Is Things Heard & Seen based on a true story? Written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the 2021 Netflix movie is based on Elizabeth Brundage's 2016 novel All Things Cease to Appear, and follows a family from Manhattan who experiences paranormal activity in New York's Hudson Valley. According to the author, the premise was inspired by a real-life murder case and her personal experiences.
Things Heard & Seen stars Amanda Seyfried and James Norton as Catherine and George Claire, respectively. Set in 1980, the storyline centers on the couple's attempts to adapt to their new country home and a rural community with daughter Franny (Ana Sophia Heger). As George's egocentric behavior catches the attention of colleagues, Catherine's unnerved demeanor piques the interest of local scholar Floyd DeBeers (F. Murray Abraham), who is well versed in the area's history of domestic hauntings. Things Heard & Seen co-stars Natalia Dyer from Stranger Things.
Per Time, the novel All Things Cease to Appear fuses true crime with Brundage's New York roots. After her husband landed a new position at a medical practice, she spotted an older home that was available to rent and subsequently moved in with her family. The tale's supernatural premise was inspired by the real-life experiences of Brundage's daughters - then-three and -six years old - who began talking about children who allegedly died at the home years prior in a house fire. In the book and movie, it's Catherine who becomes immersed in paranormal activity and begins communicating with spirits. As Brundage notes, her children seemed unusually well-educated about the region's history:
“They knew details that seemed beyond their ability to fabricate, including the names of the ghosts, and historic details about an old mill down the road with tainted water... One night, my youngest was literally laughing at something that seemed to be moving around the room. She pointed at it, giggling, I couldn’t see it. But I could feel it, I just knew.”
With a ghost premise in place for All Things Cease to Appear, Brundage looked to a real-life true crime case for an extra layer of depth. In the novel, it's immediately revealed that Catherine was killed by George, whereas Things Heard & Seen builds to that revelation. The domestic violence aspect is loosely based on the 1982 axe murder of Cathleen Krauseneck, whose death went unsolved for nearly 40 years. In November 2019, the victim's husband was indicted by a grand jury on a second-degree murder charge (per People). When Brundage was writing All Things Cease to Appear, however, she focused less on the specifics of what was then a cold case and more on the dynamic between Ms. Krauseneck and her young daughter:
“The thing that really motivated me to explore the (homicide) case as the potential architecture for a book were those long hours that this little girl was alone with her mother.”
Brundage's All Things Cease to Appear received mostly positive reviews from critics, primarily because of the author's storytelling abilities. In contrast, the 2021 movie Things Heard & Seen hasn't resonated with critics and general streamers. Overall, though, the adaptation stays true to the basic concepts that inspired Brundage to write a modern literary classic.