Here's how Midnight Mass is connected to Hush and Gerald's Game

24 September 2021, 20:31

Watch the Midnight Mass Trailer

By Katie Louise Smith

Two of Mike Flanagan's previous projects include huge references to the fictional Midnight Mass novel. Here's how it all connects.

You've screamed through The Haunting of Hill House, you've sobbed through Bly Manor... now get ready to watch on in sheer horror as Midnight Mass finally hits our Netflix screens.

As creator Mike Flanagan's third horror series on the streaming service, you wouldn't be the only one wondering if Midnight Mass was connected to the others. To cut a long story short, it's not linked to The Haunting series at all – but it is connected to two other Flanagan movies.

Midnight Mass is an original story created by Flanagan, but the creator has been dropping hints and foreshadowing the project for a few years in his other films. Midnight Mass first appeared on screen in 2016's Hush, and as an easter egg in 2017's Gerald's Game. Here's how they're connected.

How is Midnight Mass connected to Hush?

Midnight Mass appears in Hush as a novel written by fictional character Maddie Young (Kate Siegel).

There's no specific narrative connection to the film and the series, other than the fact that the fictional character originally 'wrote' the fictional Midnight Mass novel. Midnight Mass is essentially Flanagan's story-within-a-story that has now been turned into a series of its own.

At the start of Hush, Sarah arrives at Maddie's house to let her know that her novel, Midnight Mass, was brilliant. Speaking and signing to Maddie, who is deaf, Sarah says: "I loved Riley, I loved Erin. They were great characters. I tried to guess the ending. I'm usually on point with that sort of thing, but I was way off."

The back of the book is also revealed, which teases parts of the synopsis including key details about the story. Three of the visible sentences read: "Isolated Crocket Island," "But the 512 souls on sleepy Crocket," and "church put Riley face to face with a terrifying secret."

The Netflix series features characters Riley and Erin, as well as Father Paul who is mentioned by Maddie later in the film. The show also takes place on Crockett Island, with St. Patrick's Church as the main location.

Both Kate Siegel and Samantha Sloyan, who play Maddie and Sarah in Hush, also appear in Midnight Mass as Erin Greene and Bev Keane, respectively.

How is Midnight Mass connected to Gerald's Game?

Midnight Mass also has a small connection to Flanagan's Gerald's Game – although this one is more of an easter egg.

The Midnight Mass novel appears in Gerald's Game on a shelf above the bed that Jessie (Carla Gugino) is handcuffed to. As Jessie reaches up to grab something to throw at a starving dog at the foot of the bed, she grabs a hardback copy of Midnight Mass with the same familiar cover from Hush.

The Midnight Mass novel easter egg has left fans theorising about whether Hush and Gerald's Game both exist within the same universe. Seeing as Midnight Mass itself is a fictional story, it looks like the Netflix series exists in a universe of its own.

Is Midnight Mass connected to The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor?

Aside from similar themes such as addiction, sobriety, guilt and trauma (to name a few), there's no storyline connection between Midnight Mass and either of the two Haunting shows.

Interestingly enough, however, Midnight Mass was originally meant to make another easter egg cameo appearance in Hill House. Flanagan told Entertainment Weekly that he planned to have the book feature in the background of one of the episodes but the books mysteriously disappeared after Flanagan shipped them to Atlanta for filming.

Had Midnight Mass actually made it into Hill House, the shared universe theories would have been blown wide open.

READ MORE: Here's how The Haunting of Bly Manor is connected to Hill House