Unravel the Mysteries of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House"

batkat: “No live organism can continue for long to exist under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.”

I’m obsessed, you don’t understand, that line IS SEARED into my brain, how am I supposed to be normal about this?? you write an opening sentence like that, and I would follow you to the ends of the earth!!!

The second I’d read that sentence I felt it in my bones that this novel would bag one of my rare 5-star ratings. It reads like poetry, it reads like magic, it reads like beauty on the outside, with danger lurking on the inside.

Long have I known about Shirley Jackson and the cult-like status she (rightly!) enjoys not only among horror fans, but in the English literary world in general. As such, the fact that this edition is blurbed by Stephen King – king of horror for obvious reasons – is a bit misleading, and unfair. Misleading because I expected the same kind of horror I’d expect from It or Pet Cemetary; unfair because Shirley Jackson did everything King does now, only decades earlier. If still alive, SHE should be blurbing his books.

And no, Shirley Jackson does not write horror like King,...

Germany on Nov 29, 2023

Matheus: Texto excelente. A edição é um paperback simples, que se presta bem ao seu propósito.

Brazil on Nov 21, 2023

Terrie D. Robinson: Dr. John Montague, a Doctor of Philosophy with a degree in Anthropology, rents Hill House for three months to perform a study for the purpose of discovering evidence of a haunting.

Dr. Montague selects two participants to join him - Eleanor Vance who experienced a poltergeist as a child, and Theodora who is found to have psychic abilities. The third participant is Luke Sanderson, the future heir to Hill House, as having a family member present is a condition of the rental agreement.

Each participant arrives to introductions, dinner is served, and afterwards the backstory of Hill House and the Crane family history is shared by Dr. Montague. It's quiet inside Hill House but slowly strange occurrences begin to happen...

Is this Supernatural Horror?

Hill House is isolated. The occupants are now isolated. They become further isolated as they each go off separately to different bedrooms. Anything could happen. Anything can be imagined when aloneness is a factor. And three months in Hill House? That's a good long time.

Or is it Psychological Horror?

One of the creepiest parts of this story is meeting the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley. Neither...

United States on Nov 14, 2023

H. C.: Bought for my niece, who is a big fan of scary books, films, & Hallowe'en. She hasn't read it yet (too busy at work), but I'VE read it, more than once, & it's honestly not just the most terrifying book I've ever devoured, it's simply one of the best, period! If you don't know Shirley Jackson, you need to make her acquaintance. Her mastery of character arcs, language, mood, pacing, plot development. . .of everything, really. . .is beyond impressive. It's magical! I've read all her memoirs, novels, & short stories, & she is my favourite female writer. I read voraciously, so that means something, trust me!

Read this soon. . .now. . .just not after dark!

(BTW, the 1963 film is FABULOUS! But don't watch it alone.)

Canada on Nov 12, 2023

Megan: The story itself is quite short and relies almost entirely on psychological horror. The page counted is padded with an opening essay, perhaps in an effort to justify the $11 the publisher wants for this book. Ah well, the story was very good.

Our main character is Eleanor, who's called to Hill House (along with a few others) by Doctor Montague. Montague is looking to record ghostly phenomenon. He needs something solid, because as an academic, he's under ridicule. Nobody believes in the paranormal, of course.

Hill House is creepy and oppressive--and said to be haunted due to the tragedies that happened there. It actually imitates the life Eleanor is coming from (she even has to steal a car in order to break free from that life). Immediately, we can see that, while Eleanor is enjoying her freedom, there's something not right about her. It's the unreliable way she narrates, how she attaches herself to a favorite person, the way she talks.

The hours roll by in Hill House and it soon becomes apparent that it may not be the house that's haunted.

The Haunting of Hill House book is way better than the Netflix adaptation. In fact, I almost passed up on the book...

United States on Oct 29, 2023

SaraSara: It's very different from the series in case someone's expecting it to be the same. Very well written, loved it ♥️

India on Aug 11, 2023

Elian López Reyes: Llegó bien y la portada es increíble

Mexico on Feb 01, 2023

Robert J. Plumer: “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 neatly, 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.” - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

After watching the Netflix series last year by the same name last year it inspired me to put this classic book on my reading list. I had first been aware of the book for many years as it was mentioned by Stephen King as a major influence on his writing and lauded the book as one of the best of the horror genre. After reading the book I can see why and agree with King it's one of the best.

The story begins as Dr. Montague is doing research into the supernatural and wanted to use Hill House as a setting due to its reputation as a haunted house and it’s somewhat sad history. We learn that on top of the somewhat tragic history of its original residents/builders the more recent residents who tried to live there seem to leave only after a short stay and without much...

United States on Dec 28, 2019