The Haunting of Hill House (TV Mini Series)

Steven Sees a Ghost (2018)

Michiel Huisman: Steven Crain

Photos 

Quotes 

• Steven Crain : I've seen a lot of ghosts. Just not the way you think. A ghost can be a lot of things. A memory, a daydream, a secret. Grief, anger, guilt. But, in my experience, most times they're just what we want to see. Most times, a ghost is a wish.

• Steven Crain : [opening lines]  No live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality. Even larks and katydids are supposed by some to dream. Hill House, not sane... stood by itself against its hills holding darkness within. It had stood so for a hundred years before my family moved in... and might stand a hundred more. Within, walls stood upright, bricks met neatly... floors were firm. Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House. And whatever walked there... walked alone.

• Shirley Crain : [Shirley slams the manuscript on the table in front of Steven]  The fuck, Steve?

  Steven Crain : You didn't like it.

  Shirley Crain : No, I didn't like it.

  Leigh : What's going on?

  Shirley Crain : My brother raped the family, is what's going on.

  Steven Crain : Hang on...

  Shirley Crain : Look, I get that things haven't gone well for your writing, and when you said you wanted to do a book about the house, I understood that, but this...

  Steven Crain : I sent you guys the manuscript in case you had any objections. I didn't have to do that.

  Shirley Crain : Of course we object, I object, Steve!

  Leigh : Let's calm down a bit.

  Shirley Crain : You be calm, Leigh! It's not your name in here; it's not your family.

  Leigh : Okay, it is my family...

  Shirley Crain : You weren't there.

  [Turns back to Steve] 

  Shirley Crain : Nell, Luke, Theo, they were kids; the things they told you in confidence...

  Steven Crain : It's clear they were kids...

  Shirley Crain : You make Mom sound fucking crazy! And the Dudleys, and Dad? This is the worst of the bullshit, worse than the tabloids!

  Steven Crain : Dad had every opportunity to set the record straight. What am I supposed to write? He said it was haunted. Those are his words.

  Shirley Crain : He was a wreck, and he just lost his wife.

  Steven Crain : And he hasn't said SHIT since! Does he talk to you, Shirl? Does he talk to you about what happened that night? Because all I've got are those tabloid quotes. He refuses to tell us anything else.

  Shirley Crain : He believed it, Steve. When he said those things, he believed them - in the moment, at least. And you never did.

  Steven Crain : Neither did you.

  Shirley Crain : And now you're digging up that stuff for a buck? So you can stop living off credit for a change?

  Steven Crain : [Offended]  A buck?

  Leigh : Look, I can tell you're upset, but Steve...

  Steven Crain : A buck? Do you know how much money they're offering for the advance? We can buy a house; we can move to L.A. we can... I need to start a life for my family.

  Shirley Crain : We're your family, Steve. What you're doing to Mom...

  Steven Crain : Mom was mentally ill. It's a fact. And I'll be damned if the apple doesn't fall too far from...

  [Steven stops, ashamed, and Shirley is stricken] 

  Steven Crain : I'm sorry.

  Shirley Crain : Wow.

  Steven Crain : I'm sorry, that was...

  Shirley Crain : Wow.

  Steven Crain : [pause]  No one's buying the novels, Shirl.

  Shirley Crain : You sent me the book. Now you know what I think. You publish this; you know what it costs.