In Robert Wise's *The Haunting* (1963), the characters are burdened by personal histories, repressed desires, and ethical lapses that they attempt to keep hidden. These secrets often manifest as the "psychic fuel" that the malevolent Hill House uses against them.
### **Eleanor "Nell" Lance**
Eleanor is the character most defined by her secrets, both from the group and herself.
* **The Circumstances of Her Mother’s Death:** Eleanor spent 11 years as the sole, resentful caretaker for her invalid mother. Her primary secret—and the source of her crushing guilt—is that she believes she killed her. On the night her mother died, she knocked on the wall for her medicine, but Eleanor, tired and perhaps subconsciously wishing for freedom, did not answer.
* **The Poltergeist Incident:** When Dr. Markway confronts her about a documented event where stones rained down on her childhood home for three days, Eleanor vehemently denies it. She claims the neighbors threw the stones, but the "secret" is that the incident was likely a telekinetic manifestation of her own repressed childhood trauma.
* **Her True Homelessness:** She keeps up a facade of independence, but in reality, she stole her sister's car to get to Hill House and has no home to return to, as she sleeps on a couch in her sister's apartment.
### **Theodora ("Theo")**
Theodora is the most perceptive member of the group, yet she keeps her own identity guarded.
* **Her Sexuality:** In the context of 1963 cinema, Theodora’s lesbianism is a "secret" revealed through subtext and character interaction rather than explicit dialogue. Her jealousy over Eleanor’s attachment to Dr. Markway and her "knowing" remarks about Eleanor’s repressed nature point to this hidden part of her life.
* **Her Psychic Sensitivity:** While she openly admits to being psychic, she keeps the specific "flashes" of insight she gets about the other characters—especially Eleanor’s darker impulses—partially to herself, using them more as a tool for snide commentary than for genuine warning.
### **Dr. John Markway**
While Markway is the most "scientific" and open, he keeps a significant personal secret by omission.
* **His Marriage:** He does not mention his wife, Grace, to Eleanor or Theo until she unexpectedly arrives at the house. This omission allows Eleanor to develop a romantic delusion regarding him, which makes the eventual reveal of his wife devastating to her fragile mental state.
* **Professional Vanity:** Markway frames the expedition as purely scientific, but his secret motivation is a desperate need for professional validation. He is a man of science who wants to prove the supernatural exists to silence his skeptical peers, leading him to ignore the clear psychological danger the house poses to Eleanor.
### **Luke Sanderson**
Luke is the most superficial of the group, and his secrets are more character-based than psychological.
* **His Reputation as a "Liar and a Thief":** His aunt, Mrs. Sannerson (the owner of Hill House), explicitly describes him as a "liar and a thief." While he presents himself as a charming, skeptical playboy, he is essentially there as a "spy" for his aunt to ensure the property isn't damaged.
* **His Cowardice:** Luke projects an air of bravado and cynicism to mask the fact that he is just as terrified as the others. He uses humor as a defense mechanism to keep the others from seeing how deeply the house is affecting his skepticism.
### **The "Secrets" of Hill House (Background Characters)**
The film also deals with secrets from the house's history that the characters "uncover":
* **Abigail Crain and the Companion:** The primary secret of the house is the death of Abigail Crain. She died as an old woman in the nursery, calling for her nurse-companion. The "secret" is that the companion was allegedly in another room with a man and failed to hear the call—a direct, haunting parallel to Eleanor’s own secret guilt regarding her mother.