"An evil old house, the kind some people call haunted... is like an undiscovered country waiting to be explored." "Hill House had stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more." "Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House." "Whatever walked there walked alone." "Scandal, murder, insanity, suicide." "The history of Hill House was ideal." "It had everything I wanted." "It was built 90-odd, very odd years ago... by a man named Hugh Crain as a home for his wife and daughter... in the most remote part of New England he could find." "It was an evil house from the beginning." "A house that was born bad." "Hugh Crain's young wife... died seconds before she was to set eyes on the house." "She was killed when, for no apparent reason... the horses bolted, crashing her carriage against a big tree." "Mrs. Crain was carried..." "Iifeless is the word, I think... into the home her husband had built for her." "Hugh Crain was left an embittered man... with a small daughter, Abigail, to bring up." "Fortunately, for me, that is..." "Hugh Crain did not leave Hill House." "He married again." "The second Mrs. Crain's death was even more interesting... than her predecessor's." "I've been unable to find out how or why she fell... although I have my suspicions." "Hugh Crain left Abigail with a nurse and went to England... where he died in a drowning accident." "Marvelous!" "I mean, the way the history of Hill House follows a classic pattern." "For some reason..." "Abigail kept that same nursery room in Hill House where she grew up... and grew old." "In later years, she became a bedridden invalid." "She took a girl from the village to live with her as a paid companion." "It's with this young companion... the evil reputation of Hill House really begins." "The story goes that the old lady died calling for help... in the nursery upstairs... while the companion fooled around with a farm hand on the verandah." "The companion inherited Hill House and occupied it for many years." "The local people believe that, one way or another... she had murdered her benefactor." "She lived a life of complete solitude in the empty house... though some say that the house was not empty... and never has been since the night old Miss Abby died." "They say that whatever there was and still is in the house... eventually drove the companion mad." "We do know she hanged herself." "After her death... the house passed legally into the hands of a distant relative in Boston... an old lady, Mrs. Sannerson, who I very much wanted to see." "All my life I've been looking for an honestly haunted house." "In the interests of psychic research, you must let me have it for a few weeks." "No one who rented Hill House ever stayed for more than a few days." "The dead are not quiet in Hill House." "I don't believe it." "Dr. Markway is a trained anthropologist... a respected member of a university faculty." "We should welcome such a man to investigate Hill House." "Perhaps." "As an old woman due shortly to enter the next world..." "I'd like to know if there is one." "I'm sure his report will give Hill House a clean bill of health." "How will you go about conducting your investigations, Dr. Markway?" "I shall occupy the house with a group of carefully selected assistants..." " Assistants?" " My dear Mrs. Sannerson..." "I am a scientist conducting an unusual experiment." "A haunted house." "Everyone laughs." "So I must have specially qualified help... to take notes and document any evidence of the supernatural I may find." " Who are these assistants?" " I haven't made my final choice yet... but they're from a list of names I've been assembling over the years." " We don't want any publicity seekers." " Of course not." "These people have only been selected after painstaking research." "They've all been involved before, one way or another, with the abnormal." "I don't like the sound of that." " Are any of the people women?" " Some." " Are you a married man?" " Yes." "Then your wife will be accompanying you." "I'm afraid not." "My wife disapproves of my experiments with the supernatural." "She wants no part of Hill House." "To make sure that everything is as it should be... suppose your nephew goes along with Dr. Markway?" "Luke?" "Our young Lochinvar from out of the Midwest." "I haven't much confidence in that branch of the family." "In this case, I think you can." "Luke expects to inherit Hill House... and he'll make sure that his property is well taken care of." "His property?" "Still, it might be rather good at that." "Luke hopes one day to live off Hill House." "But he never dreamed to find himself living in it." "Harper, give Dr. Markway his lease." "Thank you, Mrs. Sannerson." "A word of warning:" "Don't play gin with Luke." "He's a cardsharp." "Good." "That indicates a strong instinct for self-preservation." "Exactly what do you and your assistants expect to find at Hill House?" "Maybe only a few loose floorboards, and maybe..." "I only say maybe... the key to another world." "You've just got to let me have the car." "There's no other way of getting there, and I'm expected." " Calm down." " I've even bought some new clothes." "Please, Bud." "Carrie drives the car all the time and I never even take it out of the garage." " Mother..." " Mother what?" "Nothing." "Auntie Nell is blinking." "Quiet, Dora." "Let's talk this over without anybody getting emotional or nervous." "Why shouldn't I be nervous?" "My first chance for a vacation in my life and you won't let me take it." "There's a good reason Mother was afraid for you to go anywhere... and it still applies." "We're not going to dig up the family skeleton again, are we?" "I think you should have a vacation, Nell." "Nobody knows better than me what you went through during your mother's illness." "Dirty laundry, the smell of that sickroom..." "Talk about mean old ladies!" "Let the dead rest in peace." "It's half my car." "I helped pay for it and I mean to take it." "We don't know where you're going." "You haven't seen fit to tell us anything, have you?" "No, you may not have the car." "What beats me is why you're playing this thing so cozy..." "like this was a jailbreak." "In any case, I'm sure I'm doing what Mother would have thought best." "Although I don't suppose poor Mother's wishes mean much to you." "Get out." "Get out, both of you." "Now just a minute, young lady." "You happen to be in my living room." "I happen to be in my bedroom, and I pay a good part of your rent for it." "Now get out before I show you what my nerves can really do!" "Besides, how do I know you'll bring back my car in good condition?" "Come on." "I want my car." "I mean to take it." " Which?" " The Fredericks' car." " You ain't Mrs. Fredericks." " It's half mine." " Who are you?" " Her sister, Miss Lance." "Look, here's my driver's license... here's my library card... and here's a blood donor card." "All the same address as my sister's." "I live with her." " Front row, left of the far pillar." " Thank you." ""Very happy that you'll be joining us in Hill House." ""Take US 50 from Boston..." ""and watch for the turnoff onto Route 238."" "Route 238." "At last I am going someplace where l'm expected... and where l'm being given shelter." "And I shall never have to come back." "I hope..." "This is what I've been waiting for all my life." "I'm going." "I'm really going." "I've finally taken a step." "By now they know the car is gone... but they don't know where." "They would never have suspected it of me." "I would never have suspected it of myself." "I'm a new person." "Someday..." "Someday I'll have an apartment of my own... in a house with a pair ofstone lions guarding the gate." "I might just stop anywhere and never