Eleanor Lance is a nervous young woman whose life was dominated by her overbearing mother. Her mother became ill while Eleanor was entering young adulthood, and taking care of her prevented Eleanor from adapting socially within her peer group. Also damaging to Eleanors self-image was an incident before her mother became ill, which certain scientists regard as a Poltergeist episode. Essentially, rocks appeared from nowhere and fell on the Lance house, but only when Eleanor was present -a not uncommon occurrence in the annals of poltergeists, which are frequently associated with girls beginning their menstrual cycles.Eleanor had no job skills and nowhere to turn after her mother died, so she moved in with her sister, Dora, and her husband, Bud, who needed help paying the rent on their apartment. Resentment built, however, as Eleanor disliked being treated as a guest in the house, and the family hated being dependent on the spinster sister. For these reasons, Eleanor was thrilled when a letter arrived from Dr. Markway, inviting her to participate in his research at Hill House. It sounded thrilling, and it was a chance to escape her dull, dead-end life. She even nursed the hope that Dr. Markway would be an attractive man, and attracted to her.The reality was bound to disappoint. Dr. Markways research was into psychic phenomena, and Hill House was famously haunted. As a married man, in fact his only interest in Eleanor was because of the Poltergeist experience he had specifically sought out assistants who had experience with psychic phenomena. The stay at Hill House soon became a nightmare, as Eleanor got the distinct impression that the ghosts, or perhaps the house itself, were after her and her alone. On the other hand, at least she developed a sense of belonging somewhereThe character of Eleanor Lance is based on Eleanor Vance, originally from the 1957 Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Few major changes in the character were made, although in the novel it is Luke, rather than Dr. Markway, that Eleanor develops a futile infatuation for. Show less «