come on malcolm, it's only seven ohms, it's nothing, it's like a joy buzzer! and it's not about the pain, it's about the interference with concentration.
malcolm, this is essential work i'm doing. just think what my research can do for education. elementary school classrooms near train tracks or airports, where loud noise is random; this helps to prove the need for sound insulation if the children are ever going to learn to read.
no, malcolm! individual performance is only part of it. i know why baseball players choke for no reason, i know why violinists throw up with fear before every concert, and need to, to give a great performance, but what i want to know is, how fear works in a group.
but if the group knows it's being studied as a group, you contaminate the results. the deception is minor.
mary, i'll meet you outside.
and after she was thrown out, she needed a job.
no, but she does, and that's all that matters.
no.
she needed a job, malcolm. and she's smart. and she helps me.
this is the last chapter. please, please give me clearance. it's for science.
thank you.
what?
you hear the vibrations in the wire. there's a magnetic pulse in the wires, you feel it. i could test it.
yes, this is doctor marrow.
because it's my phone. yes.  mrs. dudley, just leave the boxes inside, thank you. see you soon. thank you.
good.
what a beautiful profile. how do you feel about her? what does your intuition say?
okay.  this one's good.  extrovert feeler.  okay.  this one i like, too.
that? that's hill house.
yes. it's perfect, isn't it?
there we are. you're eleanor, you're luke, you're theo.
and this is todd, he just came up.
and this is my assistant, mary lambretta.
eleanor, how was the drive?
nell. good enough. and i'm jim.
well.  we're glad to have you.
have either of you seen david watts?
the man who completes the group.
nobody. a local mill owner, hugh crain, built it in 1830. he had no heirs, but he put the house in trust, and the farmland around it, with the stipulation that it never be altered or sold. crain's executors made good investments and for the last hundred and twenty years, hill house has taken care of itself.
eat first, questions later, mary, please.
theo? it's your turn.
you wrote that you had trouble sleeping.
we're glad you're here.
i'll have to count david watts as a no-show. so let's start. thank you, mary.
i thought it best to be isolated, to be in a location with a definite sense of history, and i wanted to make sure that it wasn't so pleasant you'd all sleep too easily. you'll be taking a variety of tests, none of them harmful, and you've got the house, the grounds, and each other to keep you company.
every day. basically we'll be hanging out together like we have so far this evening.
also, there is no phone service to the house and no tv. i have the cell phone for emergencies. we'll begin the tests after breakfast tomorrow.
but there's a sad catch to the story.
there were no children. rene died, and then hugh crain built all of this, and then he died. his heart was broken.
mary, let me see your eye.
here's my key to the gate. call me the second you know anything.
yeah.
luke, can i talk to you?
because.  well, i know i can trust you.
i've read your tests.
icebreaker exercise conducted over dinner. observed initial bonding among subjects and experimenter. after dinner first bland history of house relayed. nell appears most susceptible to suggestive history. luke, who tested at the bottom of the levy-mogel confidence reliability scale was given the second part of the story. we should see some results tomorrow. accident with harp, while unfortunate.  complements the experimental fiction.
go ahead.
the cold sensation. who felt it first?
how do you feel about luke's suggestion that it was just the old plumbing? water hammer, something like that?
for an american you do a good imitation of the british at their most apologetic. pardon me. excuse me, sorry, sorry.
good morning, theo. luke.
eat your breakfast, theo, then we'll get started on the tests.
mary came with me.
and those are luke's and mine.
watts!
watts! can you hear us?
do you know who these keys belong to?
i was expecting another guest yesterday. a man, david watts. did you see him?
is your husband around? i'd like to --
thank you.
nell! what's wrong?
what did it smell like?
all right.
so.  smell.  is.  smell is the sense that triggers the most powerful memories. and a memory can trigger a smell.
what happened after you smelled it?
like she smelled it too?
and then what happened?
hmm.
no you're not. something moved you. you saw something.
i really haven't either.
i didn't. you know that, nell.
i wish i were. i wish i had done it, then i could confess and you'd be at peace. that great moral philosopher frank sinatra once said to someone he loved, i wish you had an enemy, so i could beat him up.
i don't know.
it was.
you'll never see it again. mr. dudley's taking care of it. i'm sorry, nell. can i show you something you'd like to see?
that's enough, mister dudley.
thank you, mister dudley, please.
that's a horrible story.
someone is playing with you.
i don't know.
what is that tune?
the hallway discussion about last night's fireplace incident concluded at three a.m. nell continues her alienation of the other subjects and the experimenter. it remains unclear whether she truly believes she did not deface the painting. interview with the subject in greenhouse yesterday to ascertain the extent of her self-delusion was inconclusive due to her efforts to sexualize encounter with experimenter.
one minute!
get a blanket!
she's in shock. come on.
nell.  please, nell.  take a deep breath.
nell!
theo! you too. listen to me.
nell, you have to hear me. let me explain what's happening to you. you're participating in a study on hysteria.
i hadn't done a study of how group fear affects individual performance. mass hysteria is like a story, nell. a communal story. someone starts it. then we all add a little more to it. and then for some reason -- no one knows how -- we start believing it. this story shapes what we see and hear. we interpret everything through it, make it fit the story. i started our story when i gave you the history of hill house. you've added to it. that's what this experiment has all been about. that's what it was about, the experiment's over. i'm pulling the plug. this is my fault.
your fear of him was real. that's all the ghost anyone needs.
why would we want to do that, nell?
there are no bones in the fireplace. luke and i looked in it yesterday. there's some old charred wood in the ash drop but --
there has to be monster in the labyrinth. we make them up. that's how we deal with the things in everyday life that are too terrible to deal with. like losing someone. like being alone.
i gave my key to the gate to todd, but the dudleys'll be here in the morning.
you get your money.
it's a question.
is she asleep?
shit. hello? yes, this is dr. marrow. oh, hello. thank you for returning the call. no. you mean he hasn't returned? no, we haven't seen him. can you tell me, what sort of car does he drive? a toyota.
nell! nell, are you in here?
nell! don't move.
just stay there, nell!
nell? are you up there?
nell. you will come here now.
we're going down the stairs, nell, i'm taking you down the stairs.
i'll take her with me to the university tomorrow. i can't believe i read the test wrong. i didn't see anything that looked like she was suicidal.
watts. those were his keys nell found. his roommate called and said watts left when he was supposed to. i think he's here.
no. if he's lost somewhere in the house.  he'll have to stay lost until tomorrow, until the night is over. what we have to do now is be together, with nell.
what is it?
wait a second! wait!
you okay?
nell, what are you talking about? i never called you.
nell, the first time i ever spoke with you in person was the night we met here.
oh, no.
oh no.
oh my god it's watts.
nell.
no.
come on.
come on.
they don't open!
what'll happen to us, nell?
luke!
luke.
nell, what do we do?
we can't hide in here! we won't make it til morning.
i'm a scientist. i just conducted an experiment. now i have to write it up.
was it?
in a way.