tbh just more evidence for my position that king is a better storyteller than writer. he liked rituals too!

there's been a lot written about the house/home in horror films, especially for american films - it basically is a microgenre of its own already and i've seen people compare the amityville horror to hausu to paranormal activity.... but i think the house in unknown origin isn't a source of horror in the same way as amityville, the horror is more on a meta level as we see this guy destroy his own home like ahab sinking the pequod. which is arguably another story about the problems that arise when a man is determined to handle something all on his own, haha.

you're right, boss dane is incredibly chill about everything. maybe this is addressed in the original novel? or maybe this is a job for fanfiction lol