Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House is considered one of the best literary ghost stories published during the 20th century. It was adapted for film in 1963 by Nelson Gidding and directed by Robert Wise under the title The Haunting. Although only doing moderate box office upon release, the movie was moderately well received at the time and over the years has gained a critical reassessment. Contemporary critics consider it one of the finest genre movies of its era. Hence the prospect of a new ten-part television adaptation made exclusively for Netflix, was initially met with a great deal of scepticism. However, writer and director Mike Flanagan has wisely chosen not to retell the original story, but instead taken its themes and concepts and woven them into a compelling and very contemporary tale of a dysfunctional family traumatised by their collective experience at Hill House. Jettisoning the classic trope of a paranormal investigation into a haunted house, he instead presents us with two narratives that run in parallel and regular intersect with startling results.