The Haunting of Hill House

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Summary: EVEN LARKS AND KATYDIDS ARE SUPPOSED, BY SOME, TO DREAM
Review: John Montague, a doctor of philosophy, invites Theodora, Eleanor Vance, and Luke Sanderson to assist him in seeking the possibility of psychic disturbances/manifestations in an eighty-odd year-old New England pile known locally as Hill House. Ever since it was initially published in 1959, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE has been Shirley Jackson's gift to countless readers around the world who have relished reading this highly original and exceptionally chilling ghost story - if a there is such a thing as a ghost story receiving cult status - then this ingenious novellette would definitely qualify for first prize! Not the type of terror you'd find in a Stephen King (he was a Jackson fan who dedicated FIRESTARTER to "Shirley Jackson, who never needed to raise her voice") or Dean Koontz novel. Jackson's technique is much more finely grained and subtle: this is literature. There are Freudian aspects to be sure, but the symbolism is amazing; (did anyone catch the meaning of the heading?) thirty years after I first read the book (I was nine) I found new symbolic elements which I had missed priorly. Jackson paints her heroine Eleanor Vance as a rather drab and timid wisp of a thing: a 32 year-old spinster who's "never known a life of her own". As you commence reading the book, you are drawn inside the mind of a schizoid person who desperately needs to be loved, yet cannot relate to people rationally, so she finds a safe friend in Hill House itself. Jackson writes in a poetic and mystical fashion which aids the reader throughout the book. Theodora is a free-spirited psychic who's rather spoiled and cheeky personality gives a much - needed contrast to Eleanor's repressed child-woman thinking. There is a scene in a grove of trees: Theo: "I don't understand. Do you always go where you're not wanted?" Eleanor: "But I've never been wanted ANYWHERE". Tingling aspects rise from little nuances throughout: Nell suggests that they look for nameless graves in the nettle patch when she and Theo become bored, a phantom picnic where there is a vision of sunshine, children and a puppy (at night!), walls with dripping blood reaching out for Eleanor to Come Home; a harp which plays by itself, the "cold spot" in the heart of the house, the cup of stars, the stone lions, the oleanders etc. Eleanor is given a bedroom painted blue, the colour of depression. The men in the novel are more like props, supporting players. It's like a spooky version of Lucy and Ethel getting themselves into another scrape with Ricky and Fred simply there when neccesary. Luke and Montague ask what happened while they were outdoors chasing SOMETHING. Eleanor: "Nothing in particular. Someone knocked on the door with a cannonball, then laughed their fool head off when we wouldn't let them in, but nothing out of the ordinary" There are no real "evil" characters in the book: it is a foray into the mind of someone so desperately longing for understanding, love and companionship that she knows not where she goes.............

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Summary: Read the book -- no need to bother with the movie
Review: Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" is one of the classic suspense novels of the twentieth century. Jackson's ability to make the domestic seem alien, dangerous, and insane gives this work in particular its chilling quality. Jackson is one of the few authors of this century who can stand up to the demanding standards set by E.A. Poe, H. P. Lovecraft et al. Don't bother with the 1998 movie unless you enjoy being smothered by special effects. The 1963 version comes much closer to capturing Jackson's subtle and psychologically intricate tale; it's scarier in the first ten minutes than the new film ever manages during its entire length. But Jackson's austere prose style and the ease with which she slips terror into the commonplace make her book the most rewarding experience of all.

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Summary: Frightening Hill House
Review: As you begin reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson you excpect it to be your basic haunted house story of ghosts and goblins but it is really in a league of it's own. It is a book about misunderstanding, happiness, and emotions. As you near the end you not only learn the fate of the characters but you also learn where you stand on certain life issues. Therefore I highly reccomend this book to other readers.

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Summary: THe Haunting of Hill House
Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is brilliant masterpiece. There are superb descriptions of the characters, a lot of suspense, and enough imagery to draw readers into a captivating world. Shirley Jackson writes about four skeptics staying at the legendary Hills Dale House or Hill House. Paranormal activity starts happening, and each of them says it is hoax. If you want to find out more, I suggest you get this book. If you like ghost stories, then you love this book. People who like stories that are mysterious, chilling, and "wet your pants" scary will adore this book. Dracula, Frankenstein, and Jack the Ripper have all read this book from beyond the grave and have given it four claws up. It is a written thriller for the living, the dead, and anything in between. If you have read this review, then you should get this book. It is to die and be resurrected for.

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Summary: A Seduction of a Story
Review: "The Haunting of Hill House" is probably the best subjective description of a haunting ever written in the English language. It is frightening: from the inside-out. It is Jackson's masterpiece. No wonder then that other masters of the genre have so admired & emulated this book: for this is top-quality story-telling. (I am convinced, for example, that Stephen King modeled much of "The Shining" after "The Haunting of Hill House".) The famous first paragraph of this book is seductive. And I think that seduction is what Jackson pulls off so well here. We are drawn into the house. The house is the main character, present & witnessing in every scene: yet somehow elusive. This is a book in which to dwell. I wonder if those who complain about "seeing the ending of the book coming" aren't hurling themselves thru the book too fast, projecting. "Hill House" is one of those Russian-boxes of a place, rooms that never seem to quite reveal themselves fully. "The Haunting of Hill House" is one of the few pieces of writing that physically made all the hair stand up on the back of my neck as I read. Brilliant!

