A stage adaptation of Shirley Jackson's 1959 horror novel "The Haunting of Hill House" opened at Richmond Theatre in London with jump scares that landed within seconds of curtain up.
Director Martin Constantine's production follows three guests invited by Dr Montague to investigate supernatural activity at an abandoned mansion. The show uses inventive stagecraft to generate sustained tension, including unsettling soundscapes, sudden jump scares, blown bulbs, hovering blankets, menacing wall scrawls and furniture that appears to move on its own. The effect suggests even the set changes are orchestrated by ghosts.
The atmosphere proved intense enough that at least one audience member spent the entire performance gripping their neighbour and repeatedly muttering "No, no, no, I do not like this at all." Stephen King has previously described Jackson's novel as "as nearly perfect a haunted-house tale as I have ever read," establishing high bar expectations for any adaptation.