What is heartbreaking about Steven is the fact the never was actually haunted.
It makes sense why he didnāt believe, and why he thought mental illnesses ran in the family. He was never actually haunted by a ghost. The primary experience he had was when he gave his mother the vanity, and then she broke the mirror right in front of him.
He looked terrified and hurt when she broke the mirror. He spent hours on the project, and she shattered the mirror. At that moment, Steven didnāt recognize his mother, and he was scared of her.
Steven watched as his mother became more and more ill (in his mind). He watched as Nell become terrified of her night terrors and of bent-neck lady.
Steven never had a ghost follow him around like Theo, Luke, and Nell. He didnāt witness banging on the walls as Shirley and Theo did. He didnāt see visions of his family dying as his mother did.
He watched as his family gradually became self-destructive. He witnessed how his father was seen as mad, and he witnessed how it affect his family.
Steven would have been better off to see a ghost. He would have been better off to see shadows behind him. Because that way he knows that what is happening isnāt his fault.
He blames himself for his motherās death.
He blames himself for Nellās death.
He would blame himself if his children turned out like him.
Stevenās version of the house is his mother becoming insane. Itās her ruining a gift he made her. Itās her having outbursts. Itās her getting migraines very often. Itās Nell not sleeping because of bent-neck lady.
Stevenās version is harsh reality.
Steven turned out the way he was because of his experience from the house. There wasnāt a ghost to blame. There wasnāt a bad spirit presence to blame. It was his motherās mental state.
He was in denial that his mother really was sick, and he missed his mother. He lost the woman she was before the house. Before she broke the mirror. Before she talked to herself in rooms. Before all of it.
Steve wrote the book for closure. Was he right? Maybe not. But he was going bankrupt. He needed the money, and the only sibling to dislike the idea was Shirley. All the others said they werenāt comfortable, but they still were okay with him publishing it.
Steven became skeptical of everything. And even when he was skeptical of Nellās mental state or Lukeās addiction, he still helped them.
He still gave Luke two hundred dollars, when he could have thrown Luke on the street.
He still offered Nell his home when his father called him.
He doesnāt deserve the hate heās getting. His childhood is messed up. He didnāt see any ghosts when he was at the house. He didnāt get haunted. He saw reality. He truly believed his mother killed herself because of her mental state, and he honestly thought he was broken.
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