TV
Have You Been Finding the Hidden Ghosts in “Haunting of Hill House”? Here’s a Guide to Get You Started
To reduce Netflix and Mike Flanagan’s “The Haunting of Hill House” to merely a ghost story would be doing the series a disservice, as it’s actually way more focused on character drama than it is paranormal terror. Personally, I like to describe it as “the horror version of Six Feet Under,” and it’s because Flanagan and company make us care so deeply about the characters that the series has the power to genuinely send chills up the spine when it desires to.
Yes, “The Haunting of Hill House” is bone-chilling at times, but it’s the deep and complex character work that makes Flanagan’s new project a standout horror series.
An added bonus of awesomeness? As we revealed in a chat with Flanagan last week, he and the team have hidden ghosts in *almost all* episodes of “The Haunting of Hill House,” which serve as creepy Easter eggs for viewers. The characters themselves never actually see these ghosts, making their inclusion a fun “ghost hunting” adventure for us and us alone.
“The interior was designed so that it could hide ghosts,” Flanagan told Bloody-Disgusting. “That was one of the big things. If you go back and watch the series again, in every episode there’s probably somewhere between eight and 10 ghosts that are just hidden in plain sight that we called no attention to but they’re there. I’m giddy about when the show launches and people start to spot them. I think that’s going to be really fun. We had a blast just hiding them all over the set whenever we were shooting. It’s pretty cool.”
Supervising producer and frequent Flanagan screenwriter Jeff Howard added that some of the ghosts come from past Hill House adaptations, and even Flanagan’s own movies.
“Some of them are old friends too from past projects,” Howard said. “There’s a couple of fun little cameos with people from the movies. If you’re a fan of the movies, you’ll get a good little laugh from seeing them show up. I’m sure you saw a cameo from the original Hill House movie. There’s also a bunch from the Flanagan Cinematic Universe.”
So when/where can you actually spot these ghosts? They’re often very hard to notice unless you’re paying strict attention to what’s going on in the background, but we wanted to highlight a few of them for you here today. Of course, part of the fun here is finding these spooky Easter eggs for yourself, but we figured we’d help you get started on this ghost hunting adventure.
First up, here’s how many you should be looking for in each episode:
- Episode 1: 4 Ghosts
- Episode 2: 2 Ghosts
- Episode 3: 9 Ghosts
- Episode 4: 3 Ghosts
- Episode 5: 3 Ghosts
- Episode 6: 0 Ghosts
- Episode 7: 2 Ghosts
- Episode 8: 0 Ghosts
- Episode 9: 4 Ghosts
- Episode 10: ?
And here are some screen-grabs (and time stamps) of a select few of these ghosts:
EPISODE 1: 52 Seconds
EPISODE 3: 39 minutes, 40 seconds
EPISODE 5: 22 minutes, 1 second
EPISODE 7: 49 minutes, 45 seconds
EPISODE 9: 8 minutes, 12 seconds
You’re on your own from here. Happy (ghost) hunting!
TV
‘God of War’ – Ryan Hurst Suffers On-Set Injury and Will Be Replaced as Kratos in Prime Video Series
After four episodes have already been shot of Prime Video’s hotly anticipated “God of War” television series, we’ve learned that an on-set injury will send the team back to square one.
Deadline reports that actor Ryan Hurst, who had been cast to play Kratos in the series, tore his bicep during a stunt-gone-wrong on set, and rather than wait until Hurst has healed up and can get back into action, the streaming series will instead recast the role of Kratos.
Additionally, all four episodes they’ve already shot will have to be fully re-shot with the new actor they bring in to play Kratos. At this time, no replacement actor has been announced.
Deadline notes that the decision was made by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios, the producers of the upcoming Prime Video adaptation of the video game franchise.
Hurst tore his bicep while doing a stunt on set back in late June. “This is a heartbreaking development for Hurst who underwent a physical transformation after getting the role, putting on 40 lbs of muscle, and worked hard for months on the Vancouver set filming the physically demanding role until getting hurt performing his duties,” Deadline notes in their report.
The outlet explains, “Hurst’s recovery time is unclear but for a serious bicep tear requiring surgery, it is typically 4-6 months, with a return to full strength taking up to a year. Given the physicality of the role, it will likely not have been safe for Hurst to resume filming until 2027. According to sources, while Hurst’s full recovery is a priority, the period required was longer than the production shooting schedule could accommodate, leading to the difficult decision.”
The “God of War” production is currently on hiatus. Stay tuned for more.
Callum Vinson (“Crystal Lake”) is playing Atreus in Prime Video’s “God of War.”
The live-action adaptation of PlayStation’s massively popular ancient mythology-themed video game franchise has received a two-season order from the streamer.
The tale follows father and son Kratos and Atreus as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human.
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