leave again." "Or I might drive on and on... until the wheels of the car are worn to nothing... and I've come to the end of the world." "I wonder if all homeless people feel that way." "I wonder what Dr. Markway is like." "I wonder who else will be there." "I wonder what Hill House is like." " What do you want?" " I want to come in, please." " Please unlock the gates." " Who says?" "I'm supposed to come in." "I'm expected." " Who by?" " Dr. Markway." " You better come back later." " Please." "I'm one of Dr. Markway's guests." "He's expecting me in the house." "Please listen to me." "He can't rightly be expecting you... seeing as you're the only one who's come so far." "Do you mean that there's no one in the house?" "No one you'd want to see." " What did you say your name was?" " Eleanor Lance... and I am expected in Hill House." " Unlock those gates at once." " All right." "Suppose you know what you're asking for coming here." "Suppose they told you, back in the city." "You seem to be the one who's afraid." "You'll be sorry I ever opened the gate." "Out of the way, please." "You've held me up long enough." " Are you Dudley, the caretaker?" " I'm Dudley, the caretaker." "I shall report you." "Think they can find anyone else to stay here?" "Think we can't have things the way we want, me and the wife... as long as we stay around here, see to the house... for all you city people think you know everything?" "It's staring at me." "Vile." "Get away from here." "Get away at once." "It's my chance." "I'm being given a last chance." "I could turn my car around and go away from here... and no one would blame me." "Anyone has a right to run away." "But you are running away, Eleanor... and there's nowhere else to go." "It's waiting for me." "Evil, patient... waiting." "Mrs. Dudley?" "I'm Eleanor Lance." "I'm expected." "Can you take me to my room?" "I gather I'm the first one here, Mrs. Dudley." "You did say you were Mrs. Dudley?" "L met your..." "Talk about being scared of your own shadow." "Pull yourself together." "Here." "This is your room." "How nice." "I can't keep the rooms the way I'd like... but there's no one else they could get that would help me." "How very nice." "I set dinner on the dining room sideboard at 6:00." "I clear up in the morning." "I have breakfast for you at 9:00." "I don't wait on people." "I don't stay after I set out the dinner." "Not after it begins to get dark." "I leave before the dark comes." " Your husband?" " We live over in town, miles away." "So there won't be anyone around if you need help." "I understand." "We couldn't hear you... in the night." " Do you have any idea when..." " No one could." "No one lives any nearer than town." "No one will come any nearer than that..." "I know." "...in the night, in the dark." "I'm like a small creature swallowed whole by a monster... and the monster feels my tiny movements inside." "Now, Eleanor Lance, you just stop it." "Thank heavens somebody's here." "My name's Eleanor Lance." "I'm so glad you're here." "I'm Theodora." "Just Theodora." "What about this crazy house?" "I'm right next door." "We have a connecting bath." "This used to be the embalming room, I bet." "It was terrible being here alone." "I set dinner on the sideboard at 6:00..." "Where's Markway?" "L thought he'd be here first." "Serve yourselves." "I clear up in the morning." " Have you known Dr. Markway long?" " Breakfast is at 9:00." " I've never met him." " I don't stay after 6:00, when it gets dark." "Our only contact is our correspondence about the "experiment."" "I leave before the dark comes." "So there won't be anyone around if you need help." "No one can hear you if you scream in the night." "Isn't that so, Mrs. Dudley?" "No one lives any nearer than town." "No one will come any nearer than that... in the night... in the dark." " You're frightened, Nell." " No more." "Just when I thought I was all alone." "But how did you know my nickname is Nell?" "That is the affectionate term for Eleanor, isn't it?" "Yes, I suppose it is." "What a nice way of putting it." "The affectionate term for Theodora is Theo." "We're going to be great friends, Theo." "Like sisters?" "There's no need to hang around our rooms." " Let's go exploring." " I'd like to." "Why don't you put on one of your new things?" "Something that'll stand out." "I think it's a good idea around here to always remain strictly visible." "Be ready in a jiffy." "How did you know I brought new clothes?" "You wear your thoughts on your sleeve." "Anyway, that's better than my heart." "How did I get into this?" "Why am I here?" "What nightmares are waiting?" "Damn it!" "L still say one of these doors should lead to the main hall." "Any lights near you, Nell?" "It helps if you make a game of it." "Pretend this is hide-and-seek." "But we're still lost." "Yes." "That passageway." "We haven't tried that one yet." "What's the matter?" "There's something with us." "I don't see anything." " Can't you feel it?" " No." "I feel a chill." " It's moving." " It's just the air rushing past our ears." "Then who?" "What?" "The house, it's alive." "She didn't hear that." "Nobody heard it but me." "It wants you, Nell." "The house is calling you." "I've waited such a long time." "Is this what I came so far to find?" "Don't let me go!" "Theo, stay with me!" "You won't believe this, but five minutes ago I left this door open... so you could find your way." "It closed by itself." "Welcome to Hill House." "I'm Dr. Markway." "Thank goodness." "I thought you might be a ghost." " How do you know I'm not?" " Don't be ghoulish." "You mustn't confuse ghoulish and ghostly." "The word "ghoulish" is used to describe a feeling of horror... often accompanied by intense cold." "It has nothing to do with ghosts." "Ghosts are visible." " Enough of that." "Get us out of here fast." " What's the matter?" "Let's just say we're scared of the dark." "I, too, go in mortal terror of the dark." " I'm Theodora." " You must be Eleanor." "I'm unsure at the moment." "If it turns out you're not, I'll be disappointed." "All right." "It's Theo who's wearing velvet, so I must be Eleanor in tweed." "Good." "Follow me through the uncharted waste of Hill House." "Dinner's waiting." " Do you like it?" " Lovely." "What do you call this?" "The Purple Parlor." "We're going to use this as the operating room." "I mean the center of operations." " It's not very cheerful." " I don't know." "There's nothing more cozy than an old gargoyle... except maybe a whipping post or two." "This house does have its little oddities." "The man who built it was a misfit... who hated people and their conventional ideas." "He built his house to suit his mind." "For instance, all the doors are hung slightly off-center." "Probably explains why they keep swinging shut by themselves." "Watch." "Now watch this." "What did I tell you?" "Anyway, all the angles are slightly off." "There isn't a square corner in the place." "No wonder it's impossible to find your way around." "Add up all these wrong angles... and you get one big distortion in the house as a whole." "Clever, Eleanor." "You catch on fast." "I'm hungry." "Let's go." "Sorry." "In the psychic world we're apt to forget... that food is still the main concern of poor old homo sapiens." "You see?" "Closed by itself." "To the right, ladies." "Now, which door?" " That one." " Wrong." "I've studied a map, it's this one." " This proves it, one of you is a witch." " A broom closet." "If you can't find your way around, how will we ever?" "All these doors, it makes me think of the lady and the tiger." "Let's see if there's a tiger behind this one." "That's funny." " No tiger?" " Listen." "What's wrong?" "Too much vermouth?" "Nothing that serious... and, please, no