The Opposite of a Haunted House
15 June 2024
In his video Control, Anatomy, and the Legacy of the Haunted House, Jacob Geller discusses a number of games and books that depict haunted houses, not as a house possessed by a ghost, but as a building that has come alive of its own accord, a building that hates you. “Some houses just reject humanity,” he says, without a ghostly intelligence residing there.
Since watching that video, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about haunted houses as characters. A film that I watched recently really clicked with this concept, and it was not the film I was expecting.
Encanto is a 2021 Disney musical that follows the Madrigal family, who’s matriarch was gifted a “miracle” when she was young, represented by a magical candle that has burned continuously for many decades since. The miracle gave most of her descendants magical powers, and conjured an intelligent, shifting house for them all to inhabit.
Major spoilers for Encanto to follow.
Unlike Geller’s hateful haunted houses, Casa Madrigal is a helpful and loving house, usually aiding with small conveniences like setting the table and pouring drinks.
But in the darkest hour of the film, when the candle and all the gifts that came with it are threatened, something in the house’s behaviour shifts to show just how much it cares about the Madrigals who inhabit it.
When Isabella and Camilo both fail to reach the candle, the house catches them before they fall and lays them gently on the ground; as the house is crumbling, it pushes the family out, even when Mirabel’s parents are running back in to save her; when Mirabel reaches for the nearly-exhausted candle, the house gives one last heave to help her reach it; and when the house finally gives in and collapses, it rushes to cover Mirabel from the falling debris, saving her life. The last thing the house does is wave goodbye to Mirabel before collapsing, dead.
The more I’ve thought about this house and how alive and loving it is, the more tragic this scene has become. You can see, in the frantic ways it moves, how desperate it is to make sure everyone stays safe, even in its final moments. This is a house filled with nothing but love for its inhabitants, it is caring, helpful, and protective until the very end. It is, truly, the opposite of a haunted house.
If we return to the more traditional definition of a haunted house: a house that is inhabited and controlled by a spirit, we can find another fictional house that pushes against the traditional understanding of this trope:
Howl’s Moving Castle (both the 2004 movie and 1986 book) follows Sophie, a girl who is cursed into the body of an old woman, who seeks help from a wizard, Howl, who lives in a moving castle. The castle is controlled by the demon Calcifer, a fiery spirit who lives in the fireplace.
Spoilers below for Howl’s Moving Castle (mainly for the film, but also one major excerpt from the book).
Howl’s Castle contains a much more curmudgeonly spirit than the Casa Madrigal, but Calcifer cares for Howl (and his found family) just as strongly, even if he shows it in less obvious ways.
Calcifer sits in the hearth of the titular castle and his magic allows it to move. It appears as though Howl and Calcifer have a mutual relationship, rather than the antagonistic relationship most haunted houses have with their inhabitants. We learn early that Howl and Calcifer struck some kind of deal, although the details are left ambiguous until later in the story.
Throughout the film, Calcifer’s magic protects those in the house from being found by Howl’s rival, the Witch of the Waste, and Madame Suliman, who is attempting to draft Howl into war.
One of the traits of a haunted house that Geller identifies is their shifting interiors, the house in House of Leaves grows slowly over time, and Hill House seems to shift and change to trap its inhabitants in labyrinthine corridors. Calcifer too seems to have this power over the castle. As more people join Howl’s found family, he decides the house needs remodelling, so he and Calcifer cast a spell to shift the house into a new, larger layout.
The cooperative nature of this spell highlights the unique power dynamic between house and inhabitant again, they work together to perform tasks that other haunted houses would do against the will of the inhabitants.
At the end of the film, the family must flee the moving castle. When Calcifer is taken outside, the castle instantly collapses behind him. Sophie and Calcifer gather up some pieces of the crumbling castle and Calcifer animates this into a smaller moving structure. As Calcifer’s power weakens, the new structure falls apart until it is just a platform with two spindly legs.
But, still, Calcifer trundles on, keeping the family away from the bombings. Calcifer’s dedication to animating the house when such little is left of it mirrors the final moments of the Casa Madrigal in Encanto, both houses keep protecting their family, even when all hope seems lost.
The details of the deal between Howl and Calcifer are also revealed around these events, what was thought to be a rock sitting in Calcifer’s fire is actually Howl’s heart. Late in the film, Sophie travels through a magic door where she witnesses the moment where Howl and Clacifer met. Words are exchanged between the pair although we do not hear what they were, but we can look to the book for more details.
“And Howl caught you?” said Sophie.
“Five years ago,” said Calcifer, “out on Porthaven Marshes, just after he set up as Jenkin the Sorcerer. He chased me in seven-league boots. I was terrified of him. I was terrified anyway, because when you fall you know you’re going to die. I’d have done anything rather than die. When Howl offered to keep me alive the way humans stay alive, I suggested a contract on the spot. Neither of us knew what we were getting into. I was grateful, and Howl only offered because he was sorry for me.”
The fate of shooting stars is to die when they land, but Howl caught Calcifer and gave up his heart so that he may live. They are both indebted to each other, Calcifer owes Howl his life, and Howl put his life in Calcifer’s hands.
When the spell binding Howl and Calcifer together is finally broken, Calcifer instinctively flies away, shouting “I’m free!” as he disappears into the sky. But not 3 minutes of runtime later he returns saying he missed Sophie, Howl and the rest of the gang. In this moment, I think Calcifer realises just how much this family means to him.
For all his complaining and sarcasm, Calcifer loves his family just as much as the Casa Madrigal loves its own. They both seek to protect their inhabitants, even when they are crumbling apart, which truly proves their dedication and love.
Maybe, if the world was a little kinder, every haunted house could feel love like this.
Thanks for reading! I’m really proud of this essay and it would mean a lot to me if you shared it around!
CJ