Entertainment

This New Creepy Netflix Drama Is Based On The Most Terrifying True Story

by Alice Broster
Netflix

I love the thrill of being scared by a film or a book. Granted, it doesn’t take much to scare me, but the adrenaline rush you get from the suspense is so addictive. Hence why I am so excited about Netflix's latest announcement; it's turning The Haunting of Hill House into a TV series. If you've read the book, you'll already be preparing yourself to get creeped out AF. But, hang on a minute, is The Haunting of Hill House based on a true story? Because haunted tales are always more terrifying when there is a possibility that it is all true.

Originally written in 1959 by U.S. author Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House tells the tale of a paranormal activity investigator who recruits a group of volunteers at random to stay with him at Hill House. Why? Because there have been some scary goings-on and he wants to get to the bottom of it. But did this happen in real life?

According to Publishers Weekly, the book was indeed inspired by real life events (Creeped out yet?). "She based The Haunting of Hill House, her famous ghost story, on historical accounts of haunted houses and pictures she collected of spooky estates; from the Castle Neuschwanstein in Germany to the Winchester Mystery House near her hometown in California," the site states.

"One of the books she most admired was An Adventure, an account by two British women of an uncanny experience in which they apparently stumbled upon a scene from the past while visiting the Petit Trianon at Versailles. She was also inspired by poltergeist accounts collected by the psychical researcher Nandor Fodor, among others."

However, The Haunting of Hill House isn't based on anything Jackson herself experienced. Although was "intrigued by the occult" and even "had a huge library of witchcraft books", she never had any brushes with the supernatural herself. Instead, she was inspired by the stories of others.

If that wasn't enough to send shivers up your spine, here's another fact about Jackson's iconic horror; Ettington Park Hotel, the location of the the 1963 film adaptation of the book, is reportedly haunted. To this day, staff that work in the property, which was constructed in the 1850s, continue to report objects moving by themselves and strange, unaccountable noises, reports the Daily Mail. According to The LineUp, "many cast members reported feeling uncomfortable during shooting" for The Haunting of Hill House. Coincidence? I think not.

But back to this new Netflix series (watch it if you dare).

Director, Mike Flanagan has adapted the well-known novel into a series for Netflix and viewers in the UK will be able to watch it from Oct. 12. The programme follows a group of siblings, who grew up in Hill House, as they return to face the trauma that they have lived with since leaving the mansion as children — and it all gets spooky really quickly.

The trailer for the series dropped on Aug. 27 and I dare you to watch it without hiding behind a pillow.