When Ewan and Jessica Holt buy Baneberry Hall, what they have in mind is how idyllic the setting will be for their family. However, they quickly realize that the bonds of family are what the house will test the most. Hibbs describes the sinister nature of the house, and its effects on families, when he tells Ewan:

My advice? Be as happy as you can in that house. Hug your daughter. Kiss your wife. From what I’ve heard, that house hasn’t witnessed a lot of love. It remembers that pain. What you need to do is make it forget (131).

Anyone who views Baneberry Hall as a sentient entity would have to assume that it preys on the pain that families—and the loss of family members—can cause each other.

Not only is Ewan unable to bring a new period of peace and love into the house, but he also contributes to its macabre legacy when he hides Petra’s body to protect Maggie. Even though he profits from the book, it costs him his marriage and distorts Maggie’s identity, for which she never forgives him until she learns the truth. Maggie does her best to put her trauma behind her, but she experiences frequent jolts of emotion that make her feel her losses again: