The Haunting of Hill House
Ratings459
Average rating3.7
Dr. J. Montague: “Essentially, the evil is the house itself, I think. It has exhausted and destroyed its people and their lives, it is a place of contained ill will.”
Dr. E. Gadd: “Bodo bodo, oyama! Suku suku. Luigi!”
The Haunting of Hill House is listed as a classic horror novel. A haunted house... possession.... strange sounds... creepy maid/cook. This book has it all.
The story begins with Eleanor. She receives a letter to spend the summer at Hill House. Little is known about the house except that it may be haunted. With nothing left at home, Eleanor sets off towards Hill house. She is met by the strange caretakers Mr. and Mrs. Dudley. They insist on never staying past sunset. In the coming hour, more people arrive. Theodora, same as Eleanor, decided to come because of a letter. Luke, is set to inherit Hill House. Dr. Montague, the man who wrote the letters, is writing a book on Hill House.
The night starts off normally. The house is strange, but nothing out of the ordinary happens. Then, as the hours and days role past, the house awakens. Doors start to close, strange noises can be heard, and one of the characters appears to be losing their mind.
Shirley Jackson has created an excellent atmosphere. There is a constant sense of foreboding. Something is watching and waiting for the right moment to strike. I felt like I was in a horror movie and often didn't know which way to turn. One visit into Hill House was more than enough. The reason I knocked a star off my review was because of the characters and their dialog. Mrs. Jackson tried to duplicate multiple conversations happening at the same time. It was hard to discern whom was talking to whom. There were also a number of irregular shifts in the plot. One minute the characters would be together huddled in fear. The next they'd be sleeping soundly. If events like this happened to me, I'd have left immediately.
Overall the Haunting of Hill House is perfect to read before Halloween. It has some very unnerving scenes that can only be enhanced by the shorter days, colder weather, and haunted decorations.
So well-written, actually scary, and surprisingly funny. The characters are mostly complex and interesting with just the right amount of subtext.
I enjoyed this better than ‘We Have Always Lived in a Castle', the prose/quality of the writing was wonderful.
Writing is pretty good. My opinion of the relationship between Eleanor and Theodora fluctuates. I enjoy the Doctor as a way to reveal Hill House's history...but I frustratingly keep thinking “just take the doors off their hinges!” But it is a decent plot device to have them keep shutting and have the possible reasons for their shutting to be the balance of the house or Mrs. Dudley.
Update:
Netflix released a series (Oct 2018) that is supposed to be based off of this, but so far is rather different. I will consider giving this a re-read.
Après avoir vu la série, après avoir enfin vu le film, je me suis dit que je devais m'attaquer au livre. Autant dire que les trois ont peu à voir l'un avec l'autre si ce n'est à travers les noms des personnages et le contexte de la maison. J'ai trouvé dans ce livre une magnifique poésie plus que de l'horreur, des personnages uniques (Eleanor <3) complexes et une atmosphère unique. J'y ai retrouvé finalement ce côté poétique et aigre doux que la série a à plusieurs moments et j'ai été vraiment touché par beaucoup de passages et une fin magistrale.
Journey ends in lovers meeting.
Very eerie and atmospheric. I may increase my rating upon reflection. I was reading it alone at home one windy afternoon when a door blew shut. I nearly 💩 myself!!
“Fear,” the doctor said, “is the relinquishment of logic, the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns. We yield to it or we fight it, but we cannot meet it halfway.”
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW -
I enjoyed the Haunting of Hill House and it deserves its four star rating in my opinion, the first thing fans of the Netflix show need to be aware of is the story in the show is very different to the story in the book, some characters are named the same with similar personalities, the the setting (obviously) is Hill House but that's where the similarities end.
I would describe Hill House as a psychological horror, there are no real “events” that kick the story off its more of a gradual climb, characters personalities change progressively without realising and before you know it the house has its hold on you.
The books plot follows an author who is investigating Hill House and its history, he invites three assistants to help him and to also record there experience of Hill House, each person is though to be in touch with the supernatural in some way. As there time in Hill House increases there handle on normality decreases.
I would 100% recommend this book to horror or suspense fans, Just dont expect the show's setting.
2019 initial read: not my favourite from shirley jackson, but a new favourite nonetheless.
like hangsaman and we have always lived in the house, this book is scary in the eerie sense. you always feel like there's something looking over your shoulder but you don't want to turn and find out just how terrifying it is. haunting of hill house is slightly more plot driven, which i enjoyed, especially having watched the tv show first
ps, the tv show is nothing like the book! both are great in their own ways
2020 october re-read:
GUH. i loved this more looking at it from a very analytically critical point of view rather than a work of entertainment. i don't know why i love stories about descents into madness, but this one is probably my favorite of all time (with turn of the screw being a close second)
HELP ELEANOR COME HOME.
I almost wish I had read this in school. This would have been lovely to read against [b:The Turn of the Screw 12948 The Turn of the Screw Henry James https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327909344s/12948.jpg 990886], with its supposed repressed male homoerotic subtext, in contrast to Shirley Jackson's far more blatant lesbian anguish. I mean, if you didn't raise an eyebrow at the first mention of Theo's “flatmate” then you're missing a good chunk of the book.Much like Hill House, this book won't behave as you might expect. Depending on what you expect. It will scare you, I can tell you that much. It's always impressive indulging in a horror classic that actually gives you chills, despite being exposed to decades worth of material that's come afterward. The way Jackson goes about it is still unique, and the way she paces out a good scare. I think it may be because we are so in Eleanor's head, especially towards the end of the book, that its hard to tell what's real. And at first you're afraid because Eleanor's confused and afraid herself, and then you're afraid because Eleanor is no longer confused, and in fact she feels pretty good about the figure pacing and singing in the corner of the room that no one else can see. That gave me goosebumps just typing that out.But no, The Haunting of Hill House won't straighten out into a story that's more familiar. The characters won't settle down or develop into attractive character arcs that make them seem like better people than they are. You won't even find out what is haunting Hill House, whether something happened there, or if it was just born awful. Or even if it was the house at all.Classic horror, the real classic stuff like the aforementioned Henry Conrad, lives and breathes on subtext. The characters speak in riddles and rhymes because their very characters are part of the mystery. Four people without a home or anywhere to belong, one of which who suffers in this far more than the others, go to a haunted house and try not to go crazy. They huddle so tight to each other in the darkness that they start to bleed into one another. Children trying to escape punishment, trying to be brave, trying to be rational and not only finding that it's not possible, it just doesn't really suit them.
I enjoyed this much more than We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I was surprised at how much of it is not about a Haunted House. There is a lot about setting off on your own for the first time and beautiful descriptions of idyllic scenes. It's much more psychological than horror.
I admit I only read this because of the show, not having really enjoyed Jackson in the past. The book isn't like the show at all other than names and the house. It's a very interesting story. I'm not entirely sure what was going on all the time, but I think it's better that way.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary: A group of people, led by Dr. Montague, have been invited to stay the week at the Hill House, which has been known for being haunted. As the individuals investigate the paranormal occurrences, they become entangled in the house's dark forces.
Review: The prose of this book is just yummy–“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met nearly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”. It is a veritable treat to read.
I enjoyed reading the book that would become the blueprint for other haunted house stories to come. Great dialogue, wonderful characters with exploration into some psychological themes. Just a classic book that doesn't attempt to do everything, but what it does do, it does well.
I can see why this is regarded as a classic. This is the quintessential haunted house story.
The prose is beautiful without being overly flowery. The mystery is kept suitably ambiguous - there is an apt truism to the idea that your own mind is the best conjuror of horror, and by keeping everything undefined Shirley Jackson manages to make most of this occur in our own minds. This ambiguity is what I search for in horror. When an author dives to specifically into something they are portraying their own fears rather than letting you play out yours.
The Haunting of Hill House has been subject of enough analysis that I wont dive into my own, suffice to say its golden reputation is well warranted.
Just a sidenote on the edition I own - I am lucky enough to have got a Centipede Press edition and these are stunning. The artwork is brilliantly creepy, the book materials are fantastic quality. These seminal works deserve good editions like this!
My original rating for this was 3 stars, and I pretty much stand by that. In my mind, it breaks down something like this:Establishment of creepy house, which rightly influenced so much subsequent fiction: 5 starsAmbiguity and underlying social/emotional forces worthy of [b:The Turn of the Screw 12948 The Turn of the Screw Henry James https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443203592s/12948.jpg 990886]: 5 starsConstantly listening to Eleanor's neurotic thoughts and her telling herself incessantly that she's thinking something “concretely”: 2 starsLackluster banter among the characters: 2 stars*Obnoxiously out of place comic relief wife: 2 stars
This is a haunted house/scary story that somehow brought to mind the experience of having a toxic co-worker at a high-pressure job. This co-worker is paranoid that she is not liked and that everyone is talking about her. But she also wants to be the center of attention.
At first you become friendly because you're in this stressful place together and you need each other to get by. After a while the co-worker becomes increasingly needy and clingy and drives you and other people crazy. You don't want to gossip about her because you feel sorry for her, but you catch people's eye and you know they're thinking the same thing.
At some point you realize that the powers that be really are out to get her. But what can you do about it? Certainly, you don't want to be caught in that storm when it finally hits. When your co-worker finally does something totally nutballs and gets fired, you're not too surprised; you saw it coming. But it did happen just a little more abruptly than you thought it would.
This book sets the bar for spooky, creepy stories. Absolute perfection.
I highly enjoyed this classic. Really liked the eerie vibes, perfect Autumnal read.
Shirley Jackson's classic novel is one of the best-known haunted house stories, probably second only to THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. But despite that, it's a story much less about ghosts and more about the flawed characters reacting to the stress of staying at a house that may or may not be haunted.
Unlike the Netflix series, there's a lot of ambiguity here. We largely see things through the perspective of Eleanor and as the book goes on, it becomes clear that her perspective can't be trusted.
HILL HOUSE is about loneliness and identity. It's about wanting loved ones and somewhere that feels like home, even if that home might be deadly.
There are some scary moments, but the frights are few and far between. What the book does have is compelling characters, beautiful prose, an air of mystery, and an overwhelming feeling of dread. It's the archetype for countless haunted stories that have come since and it's worth a read for its influence and expert storytelling alone. Just don't expect jump scares from Bent-Neck Lady...
I don't know what is wrong with me and hyped books but we're not getting along. AT ALL.
I was bored for about 50% of this book. Then, the story started to get interesting, things were happening, I was a little scared and then it ended. Literally the story ended when it got scarier.
We spend so much time learning the history of Hill House and we don't get enough time IN Hill House. Like I said before, in another disappointed review I've written today, I was more scared when I picked this up to read than I was when I finished this. I think this speaks for itself. Unfortunately, if this book had 100 pages more or so, I think this could've easily made me afraid to sleep after reading it. Just disappointed.
I'm tired of haunted house books that focus on the house and the characters are just afraid. The thing that I love about this book is that it is a complex psychological portrait of a character, which includes more than just her reaction to the house. From the first that we meet her, Eleanor is a compelling character. What makes her fascinating is that you just can't quite figure out what is going on with her. And that makes the ending, although heavily foreshadowed, shocking.
The main issue with me, personally, was the writing. I'm not saying it's bad at all, but it was written during the 1950s and obviously, we have changed the way we write. It was a little difficult to understand at times since of course, the language and writing at the time is different than now. Other than that, it was still enjoyable and entertaining.
Honestly, if this book wasn't so short, I probably would have stopped reading, but since it is only 182 pages I decided it's no bother. I wasn't scared, but I was creeped out at times. It's not terrifying in my opinion, but it is very eerie. The ending left me shocked and everything kind of started to make sense to me, which made the book even better because my fear was not being able to understand what was going on.
This book might not scare you, but it definitely will have you creeped out, second guessing, and overthinking things which is probably just as bad. It plays with your mind and that's where the horror begins.
I did not enjoy this book, at all. Confused, as to why, this is considered horror. Very disjointed and uninteresting. I had to force myself to finish.
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What was the point of Black Mike with the gold earring. Jackson's use of negative stereotypes was unnecessary, disgusting, small-minded and platitudinous.
Dit boek kende ik als DE klassieke horror over een spookhuis. Ik was dan ook enigszins verbaasd dat het spookhuis eigenlijk slechts ondergeschikt is in gans dit verhaal. In plaats daarvan krijgen we een soort maatschappijkritisch verhaal met commentaar op de traditionele gezinsstructuur en wat dit betekent voor degenen die er niet in passen.
Het hoofdpersonage Eleonor voelt zich nergens thuis en in Hill House zien we haar psychologische ontrafeling, die naar een destructief crescendo wordt gedreven.
Op zich was dit een erg sfeervol en claustrofobisch boek, met spannende momenten, maar veelal ook wat langdradig en onzinnig.
Uiteindelijk was ik vooral teleurgesteld, ik had er meer van verwacht en vooral iets helemaal anders. Het bevatte toch een paar mooi zinnen en gedachten. Vooral de openingszin is er eentje die ik wil onthouden.
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.“
