Reading Chapter 7 of The Haunting of Hill House. The much-anticipated introduction of Mrs. Dr. Montague... and... Arthur? ("Are they saying 'Boo' or 'Boo-urns?'") We receive another visit from the friendly neighbourhood knocking ghost. Hill House may, or may not, suffer some structural integrity issues. CW: alcohol

Buzz marketed in this episode: Ovaltine; Hasbro; Jordan, Jesse, Go!; My Brother, My Brother, and Me; House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewsk; Mira Grant, author of the highly recommended Newsflesh, Parasitology, and Rolling in the Deep serieseses.

Please send your corrections to @andrewscheer.

Reading Chapter 6 of The Haunting of Hill House. You guys, Luke never had a mother! Other people had mothers, but not Luke. He does have a vintage dirty book for kids, though, so he's got that going for him. Dr. Montague has a liquid lunch. Nell and Theo bare their souls, agonizingly, and finally get to go on that picnic they've been fantasizing about. Next up, they'll sue their imaginations for false adverstizing. CW: alcohol.

Another day and night pass uneventfully in Hill House. Just kidding! The gang barely gets through breakfast before the creepery starts. This time, it's a lot more concrete. And it's targeting Eleanor. In fact, Eleanor wonders, maybe EVERYONE is targeting Eleanor. Maybe even Luke! 

Content warning: alcohol; implied sex; mild gore. 

CW: suicide (in Ch. 4 pt. 1); alcohol. The gang explores Hill House, definitively disrupting Something in the process. We get our first DEFINITE HAUNTING ACTION and it is good classic stuff; also, it seems to be strategizing against them, which is a bit extra-worrying. Dr. Montague is right on top of it with thermometers and measuring tapes. Eleanor and Theodora have a comforting cuddle. Luke is there, too! Attaboy, Luke.

Suggested supplementary topics: Winchester House; Helen Mirren; Borley Rectory; Chambord Castle; satyrs.

CW: brief suicide mention; alcohol. The gang persuades Doctor Montague to unload Hill House's entire sordid history, such as he knows it, and it bums everyone out. He also establishes that even if anyone wanted to run away, they kind of can't. Eleanor and Theodora share more about their private lives (and private wives). Featured: special-guest interview with poet and social worker Katie O'Brien.

Eleanor ventures inside Hill House, and discovers the most terrifying thing she has encountered so far: Mrs. Dudley. Theodora arrives to steal our hearts away for a picnic, until there's a rabbit, or something. Luke smirks his way onto the scene. And finally: Dr. Montague. 

DEBUT EPISODE! We're reading Shirley Jackson's masterpiece "The Haunting of Hill House". In this episode, we start with Chapter 1, which is in 5 parts: I, the invitation to Hill House; II, meeting Eleanor, Theo, and Luke; III, wishing death and despair onto Eleanor's terrible sister and brother-in-law; IV, Eleanor's journey to Hill House, through an alternately grim and fantastical landscape; and V, Eleanor's foreboding arrival at Hill House.