All the Hill House references in Haunting of Bly Manor you missed
12 October 2020, 17:50
Haunting of Bly Manor teases hidden ghosts in all the episodes
From "you're expected" to that terrifying Bent-Neck Lady camera angle, here's all the references and callbacks to Hill House you might have missed in Bly Manor.
If you were hoping that The Haunting of Bly Manor would feature cameos from The Haunting of Hill House's Crain family, then sorry about it.
It's already been established that Bly Manor has no storyline or character connections to Hill House. The two seasons are both stand alone experiences that co-exist within the same anthology universe. It's the style and themes that unite the two.
That said, there is actually a number of Hill House references hidden in Bly Manor for die hard fans to sink their teeth into.
From familiar camera shots and visual callbacks, right down to certain lines of specific dialogue, here's all the the Haunting of Hill House references in Haunting of Bly Manor.
READ MORE: Is Haunting of Bly Manor connected to Hill House? Here's how they link
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Haunting of Bly Manor!
1) "You're expected..."
When Dani arrives at Bly Manor, Flora welcomes her new governess into the family using the exact phrase that will send shivers down the necks of Hill House fans.
In a call back to 'The Bent-Neck Lady' episode of Hill House, "You're expected" was something that Olivia Crain's ghost told Nell when she arrived back at the derelict Hill House as an adult.
2) The door knockers at Bly Manor
There's a few visual callbacks to Hill House in Bly Manor too. The most striking one is the gold Lion door knockers on the front doors at Bly. They're visible when the policeman visits the house after Dani spots Peter Quint lurking outside.
Fans of Hill House will instantly recognise these as the very same (or at least very similar) doorknob that is attached to the Red Room in the Crain family home.
3) Flora's "Come home" letter to Miles
After Miles is sent off to boarding school, Flora sends him a hand drawn message with the words "come home" written on it.
This is another visual call back to Hill House's ominous "Come home Nell" message that was written underneath the wallpaper. When Nell returned to the house as an adult, it turned out that it actually read "Welcome home, Nell".
4) The Forever House
In Bly Manor, Peter explains the idea of a "forever house" to Miles and Flora, where they'll be able to spend the rest of their lives tucked away with him, Rebecca and their parents – all of whom have since died. But in order to do that, they'll have to let Peter and Rebecca possess their bodies.
In The Haunting of Hill House, Olivia Crain actually designed a "forever home" that her and Hugh were set to build once they had sold Hill House. In the end, Hill House ended up being her (and Nell's) "forever home" after they fell victim to the mansion's evil life of its own.
READ MORE: Is Peter Quint a ghost in The Haunting of Bly Manor? His backstory explained
5) Olivia and Dani's deadly visions
At the end of Bly Manor, Dani invites Viola (the Lady in the Lake)'s spirit to live inside her own body. Over time, Viola's spirit becomes more and more powerful, eventually causing Dani to see things and act in certain ways. One night, Dani has a vision that she strangles Jamie and wakes up with her hand around her throat.
In Hill House, Hugh awakens one night to find Olivia straddling him in bed with a screwdriver pressed against his neck, under the influence of the house's ways again.
READ MORE: Who is the Lady in the Lake in Haunting of Bly Manor? Viola's tragic story explained
6) The infamous Bent-Neck Lady camera shot
One of the ways in which Mike Flanagan establishes Hill House and Bly Manor in the same anthology series is through the use of the familiar camera shots.
In Bly Manor, Henry Wingrave's vision of himself appears above him as he's lying down. It's shot in the same way as the scene in which little Nell wakes up and sees the Bent-Neck Lady hovering above her in the middle of the night.
7) "I had the strangest dream..."
In Bly Manor, Miles tells Hannah that he had a strange dream in which he hurt her. We later find out that that wasn't actually a dream, it was Peter Quint possessing his body. While in Miles' body, Peter pushed Hannah into the well and killed her. Hannah also mentions that she's having strange dreams.
In Hill House, Olivia also says the same thing to Hugh when the chandelier falls from the ceiling in the 'Two Storms' episode, and when she wakes up on top of him in episode 7. In this case, it was the house that was influencing Olivia's visions.
8) "The rest is confetti..."
Remember Nell's moving explanation in Hill House when she said that our moments "fall around us like rain, or snow, or confetti"? There's a few call backs to that in Bly Manor, one when Hannah and Owen are talking by the fire and one in the final episode.
Hannah gives the nod to Nell's confetti quote although she never finishes the whole sentence. It's up to the audience to realise what she's saying. The most obvious call back to the emotional Hill House moment is when Hannah tells Henry to let Owen know that she loves him. Before her ghost disappears, she says "and the rest is just..."
Confetti.
READ MORE: Is Hannah a ghost in The Haunting of Bly Manor? Mrs Grose’s backstory explained
9) "Nothing bad will ever touch them ever again."
Olivia Crain says this line in Hill House to justify to Hugh that by murdering their children they'll wake up from their nightmare and be safe.
In Bly Manor, Peter uses the same line on Miles. Once Miles allows Peter to possess him and take him to the forever house, Peter assures him that nothing sad will ever touch him again.
