To truly love another person is to accept the work of loving them is worth the pain of losing them.

Usually by now, I would’ve watched the entire season but since I’m watching this with my mom and I went ahead on The Umbrella Academy rather than watch it with my sister, I’m, somehow, restraining myself.

But I like to do reviews of the first three episodes because usually by then, the show is set up and you have an idea of what it’s going to be like. It’s also hard to judge just on first episodes alone.

My Haunting of Hill House Review

It’s Perfectly Splendid

The Haunting of Bly Manor is a story being told in 2007 by a woman at a wedding rehearsal party. It starts in London 1987 and a young girl named Dani is applying for a position as an au pair, which is basically a job taking care of children while staying at the house.

Dani learns that the children, Flora and Miles, lost their parents and only months before, another au pair. So dealing with grief is part of the job description.

When she arrives at the house Flora is super excited but something is off with Miles. She also meets Hannah, Owen, and Jamie who all work at the house.

From the start, strange things happen. Flora doesn’t want any of her dolls to be moved, no matter where they lay, nor does she want Dani roaming the house at night. Meanwhile Miles seems to go from being a regular boy to acting and talking much older.

Throughout the first three episodes you learn a little more about the house, the characters, and what happened to the au pair before Dani while trying to uncover what’s actually going on.

What Is The Catch?

I swear The Haunting of Hill House messed me up because if I could count the amount of times I looked in the background for a damn ghost, it would be more than the actual background ghosts in Hill House.

One of the first things mentioned is how creepy children can be and while Flora does have some moments, like when it comes to her dolls, Miles takes the cake. You know something is off when he creeps on Dani trying to change her clothes or gives her flowers.

Meanwhile, Dani is dealing with something traumatic from her past that keeps showing up in mirrors.

Dani is played by Victoria Pedretti, who played Nell in Hill House, and I like seeing her as the main character. She’s a great actress and it’s crazy to think her first big acting gig was Hill House. Moving on from the growing crush I have on her…

Overall

Bly Manor is such a big house and you feel like something is always in the background watching. The only place I like being in is the kitchen, which is fine unless you want to hear Owen’s cooking puns.

But one of the parts I like the most is the characters and how different they are. It feels like everyone has something going on and you don’t know if it’s related to the house or not.

I had to be really careful when it came to finding images for this post. I remember the Bent Neck Lady reveal and am hoping for something on that level and don’t want to risk reading or seeing anything.

At this point I have my own theories but I imagine I’ll probably be wrong with 99% of them.

Like Hill House, I haven’t been scared yet but there are plenty of creepy moments and the mystery around it all makes it so easy to binge.

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