the Crains lived in the house for so long, the ghosts were able to appear before them. They can't appear as much as they can in the house, but perhaps their familial bond allows it. None of the non family member ghosts appear outside the house, do they?

* Why are [[spoiler: Nell and Olivia's spirits]] able to appear at Shirley's funeral home? Or at Steve's apartment? The mythology of the show implies that ghosts are tethered to the house.

* This probably has an explanation...but why are all the siblings so cruel to Nell before her death? Luke has an excuse - he's an addict and motivated solely by his addiction in the periods before Nell's death. Although of course all the siblings are highly traumatised by the experience of Hill House, Theo seems especially incongruous in the flashback. Of course her gift is very difficult and dangerous for her, but she is ''extremely'' rude and cold towards Nell. Why wouldn't she try to use her gift to help her sister? They all behave as if Arthur has just left Nell, rather than ''died''.

*** Though there is a resemblance, she's played by a different actress than Mrs. Dudley. It's not clear who she actually is, but it's possible that she's Mr. Dudley's mother/Abigail's grandmother, who worked and died at the house.