The Haunting of Hill House

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!