by Faith-Ashleigh Wong
How's everybody doing after last week's chilling premiere? Nightmares? Hearing things? Constantly looking over your shoulder because you feel like you're being watched? All of the above?
This week things go bump in the night at the Harmon household. We learn that in 1968 the house was a dormitory and one night a Good Samaritan move proved a fatal one when it resulted in a tragic double murder. We now know that six murders have taken place in this house (and I don't doubt there are more!) – is it no wonder it is a stop on a "murder house tour"?
Ben has a new patient who dreams of being cut in half and seems overly curious about the house. This disturbing fascination makes sense when Bianca returns with two friends and they play a sick re-enactment game with Vivien and Violet.
While his family are under attack, Ben is out of town secretly seeing Hayden, his former mistress. This sordid past which, until this day has caused great strain on his marriage, looked like it was coming back to haunt him when Hayden tells him she is pregnant. She wants an abortion though so Ben seems to have had a lucky escape but something tells me there is more to this story...
I think the scariest thing about this week's episode – you know, apart from the haunted house – is the fact that a house invasion is something that could easily happen to any one of us, couldn't it? I really liked the balance between fear and helplessness and being proactive and brave that we saw from Vivien and Violet. The scene as it unfolded felt very real and not too orchestrated or exaggerated which is the common treatment of scenarios like these in most horror stories.
Here are some do's and don'ts I've learned from watching this episode. Because let's face it, not all of us are "lucky" enough to have a creepy basement to rescue us...not that we would want one in our home anyway!
- DO have a baseball bat (or anything similar that you can do some damage with) handy should you suspect someone has broken into your home.
- DO have an alarm system if you can afford it. If you can afford an alarm system, then you should also have more than one lock on your door.
- DO make sure that if you have to leave your family to go out of town that you don't ignore calls from home because it may be a cry for help!
- DON'T let strangers in to your home even if they say they are hurt and need some help.
- DON'T work from home...specifically if you are a psychiatrist and have a family! You don't want your patients thinking they can come and go as they please. Or watch you as you sleep.
- DON'T accept cupcakes from creepy neighbours. Even if the cupcakes do look pretty and delicious.
Did anyone else feel a tinge of sympathy for Addie this week? Even though she appears to be able to see and communicate with the ghosts in the house, I sense her interactions with them are harmless and not malicious. She may be mischievous and disturbing with her ominous messages but when she tries to tell Constance about the trouble next door, it's clear she does have some sense of right and wrong. If anyone is causing more harm, it's Constance – that "bad girl closet" was awful!
After the ordeal of the home invasion, it's no wonder Vivien wants out. Now whether the house is going to allow them to leave is a whole other issue altogether...
Become a fan of FOUR on Facebook
,
on Twitter .