cracks about my passion for spirits." "If you two are the ghostly inhabitants of Hill House..." "I must confess I'm glad I came." "It has taken 60 million years... to develop the carnivorous biped you see before you." "Luke Sannerson." "Let's see what kind of martinis it makes." "They should be pretty good." "I majored in them at college." "Are we to expect any more carnivorous bipeds?" "Originally, there were six committed to the experiment... but one by one the others dropped out." "I suppose they were frightened by the various unsavory stories about the house." "You're the only ones left." "What stories?" "You didn't investigate before you came here?" "So much the better." "You should be innocent and receptive." " So let's drink to our success." " Success?" "And just how do you reckon success in a junket like this?" "I'd like to drink... to just us, good companions." "Excellent." "To my new companion." "Except I don't drink." " I think I'll have some more salmon." " Palissy." " Yeah?" "How much is it worth?" " Plenty." "Haven't seen Palissy outside of a museum." "I'll take a pair of Kastle skis for them any day of the week." "I wonder how much I'll get for this New England fossil." "Don't let Mrs. Dudley hear you saying that." "At the moment she's giving us the best." "I'm a simple fellow myself, easily satisfied by the best of everything." "Including, I hope, some startling events to come." "Exactly what do you expect to happen, Dr. Markway?" "Yes, what is the matter with Hill House?" "What's going to happen?" "Why are we here?" "Like so many people through the ages, I've been intrigued by the supernatural... or rather the possibility of the supernatural." "I'm here in hopes of proving its existence." "You're here to keep track and take notes for an authenticated record." " Okay." "But why us?" " It's no accident." "You're what's left of a select company chosen with great care." "I combed the records of psychic societies... the back numbers of newspapers, reports of parapsychologists... hoping to find people who've been touched in some way by the supernatural." "It's my belief that the very presence of people like yourselves in this house... will help to stimulate the strange forces at work here." "Charming thought, to be used as live bait." "I'm here because I'm a wolf in ghost's clothing." "I'm not really running a psychic beauty contest." "You're here, Theo... because of your remarkable powers of extrasensory perception." "ESP?" "Don't believe in it." "Theo's a champ." "Her name shines in the annals of Duke University Psychic Lab... where she identified 19 out of 20 cards... held up out of sight and hearing." "But I've never had anything to do with the supernatural." "Yes, you have, Eleanor." "Your poltergeist experience." "What's a poltergeist?" " A playful ghost, isn't that right, Nell?" " I wouldn't know." "According to the records of the lnternational Psychic Society... showers of stones fell on your house for three days when you were 10 years old." "That's ridiculous." "It was witnessed by your family... the neighbors, sightseers and the police." "In fact, it's the only case ever officially recorded by the police." "It never happened." "Perhaps not, if you say so." "I only mention it because that's the reason I wanted you in Hill House." "Doc, level with us." "I mean, you're a college prof." "A man with a PhD." "You can't really believe there's such a thing as a haunted house." "I wish you'd stop referring to this desirable property as haunted." "There's that word "haunted" again." "Makes me expect to find a disembodied hand in the sauce." "Nobody knows even why some houses are called haunted." "What would you call this place?" "Fun-o-rama?" "Diseased, sick, crazy if you like." "A deranged house isn't a bad way of putting it." "Your aunt thinks that maybe Hill House was born bad." "Such houses are described in the Bible as leprous." "Or before that, in Homer's phrase for the underworld:" "a house of Hades." "Come off it, Doc." "Really, the local mayor makes more sense to me." "He says the disturbances are caused by subterranean waters... electric currents, atmospheric pressure, sunspots, earth tremors, et cetera." "Sure, people always want to put an easy label on things... even if it's meaningless." ""The trouble with Hill House is sunspots."" "There's an explanation you don't have to think twice about." "And it has a scientific ring." "That was the neighbors." "They threw the rocks." "Mother says they were against us because she wouldn't mix with them." "Mother says..." "Oh, dear." "That's all right, Eleanor." " Go on." "What does your mother say?" " Nothing." "I must be more tired than I thought." "My mother died two months ago." "You weren't sorry when it happened... were you?" "No, she wasn't very happy." "Then I won't say I'm sorry now." "If I'd known, I'd never have asked you to come here." "But I'm grateful you did." "I had to get away." " Perhaps you should..." " Please, let's talk about something else." "Oh, dear." "Doc, see that?" "Now what about that?" "Does salt work against the supernatural?" "The Montusi bushmen thought so, but they're extinct." "You see, you haven't a ghost of a chance." "I have a place in this room." "These people are my friends." "I'm one of them." "I belong." "Gin!" " That's the fifth time, five times in a row." "$12, please." " I hope your skirt isn't stained." " That's all right." "But the upholstery on the couch." "I've cleanser upstairs." " Do you think I'm a sucker?" " Pay up." "Cash on the line." "Over my dead body." "You knew every card I had in my hand." " There's a name for that." " If you mean cheating, I don't have to." "Okay, Miss ESP, go dream yourself up the $12." "Pay up, you welsher!" "L won fair and I want my money." " What was it?" " I had a feeling." " I'm sure it was just my imagination." " A feeling you were being watched?" "Yes, I did." "The house." "It watches every move we make." " That's your imagination." " Don't be so cocksure of everything." "A closed mind is the worst defense against the supernatural." "You think you're too civilized to need to protect yourself against evil spirits." "But even prehistoric man had a dozen practical methods of warding them off." "Some of your theories strike me as prehistoric." "Besides, they downgrade property values." "I know the supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen." "Yet it does happen." "Ghosts make the papers along with celebrities every day of the week." "If it happens to you... you're liable to have that shut door in your mind... ripped right off its hinges." "Look, Doc, we're buddies, but don't try to convert me." "I'm trying to prepare you." "There's something going on in this house or I wouldn't be here." "What?" "Don't ask me to give a name to something which hasn't got a name." "I don't know." "Tomorrow we'll see all the place." "Now let's go to bed." "Unless anyone wants to clear out now... and not have anything more to do with Hill House." "I hope to have plenty to do with it someday, moneywise." "We couldn't leave now even if we wanted to." " You mean I'm holding you prisoner?" " I mean Dudley keeps the gates locked." "We could always break out." "I have a key to the gate anytime you want it." " I wouldn't dream of leaving." " Thank you." "Adventurers all." "But you mustn't expect every night to be Halloween." "Psychic phenomena are subject to certain laws." "And just what are these laws?" "You won't know until you break them." "At the end of each day, you have to fill out these forms I've had mimeographed." "Very scientific, aren't we?" "The really scientific phase won't start for a while yet." "First of all, we have to get orientated." "What's