The Haunting of Hill House
Ratings585
Average rating3.7
This book was such a let down for me. I loved the televised version that used this story as one of the source materials, and I NEVER say this, but the t.v show is leagues better than the original horror classic.
Eleanore, Theodora, and Luke all speak the same for the first 70% of the book. It's this weird whimsical speech that reminds me of Alice in Wonderland except the way Alice spoke made sense because she was 10-12, and in a nonsensical land. This whimsical nature of the dialogue is so so annoying because it clashes so severely with the setting of Hill House. This was magnified when I realized that the main character (and I'm assuming the other two as well) are not 20-ish like I first thought. No, Eleanore is THIRTY TWO???????????
Further, the horror was just not as horrific as I expected. I've read good horror, I've read things that keep me up at night. This is no where near one of them. Also, the ending was just....it cemented the idea that this story was just so lack luster. The more I read classics, the more I hate them.
I can appreciate that this book is considered a classic and brought us generations of haunted house stories but for me, it doesn't hold up to current time.
I can see how it was scary for 1959 but tbh I enjoyed the Netflix series a lot more.
I wouldn't say it's iconic, but times were different and maybe if I wasn't born in 1990 and exposed to so much more horror, I'd find it to be spooky.
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 loved it so much. I loved Eleanor so much and her complex relationship with Theodora is exactly my cup of tea. Her psyche disintegrating so subtly, the characters laughing off their horror, the chilling haunting scenes, all beautifully written. I could've liked a longer ending but really i just didn't want it to end.
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!
took me quite a while to get into this but once it hooked me it hooked me good... such a wonderful creepy atmosphere and left me feeling antsy which i like. starting the month off with a perfect 5 star read SLAY
The horror of this book is subtle and it popularized the concept of haunted house horror. Because the character exploration is its focus, it is more sad than scary.
Welcome to the Hill House, not sane, alone, might stand for another 80 years or so.
The writing style is odd and dream-like, purposefully hiding information, also it's a book from the 1950s, so in general, the way the characters interact can put people off. The novel takes away a lot of things you might want to know like character descriptions, only leaving you with the color of their sweater, the descriptions of the Hill House itself, you only vaguely understand how it is supposed to look. It sometimes jumps the scene forward, disorienting.
The atmosphere, the characters (the main character especially) are lovely. However, some characters that are introduced later on do not serve the plot. The ending is great, there's a build-up to it and it's bold.
There's something very familiar with the horror and sadness in this book for me, so it really worked. A lot of it is spent on the characters simply anticipating the horror and not a whole lot happening, but you also get to find out about the characters when they simply chat.
there was a lot to like about this book. the main character eleanor was extremely compelling, the atmosphere was impeccable and the writing was really gorgeous. however, i think i just wanted to feel something more from this story. maybe it was the writing style or something but none of the moments felt particularly impactful and then it was over.
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.“
Rating: 2.3 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 1/5
Story: 2.5/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Genre: Gothic/Horror/Paranormal
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: No!
How disappointing this book was. For the hype it gave it wasn't at all worth it. I listened to it on audio and the music was more scary than the actual book. I only gave it a 2 because of the narrator and the deteriorating mental stability of Eleanor. Whatever “gifts” she had isn't explained or really even used in the book. We are met with a weird Theo that was off in lala land and Luke trying to score. This book could have had potential but flopped so horribly.
The TV show and the book are similar in name only and I love them both. This book is a slow burn and the ending is wonderful. It's thoroughly creepy and I enjoyed it immensely.
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.
This is rounding up from 2.5.
If you've watched the Mike Flanagan TV series of the same name, be aware this is a totally different story in comparison. The book is - while a novella - very slow going to start with and even after arriving at Hill House not much happens. Doors close themselves, people see or hear things that “aren't there” and there's some angry banging on the bedroom doors at night. Mostly it focusses on Eleanor's devolving mental state to the point she believes the house wants her to stay.
It's not particularly creepy, scary or disturbing and the prose is certainly dated. If you like ‘classic' era writing then you may enjoy this more than I did.
I'd actually say the movie from 1999 called the Haunting is actually really true to the book but has a more satisfying conclusion.
And while the TV show has the same name they have zero in common essentially. So that was interesting.
Like many classic horrors I feel like this one ends very abruptly. It is also fairly short, so there is no real details into why the haunting started or what's actually going on. It's just very focused on Eleanor aka Nell. So I actually like that the movie filled in those questions.
And this becomes a book I'm glad I read but it's not my favorite or my least favorite. Just middle of the road.
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 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.
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.
(3.5 but rounding up)
I love the Netflix series based on this book and I wanted to love this just as much. It was good and I definitely enjoyed it but it lacked the substance that I wanted from it. I wished it went more in depth but I'm also conscious of the fact that I already have expectations set by the show. Besides from this though, it genuinely was creepy and psychologically scary - often catching me off guard. I really liked how it was written and overall really enjoyed it.
Disappointing for me. I stopped reading after 70% or so and continued with a detailed summary instead.
While I really like the theme of this story, I guess I'm just not a sucker for old books. I have a hard time describing what usually ruins them for me, but it has something to do with how the characters behave. It is somehow unauthentic, as if books back then were written with a different intention than making the characters seem as real as possible. They feel more like those exaggerated characters from theatre plays or old movies. Just not my cup of tea.
The audio on this was fabulous! Enjoyed more the second time around. Then the third
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.
So well-written, actually scary, and surprisingly funny. The characters are mostly complex and interesting with just the right amount of subtext.