Hugh Crane - The Haunting's Dark Father Figure

The Haunting's real star is the long since past owner of Hill House. He led a strange and moody existence there; living, and dying there and all the happenings that developed between those years . His spectral spite lingers in the halls of the mansion and makes his contempt for the living quite obvious. Few visit. No one stays. Even the help decidedly make their hours safely between dawn and dusk. And to aid in keeping the house kept, ... well ... the gates stay thoroughly chained and locked. One wonders, though, ... are the locks there to keep people out ... or Hugh Crane in?

As I watched the two movies and read the book, I felt that Hugh Crane would be a huge, hulking bear of a man. In both movie versions, as he stampedes through the hallways, visible impact is signified by brick seperating and caving inwards, dust shifting from the newly formed craters from the floors above. I decided that if he was to be animated, his enormous presence could be shown in his true size.

In the sketch above, I gave Mr. Crane a bird-like turn of the head. We, as humans, don't, can't move in this way, really, and I thought this would give him a somewhat preternatural feel. Hope you like! More coming soon!