this?" "Looks like "psy-kookiness."" "Nothing like that wrong with me." "Psychokinesis is just the technical form... for what you'd call objects moving by themselves." "Actually, they don't... but are moved by a force from somewhere which we call psychokinesis." "I see." "About this ghost I can expect in my room tonight... tell me, is it male or female?" "Good night, ladies, Doc." "I just thought of something." "Nobody locked the front door." "Won't make any difference." "I see." " Good night, Dr. Markway." " John." "Good night, Theo." "Get a good rest, Eleanor." "Sleep well." "I'll turn the lights off below, in case you wonder who did it." "If you feel in the least bit nervous, just run right into my room." "Thanks." "Good night." "I'll come in for a second." "You've been thinking of changing your hair." "I know just the style for you." "Why, yes." "I was." "But I'm awfully tired." " Thanks anyhow." " Okay." "We have a date for breakfast." "Good night, Theo." "Funny." "Everything's so ugly and yet so comfortable." "Like drowning, I guess." "Now I can think about them." "I'm all alone." "Alone." "He won't know I locked it." "Against what, Eleanor?" "All right, Mother." "Just a minute." "I'm coming." "What, Theo?" "Nell, in here!" "I'm here." "What is it?" "I thought it was you pounding." "It was." "I mean, I did." "But now it's down near the other end of the hall." "It's not at all like Mother knocking on the wall." "It's only a noise, and the room is terribly cold." "Terribly, terribly cold." "It must be Luke and Dr. Markway." "Why should they be knocking on the walls?" "Something is." "Anyway, it's only a noise." "Earth tremors?" "Maybe it'll go down on the other side of the hall." " No!" " Go away!" "Now I've done it." "It was looking for the room with someone inside." "You big baby." "Whatever it is, it's just a noise." " I'm cold." " So am I." " Where's Luke?" "Where's Markway?" " I don't know." " Warmer now?" " No." "In a minute I'll go out in the hall and call them." "Are you all right?" "Oh, God, Nell!" "It's against the top of the door!" "It's found us." "Now I know why people scream, because I think I'm going to." "Is the door locked?" "You can't get in!" "It's over." " How do you know?" " Can't you feel it?" "Aren't you warm again?" "That terrible cold has gone." "Why, yes." "Intense cold is one of the symptoms of shock." "My mother..." "Intense shock is one of the symptoms I've got." "Where have you two been?" "What's the matter?" "You look like you've seen a ghost." "Did anything happen?" "Nothing in particular... just something knocked on the door with a cannonball... then tried to get in and eat us." "I'm with Nell." "Miss ESP and Bridey Murphy, some combination." " There isn't a scratch on the wood." " Or anywhere else." "How nice, it didn't mar the woodwork." "Where were you, Dr. Markway?" "Chasing a dog." "At least, we assumed it was a dog." "We followed it outside." "You mean it was inside?" "I thought I heard something run past my room." "I woke Luke." "We went looking for it all over the house... and finally out in the garden." "But let's face it, girls, we didn't get very far from the house." "Then you must've heard that ungodly noise." "No, there wasn't a sound from the house." "At least, nothing audible to us." " We'd better take precautions." " Against what?" "When Luke and I are decoyed outside... and you two are bottled up inside... wouldn't you say that something, somehow, is trying to separate us?" "Good morning, Dr. Markway." "'Morning, and please call me John." " This curious life seems to agree with you." " Thank you." " Tea or coffee?" " Tea, please." "How is it you look so pretty after last night?" "That was last night." "There may have been a little noise." "One has to expect that in these old houses." "I give up." "I was sure you'd be packed and on your way." "Not likely." "This is my first vacation in years and I'm going to enjoy it." "That's the point." "You need a real vacation." "This isn't the place for one." "I mean to stay." "Period." "Unless, of course, you want to get rid of me." "No, you mustn't think that." "Till last night you were just a name on my list." "I scarcely know Eleanor Lance." " She's horrible." " No, you mustn't make fun of me." "You're sweet and pleasant and everyone likes you very much." "I want to know more about you." "I dislike lobster, crack my knuckles when I'm nervous... save buttons, and sleep on my left side." "Why on the left side?" "I read someplace it wears the heart out quicker." "That's a depressing thought." "For the past 1 1 years I've been walled up alive on a desert island." "I thought you might be hiding some dark romantic secret in your past." "Romantic?" "I've spent all my adult life taking care of my invalid mother... until she died." "No, it wasn't romantic." "Now that you're free at last, you shouldn't be wasting your time in Hill House." " It's a mistake." " But it isn't, don't you see?" "The only thing that kept me going... was that someday I knew something would happen." "Something truly extraordinary, like Hill House." "Yes, it's extraordinary." "What'll you do when you get back?" "Do you have a job?" "No job, nothing." "I don't know what I'm going to do." "You wouldn't send me back, would you?" "That depends on what happens." "We may all have to go back." "But I won't give up easily." "How did you get so interested in the supernatural?" "I didn't want to become what my father called a practical man." "I come from one of those respectable English families... that dragged all the Victorian virtues into the 20th century." "In a Gladstone bag, of course." "Everything had to be practical and conventional." "So my first reaction as a kid... was to choose something useless and unconventional." "Like ghosts." "But you're an anthropologist now." "When I refused to read law at Oxford as my father had... there was a terrific row." "I took off for America, without my Gladstone bag... and worked my way through college." "I decided on anthropology because it seemed... to be a short step from the study of dead souls... to the study of dead men and dead civilizations." "I'm not very practical, either." "But it didn't occur to me till I was hooked... that my combined knowledge of anthropology and psychic phenomena... had led me on to something very practical." "You see, if ghosts, which are pure spirit, come from man... then perhaps it's possible some day to have individuals... whose spiritual caliber far surpasses anything humanity has yet known." "Human nature could certainly stand some improvements." "However, my idea remains pure theory... until somebody proves definitely the supernatural exists." "Anyway, that's enough about me." "Now tell me about last night." "Thank you." "I've been trying to remember." "I can remember knowing I was frightened... but I can't remember actually being frightened, or how I felt." "I think it's because it was so unreal." "Still could be subterranean waters, you know." "I hope not." "That wouldn't be nearly so exciting." "Not good, this feeling of excitement." "It's the first sign you've fallen under the spell of the house." "Maybe it isn't just the house." "Then what else?" "Let's blame it on sunspots." "Well, it wasn't sunspots last night." "If anyone gets hurt, it's going to be your fault, Markway." "No ghost in all the long history of ghosts ever hurt anyone physically." "We weren't in any actual danger at all, isn't that right, John?" "No, not entirely." "Fear alone can do the damage to the victim." "Prehistoric man, for instance, could die of fright during an eclipse." " Poor sap." " You mean poor homo sapiens." "A modern man can react with the same unreasoning terror... to a supernatural