‘The Haunting of Hill House’ Recap: ‘Open Casket’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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​I have to admit that I was both extremely excited and ridiculously curious as to what other scary surprises The Haunting of Hill House was going to send my way as I started to watch the second episode of the series, ‘Open Casket’. Because the pilot episode did such a phenomenal job of establishing the fact that we were going to be treated to a quality and chilling ghost story that I was fully expecting the more haunted aspect of this tale to take the center stage in this particular chapter, especially after that powerhouse surprise ending in the series premiere wherein the spirit of Nellie Crain haunted her brother.
 
But instead, the next entry in this harrowing saga took me to places that I flat out didn’t expect to go. For example, rather than immediately build on the scares, the show once more took the time to explore what makes the characters in this series tick by focusing squarely on Shirley Crain and how she handled the news regarding Nellie’s death and once again, the amazing depth presented here immediately sucked me right in and pulled me off guard, allowing for the episode to deliver its next wave of scares, except this time, the terror was taken to a whole new level, by exploring the real-life nightmares that haunt us in everyday life. 
 
Because this ended up being quite the harrowing examination on the power of death and what it can do to young minds since Shirley was exposed to all kinds of death related trauma at an early age, like the litter of kittens that she tried to care for that died on her watch and the trauma that came from that, was only further compounded by the loss of her mother when the family evacuated Hill House in the middle of the night and what made this part of the story so fascinating was how Shirley found an interesting path forward from the trauma she experienced as a child, since she opted to surround herself with death so she could heal her soul by helping others get through their pain. Which of course implies that she never quite got over her pain, but the episode kept the answer to that ambiguous, and I appreciate it left such matters up to the viewer.
 
But I made mention of scares, and while the ghost segments back at Hill House were creepy and unsettling in their own right, it was those real-world scenarios that truly made this episode chilling in its own right. Because let’s be honest, this episode took the raw pain that comes with losing a loved one, or a furry loved one for that matter, and splayed it out on the screen for us, sending echoes of that anguish through our minds and all of it left me uncomfortable for certain and well, leave it to this series to find a way to up the ante when it comes to our discomfort. Because having Shirley embalm and repair the body of her own baby sister was some next level stuff and just brutal in its own right.
 
But when all is said and done, this really was quite the brilliant episode. Because it’s quite the bold decision to put the ghosts in the background and focus on real world matters and quality character development, but it works and I was definitely enthralled and I love the fact that whatever happened on that fateful night in Hill House, is still with Shirley and I am now supremely curious to see what other surprises this series is going to send our way since I get the funny feeling every single episode is going to offer us something exciting and new and well, the only way to find out, is to continue this unsettling journey, which means it’s time to step away from the keyboard and return to this waking nightmare. Until next time.  

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