Hull House


Hull House
Continuity:	Night of the Demons
Category:	Structure
Continent:	North America
Country:	United States of America
State:	California
City:	Mathisville
Locale:	Old Hull Road
Residents:	Hull House demon
1st appearance:	Night of the Demons

Hull House is a fictional residence and funeral home and the central setting from the 1988 horror-comedy film Night of the Demons. It appeared again in the film's 1994 sequel, Night of the Demons 2, directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and again in Night of the Demons 3 in 1997. The house was re-imagined for the 2009 remake of Night of the Demons.

History[]

Early Years[]

The land surrounding the area where Hull House would eventually stand was founded by a tribe of Native Americans. They determined that the area was staunched in evil. Years later, a structure was built on the land and this would eventually become known as Hull House. A brick wall was erected around the property line, which covered an underground stream. The running water allegedly served as a barrier against evil spirits. It either kept evil spirits from entering the property... or it contained evil spirits that were already present on the estate.

At some point, a young brave settled down in the area along with his family, but was possessed by the demonic forces within the land. All of the people who lived in the area near the brave suddenly and inexplicably died. He was discovered sitting inside of a teepee that he had constructed out of the intestines of his dead wife and chewing on the leg of his infant child.

In the years following this incident, Hull House was used as a funeral home that lied adjacent to a cemetery. The caretaker and eventual owner of this estate was Mister Hull. It was said that Mister Hull took a special interest in his clients, perhaps even to the point of conducting necrophilia with the bodies that came across his table. At some point in time, a member of the family went insane and conducted a brutal slaughter of all the members of the household, including the family maid before taking their own lives. The bodies were found in such a state that it was impossible to determine who had committed the murders.

Modern Era[]

Hull House 001 — Close-up of the exterior of Hull House.

By the late 1980s, Hull House was a decaying, abandoned structure. On Halloween night in 1988, a high school student named Angela Franklin decided to host a party at the funeral home in opposition to the more popularly known school dance. Fellow students from the school who were invited to the party included Jay Jansen, Max, Helen, Suzanne, Rodger, and Stooge. Jay made a date with Judy Cassidy, who reluctantly agreed to come to the party with him. Another individual, Sal Romero, learned where the party was being held and decided to crash it.

Having found a floor-length mirror in the house, Angela came up with the idea of holding a candle séance before the mirror in order to perceive the past lives of the party guests. Most of the group snickered and would not take her seriously, despite her repeated commands to concentrate. One woman however, Helen, saw the face of the demon in the mirror, which was then followed by another ghastly image - not of a past life, but of her future, where she appeared aged and dead.

This séance allowed the demon to be released. Its essence came up from the basement crematorium. An eerie howling noise was heard by all, followed by a pungent smell and then an intense chill. The demon took possession of another girl named Suzanne. Suzanne then kissed Angela, thus spreading the demonic influence unto her like a virus.

Hull House 002 — Stooge's car outside Hull House.

Unaware of what was actually taking place, the group split off into couples to explores the rest of the house. Max and Frannie went to the casket room where they attempted to have sex inside of a coffin.

Rodger was the only one who felt that something was terribly wrong and went outside to hide out in Stooge's car. He became alarmed when the dead body of Helen dropped onto the roof of the vehicle, marking her as the first victim of the 1988 incident.

Stooge went off with Suzanne under the pretense of having sex, but Suzanne locked him out of the room she had gone into. Stooge then went and found Angela, who engaged a protracted Goth-style dance set to Bauhaus music. She then lured Stooge to her with an embrace and bit him across the face, thus allowing him to become possessed as well. The possessed Stooge then made his way into the casket room where he attacked and killed Max and Frannie.

Angela by the fire — Angela warms her hands by the fire. Literally.

Inside the bathroom, the possessed Suzanne continued to transform and (for reasons unknown) found a way to shove her lipstick through her nipple into her body. Jay Jansen entered the bathroom, and though Suzanne looked strange (with heart-shaped lipstick drawn across her face), she did not appear outwardly possessed. Having received no physical satisfaction from Judy, Jay was more than willing to accept Suzanne's seductive whiles. The two began having sex until Suzanne's face turned demonic. She then poked out both of Jay's eyes with her thumbs, killing him.

Sal Romero entered a common living room area and found Angela "warming her hands" by the fire. Which it is to say, she actually had her hands in the fireplace and they caught on fire. The possessed Angela chased Sal and the two grappled as they tumbled through onto a balcony. They both fell off and while the demonically enhanced Angela was able to survive, Sal was impaled on a spike sticking up out of the ground.

The demon-possessed partiers then pursued the last two survivors, Judy and Rodger. First they locked themselves up in the crematorium. Angela and Stooge pounded on the door to try to gain access. Judy tore a gas line from the crematorium and used a lighter to turn it into a veritable flame-thrower, setting both attackers on fire. Though thoroughly burnt, both attackers survived.

Judy and Rodger managed to get outside, but the exit to the gate no longer existed. All that was left was a never-ending brick wall. Rodger managed to climb to the top by clinging to a hanging piece of barb wire. Judy tried scaling the wall, but was pulled back by the demons. Rodger managed to get a hold of her and hoist her over the wall. Moments later, the sun began to rise. Halloween was over, and the demons lost their connection to the mortal realm. Once the demonic presence vacated their bodies, the other partiers collapsed into a heap of corpses.

Characters associated with Hull House[]

Original Film[]

Notes[]

Hull House is not to be confused with the actual Hull House established by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889.
Hull House is not to be confused with Hill House, the haunted mansion featured in the 1963 film The Haunting, its 1999 remake, or the streaming series Haunting of Hill House.
It is also not to be confused with the Hull House Orphanage as seen in issues of Alpha Flight, Volume 2.
The exact location of Hull House is unclear. It is likely somewhere in or near the fictional town of Mathisville in the state of California, which is where Night of the Demons was filmed.
The history of Hull House was relayed to the party guests by the character of Max, who apparently learned about it from Mrs. Pointer of the local library.
The building that was used to double as Hull House was eventually demolished. It was replaced by a Ralphs Supermarket. ^[1]

External Links[]

Hull House at the Night of the Demons Wiki

References[]

↑ IMDB; Night of the Demons (1988); Trivia.

[1] IMDB; Night of the Demons (1988); Trivia.

[1]