event." "Especially if he doesn't believe that the supernatural exists." "I've always been more afraid of being left alone or left out... than of things that go bump in the night." "What are you afraid of, Theo?" "Of knowing what I really want." " Good morning, fellow earthlings." " Luke, what are you afraid of?" "What I just saw in the hall." " Is there something?" " You mean you haven't seen it?" "The show's just getting good." "Come on." "Right here." "It's writing?" "Writing." "Chalk." "Or something like chalk." " Can you read it?" " No." "What?" "No." "Wipe it off, please." "It's crazy." "Crazy is the word for it, all right." " Get something and wipe it off, Luke." " But it's crazy." "Why?" "Why all the fuss?" "Lt spelled her name right, didn't it?" " Those letters spelled out my name." " Take it easy." "It's my name!" "Lt belongs to me and something is using it." "Writing it and calling me with my own name!" " Just because your name..." " That's it!" "It knows my name, doesn't it?" " It knows my name!" " Simmer down, Nell." "It could have said any of us." "It knows all our names." "Did you write it?" "Please tell me." "I won't be angry or anything." "I just want to know so that..." "Maybe it was only for a joke to frighten me." "You know none of us wrote it, baby." " She's lying, I could swear she did it." " Easy." "I clear breakfast at 10:00." " Why should I write your name?" " I set lunch at 1:00." "Because I didn't wait to have breakfast with you." " You're way out." " You don't know Theo as I'm beginning to." " I clear up at 10:00." " Mrs. Dudley, please!" " No one blames you for being upset." " It's 10:00." "Why me?" "Why should I be the one chosen?" "Maybe something in the house finds you a kindred spirit." "Maybe it thinks you have more understanding and sympathy than we do." "Maybe you wrote it yourself." "Sure, I'm just the kind to want to see my name..." " scribbled all over this foul house!" " It's one way to attract attention, isn't it?" "You think I like the idea I'm the center of attention?" "Why are you all done up in that new hairstyle?" " You were the one who suggested..." " That's enough." "How dare you?" "Can't you see Theo's just trying to get a rise out of you... so you won't be frightened anymore?" "I'm sorry." "Take Eleanor to her room." "We'll postpone the tour of the house." "Okay, but don't forget." "I don't want to spend another night... wondering what's over my head or underneath me." "You wouldn't leave me behind, would you?" "No one will leave you behind." "Holy cow!" "Mount Rushmore!" " It's not there." "I don't believe it's there." " How?" "I thought you'd get a kick out of it." "It's supposed to be St. Francis curing the lepers." "I'd say it's a family portrait." "A composite." "The tall, draped, masculine type... that's old Hugh Crain... pointing out all the great treasures in this creepy house he built." "The dame on the end down there and this one must be his two wives." "His daughter, Abigail." " Now the dog..." " The dog you were chasing last night." "Yeah, very good." "Now that one, she's got to be the companion." "The one who's supposed to have murdered Abigail." "No, that was much later." "When Abigail was an old lady." "I wonder how this statue got here." "It wasn't on the original inventory." "Maybe I'll break it up and sell it for tombstones." "The companion reminds me of you, Nell." "Oh, no!" "She does at that." "A natural beauty, I'd call her." "What does he think of me, really?" "Am I being a fool?" "Don't let me know too surely what he thinks of me." "This could be a family portrait of us." " Don't be ridiculous." " You're the companion." "I'm Abigail, grown up." "And Markway could be old Hugh." " Where do I fit in?" " The dog." "When are you going to show me your ESP?" "Keep your hands to yourself." "What's going on?" "More than meets the eye." "You know, this wouldn't be such a bad room without the statue." "Ideal for the zombies' annual ball." "Why don't you dance with Hugh?" "L believe he has his eye on you." " That's not funny." " Don't be chicken." " Leave her alone." " I bet she doesn't know how to dance." "I do, too." "Hugh Crain, will you dance with me?" "I believe he's going to accept." " He moved." " Of course." "Haven't you noticed how nothing in the house moves till you look away... and then you just catch something out of the corner of your eye?" "She stepped on my toe." "Let's go out this way before somebody gets hurt." "Come over here, I want to show you something really unique." "A library complete with ivory tower." "I can't go in there." " My mother..." " Yes?" "That smell..." " It's just stale air, Eleanor." " No, that other smell..." "Awful." "Smells sweet to me, honey." "At 25 cents a book, I should do all right with this room." "I don't think I'll do much reading while I'm here." " Not if the books smell like the library." " I didn't notice it." "No, that's good, Eleanor." "It's just what we're after." "Try and remember your reaction and describe it exactly..." " when you write your notes tonight." " That's what I'm here for." "Only, do you mind if I skip the library for now?" "No, do just what you want." "We'll only be a minute." " You're sure you're all right?" " Yes." "I want to show you something really interesting." "You remember that companion, the one that Abigail had... when she was an old lady?" "See that little balcony... clear up at the top there, right up there in the shadows?" "That's where the companion hanged herself." " It would have been easier to jump." " Without a parachute?" "They say she tied the rope on to the railing and then..." "Thanks, we get it." "I just had a great idea." "You know what I'll do with this room?" "After I inherit the house, of course." "I'll turn it into a nightclub." "Tear out these bookshelves and put a band in there." "Now comes the best part." "A line of beautiful chorus girls dancing down these stairs." "Can't you see it?" " Are you all right?" " I think so." " Quick thinking." " Instinct." "My strong instinct for self-preservation." "And it's telling me right now loud and clear to get the hell out of here." "Vile." "Hideous." "I wonder what it would be like looking down from there." "That's where she did it." "From that window." "Climbing out through the bars... hanging on for an instant, hanging on..." "Eleanor, you'll fall!" "Didn't you hear me calling?" "This house, you have to watch it every minute." "I didn't realize you were so nervous." "I think I should send you home." " No, please, I can't go home." " It's no reflection on you." "An atmosphere like this might break anyone down." "But I'm not breaking down." "I did hear noises last night." "Something was trying to get into the room." "You realize that if even one event is proved to be a hallucination... then this whole experiment will be questioned." "I'm not crazy, you know." "After all, Theo was there, too." "Is it my fault it just didn't make sense?" "We'll let it go for now." " Maybe I'm just being selfish." " Selfish?" "Keeping you here for the sake of the experiment." "Of course, for the sake of the experiment." "You do seem to be the main attraction... for whatever's in the house." " But I'll send you back the minute..." " No, please." "I'm all right." "Really I am." "Well, don't you two look cozy." "She was halfway off the verandah when I caught her." "I was leaning back to see the top of the tower." " I got dizzy." " Dizzy like a fox?" "Poor Nell." "You look like death." "Let's go inside." "I think you'd better move in with Eleanor." " You're the doctor." " But that's my room, my very own room." "I wouldn't want to risk either of you spending another night alone." "Don't get all hung up, Nell." "We'll have fun." "Like