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Summary: Most Frightening Story Ever!
Review: Shirley Jackson is truly a master of the human mind. Her stories, including this one, are not just about these strange and horrible things that happen to people, but even more about their minds and the ways that they react to the people around them. In one sense you can see the end of this story coming for a while, but it's still a shock when you reach it.

I've already read every book Stephen King has written, so I was looking for a good horror novel. After reading some of the reviews here, I spent all day hunting for this book, moving from bookstore to bookstore, and when I eventually found this, I started reading, about mid-afternoon. I was caught up with it and couldn't put it down, not even to eat, until two o'clock the next morning. Now it may have just been because I was reading it in the middle of the night, but for me this book is more frightening than any story I've ever read before. There is a strange emotional tapestry among the ghosthunters in this building, but withing the growing unease, there are absolutely terrifying scenes that creep up on you and shock you. What happens to Eleanor over the course of the book makes you shiver. Now, I haven't read Matherson's 'Hell House', but I would say that this is the most frightening story ever.

Journeys end in lovers meeting...

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Summary: Does Anyone Ever Give This Book a Bad Review
Review: Jackson has created a masterpiece of supernatural literature. It is as close to flawless as any writer may wish. This book is like a well played chess match, every move has a purpose and there are no useless movements. The book is structured so that by the end of the novel all you can say is, "Wow." Jackson has above all mastered the art of using the abscence of stimuli to stimulate our fears. I dare anyone to read Chapter 5 part 4, and not have a shudder run through their entire body at the revelation of the last sentence. However, there are complaints about the book which must be addressed. They aren't that significant so go ahead and order the book now and read them later if you want. All the important stuff has already been said.
The first complaint about the book is that Jackson does not give us anything truly scary, only a couple of eerie messages on walls, banging cannon balls, and voices of doubtful authenticity. Proponents of this complaint are the same people who hated The Blair Witch Project but loved House on Haunted Hill (Geoffery Rush version). It is really not a complaint but a matter of preference, along the lines of red wine or white wine, Elvis or The Beatles, great tasting or less filling, etc. One may wish to see the blood splattered all over the room rather than see a crimson puddle leaking out from under the door while hearing the sound of the chainsaw. It is the approach of two different schools. Splatterpunk or Gothic, it's your choice. The bottom line is that Jackson is the BEST from the school of the New Gothic and if she can't scare you then no one from that school can, a school which includes King and Straub among its visiting pupils.
The second complaint is that the lead character, Eleanor Vance, is a narcissistic, self centered, selfish (to use another adjective describing the same trait), unlikeable individual. One may feel pity for her but there is never any true affinity that the reader feels towards Eleanor. Despite her deepest yearnings, none (at least no one among the living) wants to be Eleanors friend and this sentiment extends beyond the fictional world of Hill House directly to the reader. We simply don't want to be her friend. This, however, is Jacksons intent instead of (as some readers may erronously conclude) a flaw of the novel. It is a part of what King refers to as the "New Gothic," which is populated not by the "innocent" victims (like the "Old" Gothic was, just think of Mina in Dracula) or by dashing heroes (Van Helsing) but by deluded, narcissistic people with numerous faults. In other words, us. Etchison, Siddons, and even King, among others, have dabbled in this school. The Shining is a "New Gothic" masterpiece only surpassed by, of course, Jacksons work. Look at Jack Torrance and Eleanor Vance and you will find striking similarities in their descent to disaster. You may also find that you see your own reflection in these two people. That is just part of the fright of the New Gothic. And that is part of the fright of Hill House.

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Summary: I have always been haunted by hill house!
Review: I saw this movie when i was a little girl and thought it one of the scariest movies ever. I have read and reread the book many times since and each time one reads it you are drawn more deeply into the mind terror inside. It is very subtle so I can understand the people who didn't like it at first were too impatient to let themselves be drawn into the core of the book. After a while you start to understand that Eleanor, with her poltergeist past experiences, is as responsible for what is happening as the house is, maybe even more so. The psychological web that intertwines her with the house is where the real fear comes from. They are both mad and they are feeding each other in terrible ways. When the house lashes out at Theo's clothes and belongings, it is really Eleanor's jealousy and insecurities that have manifested themselves on Theo. Those used to the over the top scares and visceral thrills of other writers will not grasp the deeper, omnipresent evil that lurks in Hill House. Obviously the people that made that vile remake of the original movie didnt!

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Summary: Chilling and Disturbing
Review: A powerful psychological thriller, "The Haunting of Hill House" affects the reader much as the fictional Hill House affects its intrepid explorers. Written with simple, lucid, and elegant prose, it is vaguely menacing and quietly disturbing, it is puzzling and disorienting, it is subtle and complex, and it works its dark magic by manipulating the fear, weakness, and despair we bring with us.

And the reviewer from Lubbock is spot on; My deepest sympathy to anyone who attempts chapter five, section four, alone, at night ...

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Summary: nice & creepy
Review: It starts out slow, but it builds & builds, & by the time the house gets ahold of dear Eleanor, it's too late to go back! I was chilled upon finishing the novel.

Don't expect skeletons popping out of closets, and ghosties running rampant from page one- if you do, it will only lead you into dissappointment.

Jackson's writing is literary & quite concerned with character development & it has an old-fashioned horror story appeal.

The ending makes this short novel, retrospectively, all the more thrilling.

Recommended!