Netflix: The Haunting of Hill House episode 9 (Screaming Meemies) recap

Courtesy of Netflix

Olivia is putting the twins to bed, and Nell asks, “What if I have a bad dream?” Olivia asks if she means the Bent Neck Lady, and Nell says no, a worse dream. “What if I dream you killed us, and sent us away? And my heart breaks in two, and I can’t feel anything happy for weeks and months and years, until I can’t stand it anymore and I have to die?”

Luke says, “What if I’m so sad and scared of the dark out there that I put poison in me? I poison myself for years and years, until my blood turns to poison and my body breaks down?” Readers, I am horrified at this point, because, yeah, that is exactly what happened to these two adorable kiddos.

Nell says, “You send us out there into the dark and it gets us, a piece at a time over years, until I’m on a silver table with my jaw wired shut. And Luke is dead on the floor with a needle in his arm. And it was you that killed us, because you sent us out there in the night. In the dark.”

Courtesy of Netflix

Olivia promises to keep them safe. Nell asks, “ARE we safe with you, Mommy?” Then Olivia hears Steven say, “Mom,” and she is looking at the twin’s empty beds in the daylight. This is the scene we saw earlier.

Claire comes upon Olivia sitting alone, and the two women talk. Olivia says she feels terror at the thought of her kids outside of Hill House, but she knows they are safe, it’s in her head. Claire tells her to trust her instincts, to stand between the world and her children.

Claire tells Olivia that the family needs to get out of Hill House, the house is strange and “hungry.” She says her own daughter is not allowed to set foot in the house.Olivia says she is going to take a break and visit her sister, and Claire approves, saying she prays for the family every night.

We are re-visiting the scene where Steve gives Olivia the refurbished vanity. When she looks in the mirror, she sees the adult versions of Nell and Luke standing behind her, which is why she punches the mirror.

Hugh is asking Olivia about hitting the mirror, and she breaks down a little. “I’m not me right now.” He says she’s just stressed, she says no, she WAS stressed, but now everything is dark, all of the colors are gone. She decides to leave first thing the next morning.