sisters." " It tickles." " Of course." "Your toes are tickled pink." "I knew my shade would suit you perfectly." "Have another drink." "It will keep the chill out." "Just a teensy one." "To keep the chill out." " I don't really like whisky." " This is brandy." "By the time I'm through with you, Nell, you'll be a different person." "It's wicked." "I mean, on my foot." "You've got foolishness and wickedness mixed up." "Maybe." "Haven't had much chance to learn the difference." "Know something?" "Even when I'd play solitaire in my room... she'd bang on the wall and make me feel guilty... for leaving her alone just that little bit." " She'd always..." " Your mother?" "My mother..." "Story of my dull life." "What's your apartment like?" "It's an old place we furnished ourselves from stuff we picked up in the junk shops." "We both love fixing over old things." "Like me." "You married?" "No." "I'm sorry." "I'm stupid and wicked and untrustworthy..." " and not good for anything at all." " I don't think so." "Maybe just a little tight at the moment." "Tell me something about where you live." "I haven't had it long enough to believe it's my own." "It's a little apartment." "Smaller than yours, I'm sure." "I live alone." "I'm still furnishing it." "Buying one thing at a time to make sure I get everything right." "Took me two weeks to find the little stone lions I keep on the mantel." "Brush their teeth every night." "I've got a hunch I better get you back to your apartment as fast as I can." " Don't say that." " I only mean..." "Why do you all pick on me?" "Am I the public dump or something for everybody's fear?" "I don't want to leave Hill House ever." "I've been waiting all my life for something like this to happen." "Hey, everybody, come here." "I've found something." "What's wrong with you, Doc?" "Stand there, go on." "You, too, girls." "Stand there." "A genuine cold spot." "I guarantee it won't register on any thermometer." "Bunk." "It's just a draft, that's all." " Coming from somewhere." " A draft?" "Ln Hill House?" "Not unless you can make one of the doors stay open." "No, I found it." "The heart of Hill House." "You mean where we're standing?" "Behind these doors." " What's in there?" " The nursery." "Abigail Crain grew up and died there." " Just the place to chill our beer." " No, don't go in there." "We'll keep the lid on the pressure cooker a while longer, then." "Now don't give me that, Doc." "It's like the doorway to a tomb." "Bless you." "Now, that's enough, girls." "You'd better run along to bed before you catch cold." "Yes, teacher." "Bless you." "Come on." "No." "There's got to be a draft." "The floor's solid." "Look, Doc, don't give me any of that supernatural jazz." "This is something I can feel." "And see." "Maybe there's a pipeline to the North Pole." "Why won't you accept it for what it is:" "a supernatural phenomenon?" "You knock on wood, don't you?" "Yeah, what's that got to do with it?" "It shows that even you, despite yourself... feel that there are forces beyond nature able to help or hurt us." "Wait a minute." "Are you telling me that belief in a superstition... is the same thing as believing in the supernatural?" "It's food for thought." "Frozen food for thought." "You know what I think?" "Markway has us all so edgy, we're getting the cold sweats." "The temperature needn't drop to make you feel like that." "That's right." "Music gives me goose bumps." "Still, there was that awful smell in the library." "Here we go again." "You know very well... what you thought you smelled in the library." "The sickroom smell." "Let's discuss me some other time." "I'm tired." " Turn out the light." " I'd like it on." "Have you seen this?" "I told you." "I just want to go to sleep." "Good night!" "Why be mad at me?" "L don't think you killed your mother." "Leave me alone." "Go to sleep!" "Good night, Nellie my Nell." "Are you awake?" "Don't say a word, Theo." "Not a word." "Don't let it know you're in my room." "Hold my hand." "And for God's sake, don't scream." "Is it over?" "Do you think it's over?" "You're breaking my hand." "This is monstrous." "This is cruel." "It is hurting a child and I will not let anyone... anything hurt a child." "I won't endure this." "It thinks to scare me." "It has, and poor Theo, too." "Honestly, it feels like she's breaking my hand." "I will take a lot from this filthy house for his sake... but I will not go along with hurting a child." "No, I will not." "I will get my mouth to open right now, and I will yell." "Stop it!" "What, Nell?" "Oh, God!" "Whose hand was I holding?" " Eleanor, too bad." "You just missed it." " What?" "The Hill House Concerto for Harp." "Were you playing the harp?" "It was playing itself." "Naturally." "How do you explain it?" "Subterranean waters?" "Earth tremors?" "As a matter of fact, I don't think it is anything supernatural." "The self-starting music." "More likely it's in the realm of the preternatural." "Something we don't have any natural explanation for right now... but probably will have some day." "The preternatural of one generation becomes the natural of the next." "Not so long ago, scientists laughed at the idea of magnetic attraction." "They couldn't explain it, so they refused to admit it existed." "Life is still full of the preternatural." "My mother..." "Go on." "Say it." "You've been trying to since you got here." "I don't know what I was going to say." "I'm still so terrified from last night." "You shouldn't be." "It's silly to be frightened." "You haven't been through it." "This horrible unknown thing." "Unknown." "That's the key word." "When we get involved in a supernatural event... we're scared out of our wits just because it's unknown." "The night cry of a child." "Face on the wall, knockings, bangings." "What's there to be afraid of?" "You weren't threatened." "It was harmless, like a joke that didn't come off." " But the child..." " There was no child." " Just a voice." " Worse." "Look, let me put it this way." "When people believed the Earth was flat... the idea of a round world scared them silly." "Then they found out how the round world works." "It's the same with the world of the supernatural." "Until we know how it works... we'll continue to carry around this unnecessary burden of fear." "Supposing it is in my imagination... the knocking, the voices, everything." "Every cursed bit of the haunting." "Suppose the haunting is all in my mind." "You can't say that because there are three other people here." "We all resist the idea... that what ran through the garden the first night was a ghost... what banged on the door was a ghost, what held your hand was a ghost." "But there's certainly something going on in Hill House." "We're getting close, Eleanor, very close to finding out what it is." "I could say all three of you are in my imagination." "None of this is real." "Sure." "That's the easiest way to dismiss the supernatural... by pleading insanity or accusing others of it." "Maybe I am insane." "The night my mother died... she knocked on the wall." "And I didn't come." "Eleven years of looking in on her after every small noise." "That night... my back hurt and my hands." "It wasn't fair." "We could've afforded a laundress." "I ought to have brought her the medicine." "I always did before." "This time... she called me... and I never answered." " Is that how a normal person acts?" " Yes." "You were tired and disgusted. 