Die Spreeus Ep 11: House of Horrors Part 2

If you missed part 1 of this 2-episode storyline, stream episode 10 first – or read our write-up here.

The participants in the haunted house reality show get more than they signed up for in episode 11 of supernatural thriller series Die Spreeus (stream it on Showmax from episode 1). Their producer Dennis Visagie (André Odendaal) convinces them to hold a séance despite warnings: anyone in their right mind leaves the spiritual world alone. But with that R5 million cash prize dangling in front of their noses, the contestants throw caution in the wind and call “the other side”.

A spiritual event

Look away now if you’re terrified of things that go bump in the night – because reality show participant Lea (Nicole Fortuin) is possessed by one of the spirits in the house. She’s going to be lifted into the air and float in the room while she’s seemingly being strangled by the ghost of a slave that was murdered in the house years earlier.

Die Spreeus creator Tertius Kapp admits reservations about this séance scene when they started filming. “I knew that it would upset some viewers, but I had to take the chance because it’s part of the ghost storyline.”

During Tertius’s research for the two episodes, he found many examples in the Afrikaans community where supernatural rituals like seances were practiced. He refers back to author Johannes Bertus de Villiers’s work (like 2011 book Agter Die Somber Gordyn): “More than one report claimed that the social elite – magistrates, doctors and business people in particular – were involved. They’d play tennis at the club on Saturday afternoons, drink sundowners and then communicate with the dead in the evening.”

Tertius adds: “In the 1920s, there were articles published about spiritualism in the Huisgenoot magazine. There was a spiritualist church in Johannesburg in 1950 and even an association for parapsychologists at the University of the Witwatersrand. By the 1970s, this culture had begun to disappear and by the ’90s, all that was left was the game of ‘Glassy Glassy” when it came to teenagers experimenting with taboos.”

Discussions with the dead

Séance and possession aside, there are other elements in the episode that have us on the edge of our couches. Like the revelation that Spreeus detective Bas (Chris Vorster) is a medium of sorts and can communicate with the spirit world. That explains how he’s living with his dead son, Dewald (Anderson White). Tertius admits that it’s something the character is still coming to terms with despite Dewald dying about four years earlier: “Lea points it out to Bas when he comes to the reality show house. Initially Bas doesn’t want to believe her. But that’s how things are and why he has this edge over other people when it comes to the supernatural world.”

Is it the end?

Episode 11 ends with Bas and his colleague Beatrice (Monique Rockman) bringing peace to the spirits in the house, but there’s something else they’ve got to deal with. Their boss Brigadier Rosa (Sandi Schultz) reveals that their superiors aren’t impressed with the publicity they’re getting with their cases. “They – the big bosses at the police force – want to close us,” reveals Rosa. Whether that’s going to happen is still up in the air, adds Tertius. “All hell breaks loose in episode 13, but of course Bas, Beatrice and Rosa fight to save Die Spreeus unit.” And they may have a bit of ghostly help with their mission.