The overall premise of the episode is similar to that of “The Shining,” as both follow a man going insane and becoming murderous while caring for a large estate. Mac and Dennis’s suburban house may not have a hedge maze, but it does have two swimming pools! Dennis starts really losing his mind in the grind of his commute, listening to Bryan Adams and screaming homicidal threats at other drivers, and he brings that derangement home with him.
As Dennis’s rage starts to get the better of him, he becomes paler and sweatier, with a wild look in his eye. His threats of slitting throats on the highway turn into a hallucination where he rips off all of his clothes and screams in his neighbor’s face, his grip on reality completely dissolving. Instead of talking to Lloyd the (possibly) imaginary bartender, Dennis loses his cool and shouts at neighbor Wally, who really isn’t there. Like The Overlook in “The Shining,” the house in suburbia is driving Dennis towards slaughter.
There aren’t any ghosts in Mac and Dennis’ house, but there are plenty of little things that contribute to their deteriorating sanity. There’s a loud pool filter and a smoke alarm that keeps beeping, keeping them both up all night. There’s also the specter of Mac’s loneliness, as he’s unable to find any happiness without Dennis around to give him approval. But what it really all boils down to is that it’s not the house driving them mad — it’s being trapped with one another, without anyone else around to cut the tension.