1 1 years!" "You're human." "Stop trying to be either a saint or a martyr." "You probably like thinking it was your fault." "My sister says I wanted Mother to die." "I've wondered ever since if I didn't wake up in the night... and hear her just go back to sleep." "It would have been easy." " I've wondered about it." " No, you're not capable of that." "You're a fine person, Eleanor." "Sensitive and honest and thoroughly good." " Do you really think so, John?" " I do indeed." "Goose bumps." "There isn't by any chance a cold spot in this room, too, is there?" "No, there isn't." ""Journeys end in lovers meeting. "" "All I want is to be cherished." "And here we are listening to that ridiculous harp." ""Lust." "Daughter, preserve thyself." ""Hold apart from this world, that its lust corrupt thee not." ""Could you but hear for a moment the agony..." ""the screaming..."" "Oh, now, get this, congregation." ""...the dreadful crying out of the lustful..." ""damned for eternity in everlasting flame! "" " What have you got there?" " I found it in the library." "He made it himself." "Look." ""Memories for Abigail Lester Crain:" ""a legacy for her education and enlightenment." ""From her devoted father, Hugh Desmond Lester Crain..." ""Hill House, October 21, 1873."" " But that's today." " Tomorrow and 90 years later." "Some nursery book, huh?" ""Honor the authors of thy being, daughter." ""Thy father and thy mother."" "Just the thing to give a child at bedtime." "No family should be without one." "I can see him now spitting out the words so they take root in her little mind." "Hugh Crain, you were a dirty man and you made a dirty house." "If you can hear me, I'm telling you to your face..." "I hope you spend eternity in that foul, rotten book... and never stop burning for a minute." " Don't be a bore, Nell." "Sit down and we'll..." " Leave me alone." "You are a bore." "I've got it." "I'll tear out the pictures... and send them as Christmas cards to my New England relatives." "I think it's funny. "Dear Uncle Ned:" "Merry Christmas, may your soul..."" "Close that book." "It's enough to set anyone's nerves on edge." "It's not the book that's making our Nell nervous." "She's worried about her apartment." "I didn't know." "Is there anything I can do to help?" "She thinks she's being funny." "Tell me, Dr. Markway, are you fond of stone lions..." " the kind you keep on the mantel?" " Shut up, Theo." "Do you long for a tiny home, something smaller than Hill House?" "There's room for two, isn't there, Nell?" "You're a monster, Theo." "You're the monster of Hill House." " You'd better go with her." " Wouldn't you rather?" "I said go with her." "She shouldn't be left in that room alone." "Here you are." "Okay, Isolde." " Tristan wants you inside." " Leave me alone." "Stop trying to be the center of attention." " Come inside." " You revolt me." "Can't you take a joke?" "I didn't know you were serious about Markway." "Of course you did." "But he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it." "Get away with what?" " You're making a fool of yourself over him." " Suppose l'm not, though." "You'd mind terribly if you turned out to be wrong for once." " You poor stupid innocent." " I'd rather be innocent than like you." "Meaning what?" "Now who's being stupid and innocent?" " You know perfectly well what I mean." " Is this one of your crazy hallucinations?" " I'm not crazy." " Crazy as a loon." "You expect me to believe you're sane and the rest of the world is mad?" "Why not?" "The world is full of inconsistencies." "Unnatural things. "Nature's mistakes," they're called." "You, for instance." "A reporter's been telephoning all day." "He's on your track." " He's heard about you renting this place." " How?" "The Dudleys, I bet." "They must've blabbed in town." "Come back with me now, please." "If they find out why you're here, the papers'll have a field day." "Who are you?" "Grace Markway." "Didn't John tell you he's married?" " I tried to warn you." " Welcome to our party." "Who are you?" "We're researchers in the field of psychic phenomena." "Please go." "You couldn't have arrived at a worse time." "Stop this insanity, John, and come back with me." "I can't." "Not now." "I'm convinced we're on the verge of a breakthrough." "Here you are, driver, that'll be all." "But I had to come." "I had to." "I've waited such a long time." "I've earned my happiness." "I was afraid this would be your attitude." "I'm not leaving here until you've got sense enough to leave with me." "I hope no one minds if I join the ghost hunt." "All right, I'll put your things in my room." "I'll be very disappointed if I don't see a ghost." "Hadn't you better put me in the ghastly dungeon... or the mysterious secret chamber?" "There are no dungeons, no secret chambers in Hill House." "In fact, nothing romantic at all." "It's a deadly serious place." " Not even a treasure buried in the cellar?" " There's the nursery." "Thank you, my dear." "The nursery it is." "You must listen to me." "Certain things have happened here." "You may not believe in the supernatural, but these are physical facts." "Mrs. Markway, please..." "Don't sleep in the nursery." "I didn't realize what I was saying." "You insult my intelligence." "You don't think I'd believe anything you ghost hunters might tell me." "Even so, you shouldn't sleep in that room." "It hasn't been opened since we've been here." "I agree with you about the spook bit, Mrs. M, but it's true, the air might be bad." "Oh, poisonous." "I've just remembered." "No problem." "I don't have the key to the nursery, and the Dudleys have gone for the night." "Incidentally, how'd you get through the gate?" "Very supernatural." "With a key." "Your Mrs. Dudley is quite human, I assure you... and not at all averse to a $5 bill." "Hey, look." "From your expressions, I gather that is the dreaded nursery." "And as for the bad air, it's quite the opposite." "There seems to be a draft." "Wait a minute, Doc." "This is ridiculous." "Nobody opened these doors." "That's right, Luke." "You're beginning to see the light." "I haven't seen a damn thing." "I just don't like the way it looks." "Now I know who your fiend of Hill House is." "The interior decorator." "Evidently Mrs. Dudley doesn't get in here very often." "Looks the same as the rest of the house to me." "It's no use, Grace." "The air in here is stale." "I can take care of that." "Only one way to argue with a woman, Doc." "Don't." "Good night." "My mother..." "This room is the cold, rotten heart of the house." "Since you're so foolish, I'll stay with you." "But you're not to be in this room alone tonight." "I can't go on watching you waste your life on all this nonsense." "If there is such a thing as a haunted house, this is my chance to find out." "All right." "John, my bag." "At least leave the door open." "Don't worry." "I've brought a special ghost trap with me." "What if he does have a wife?" "L still have a place in this house." "I belong." "I want to stay here." "It's the only time anything's ever happened to me." "He can't make me leave, not if Hill House means me to stay." "Go away, Eleanor, we don't want you anymore, you can't stay." "But I can." "He doesn't make the rules around here." "Nell, I'm talking to you." " I'm sorry." " What's the matter?" "Didn't you hear Markway?" "He doesn't want us to stay here." "He wants us to spend the night downstairs in the parlor." "Luke and he will take turns watching on this floor." "For Pete's sake, snap out of it." " Why aren't you upstairs?" " I needed a drink." " Grace." " Wait a minute." "It's nowhere near the nursery, it's down here." "It seems to me we've been on this kick before." "Next vacation I must really go somewhere else." "It knows my name." "This time it knows my name." " I'll have to go out there." " No!" " It hasn't hurt me." "Why should it hurt her?" " She might try to do something about it." "Is it over, Theo?" "Ls it?" "No, I'm so cold." "It's going to start everything all over again." "It can't get in." "Don't let it get in." "Oh, God, it knows I'm here." "Doc, I'll let you have the house cheap." "It will go on and on and come back again until it finds me." "On and on until it finds me." "It's at the nursery." " You must be crazy!" " I'm going out there!" "Not with that thing out there." " We have to, Luke." "She's there!" " Don't be crazy." "I've got to find out if Grace is all right." "I don't know what it is, but I don't want to find out..." "I've got to get out of here." "I've got to find out if Grace is all right." " No, don't." " Cut it out!" "I'll come." "Whatever it wants of me it can have." "The house is coming down around me." "The house is destroying itself." "It's in the nursery." "Mrs. Markway?" "Please." "Grace, are you..." "Where is she?" " Where is she?" "What did you see?" " Nothing." "She wasn't here." " What happened?" " She's gone." "Where?" "How?" "Good God!" "Markway, if this is your idea of a joke... if living in a haunted house has done this to you..." "We'll start here, then the whole house." " Even if we have to tear the place apart." " You can't do that." "If we don't find her, the police will be around." "I'm coming apart, a little at a time." "Now I know where l'm going." "I'm disappearing inch by inch into this house." "We killed her." "You and I, Hugh Crain." "She must be around this house somewhere." "Maybe this whole thing is a bad joke." " She isn't the kind who makes jokes." " You find her, she's your wife." "I'm taking Nell and I'm clearing out of here." "Where is Eleanor?" "I want to stay here." "I want to stay here always." "I will not be frightened or alone anymore." "Has anyone checked outside?" "Please, Nell, where are you?" "Here I am, inside." "It's not cold at all and the smell is gone." "I've broken the spell of Hill House." "I'm home." "No stone lions for me." "I am home." "I will not look back... because then they will know what I am thinking." "Eleanor, turn around and come down." "Now, be very, very careful." "Come down." "All that is gone and left behind." "Eleanor, for God's sake!" " Wait a minute." "This thing will collapse..." " It can't possibly hold the both of you." "Just turn around, Eleanor." "Keep hold of the rail and start down slowly." "Stand still!" "Don't move!" "Stand perfectly still!" "Nell, do what they say, please!" "I'm coming on the platform." "Now come along." "Are you sure, Eleanor?" "It was Mrs. Markway." "Just before I fainted, I looked up, and there she was above the trap door." "What's more, she's still around." "I don't know who or what you really saw, Eleanor." "But whatever it was, we can't risk letting it happen again." " That's why you're leaving now." " But I can't leave now." " I brought the car round front." "She ready?" " She's all packed." "Take her suitcase." "No, please, Luke, let me stay." "I'll help Mrs. Dudley." "All it will cost you is just my keep." "Sorry, honey, but you're not the type I keep." " I can't leave, I tell you." " I can't take any more chances." "I realize now what a terrible thing I was asking of you all." "You're leaving as quickly as you can." "Then we'll find Grace or go to the police." "It isn't fair." "I'm the one who's supposed to stay here." "She's taken my place." "Don't worry." "Luke will see you get there safely." " Get where?" " Why, home, of course." "Go back to your own little apartment where all your things are." "I haven't any home." "I made it up." "No apartment, no things..." "Everything in all the world that belongs to me... is in that suitcase and a carton in my car." "So you see, there's no place you can send me." "I have to stay here." "You must have lived somewhere before." " You had an address where l wrote you." " My sister's." "I sleep on a couch in the living room." "I'd be much happier here." "I can't go back to my sister's." "Yes, you can, and immediately." "This is a mistake." "Don't you understand?" "The house wants me." "Mrs. Markway can't satisfy it." "No one else can." "Forget about this house as soon as you can." "No, please." "I'm fine now." "I'm not afraid." "I was happy here." " I don't think Mrs. Markway will be." " Put the bag in the car, Luke." "Nell is right." "Grace is around somewhere." " You see?" " Please, there's no time to waste." "Please, let me stay." "I'm the only one who can call Mrs. Markway back." "I was wrong." "I should have sent you home the first night." "This is the only time anything's ever happened to me." "I'm the one it really wants." "Can't you feel it?" "Lt's alive." "Watching... waiting..." "Waiting for me." "I won't go away." "You will go away." "Right now." " No, come on." " I'll drive." "It's my car." "At least, half mine." "All right, let her." "I can't stand here arguing." "Thank you for rescuing me in the library." "That was wrong of me, I know, but I'm all right now, honestly." "I'm sorry." "I'm terribly sorry, really." "Goodbye." "Let's get moving." "I thought you weren't going to say goodbye." "Nellie my Nell, be happy, please be happy." "Everything's going to be all right." "I'm sure Grace is here and we'll find her." "So don't worry." "She has my place." "It isn't fair." "Goodbye, Eleanor." "I'll write you." "Drive carefully." "Goodbye." "Who do I thank for a lovely time?" "Oh, hold it." "Markway!" "The key." " To the gate." " Yes, of course." "What fools they are." "The house tricks them so easily." "Just by telling me to go away, they can't make me leave." "They can't shut me out." "Not if Hill House means me to stay." " Eleanor." " Wait." "So now I'm going." "But I won't go." "Hill House belongs to me." "I knew it." "Hill House doesn't want me to go." "Stop it." "Please." "What are you doing?" "Let go." "What are you doing?" "Why don't they stop me?" "Can't they see what is happening?" "But it's happening to you, Eleanor." "Yes." "Something at last is really... really happening to me." "She's dead." "I didn't want any of this to happen." "You must believe me, John." "What were you doing?" "What happened?" "That terrible house." "I woke up and I was frightened." "So I tried to find your room, but I got lost." "Almost as though the house were doing it on purpose." "And I ended up in the attic." "I was only trying to find a way out when I opened the trap door." "I wasn't trying to frighten her." " Didn't you see me?" " No, but Eleanor did." "The shock of seeing you almost killed her." "She did kill her." "Seeing her is what made Eleanor lose control of the car." "No." "She only saw me the very last instant." "The same time I saw her." "I don't even know how I got out here." "It wasn't your fault." "Eleanor did it to herself." "It looked to me, anyway, like she... deliberately aimed the car at this tree." "Where the first Mrs. Crain was also killed in an "accident."" "Here's the mark." "There was something in the car with her, I'm sure of it." "Call it what you like, but Hill House is haunted." "It didn't want her to leave, and her poor bedeviled mind... wasn't strong enough to fight it." " Poor Eleanor." " Maybe not "poor" Eleanor." "It was what she wanted, to stay here." "She had no place else to go." "The house belongs to her now, too." "Maybe she's happier." "You wait here, Grace." "I'll go and get your things and call the police." "No one must go in that house again." "Whatever is there might..." "I'll be all right." "The house has what it wants... for a while." "It ought to be burned down and the ground sowed with salt." "Hill House has stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more." "Within, walls continue upright, bricks meet... floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut." "Silence lies steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House." "And we who walk here walk alone."