The Haunting of Hill House

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Summary: The Haunting of Hill House
Review: The haunting of hill house was a story about a house which had been empty for eighty years. The house has been empty because two people were murdered there. A young woman Eleanor moved into the house because no one else in the family would move in. The story follows Eleonor as she lives in the house. I would give this book 3 stars. Because I thought it was a ok book. I was disapointed because there wasn't enough action or gore. I think this book would be good for someone who dosent like extreamly scary stories.

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Summary: robert of bolingbrook,Il.
Review: I agree with Schuyler Johnson of Florida about the two missing scenes that could have deepen the plot. And for the many readers that projected Eleanor's disturbing psychotic addicting behavior- like the scene of the foursome sitting in the purple parlor and Eleanor "feeling a part of something" clearly states her lack of normality. I had seen the movie and read the book,and concour that they both are truely classics in their own genre. Shirley Jackson depicts the inner most fears to bring them out as a outward disfunctional rationality. Like every genius, Jackson has to be seen or read time and again to begin to understand her intent. As for the ending of the car crashing into the tree, I felt alittle let down at first. Realizing that this is what Eleanor thought she wanted until reality set in was to find a place of belonging.The house and Eleanor were attracted to each other as a love affair for the psychologically disfunctional.

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Summary: Da Bomb
Review: I FIRST SAW THE MOVIE AND I THOUGHT IS WAS DA MOVIE! NOW THE BOOK IS JUST DA BOOK! I JUST LOVED THE SUSPENSE AND HORROR OF THIS BOOK! IF YOU WANT TO GET A GOOD HORROR BOOK GET THIS ONE!

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Summary: Evil and Haunting
Review: The title of this book is exactly how this book makes you feel. It is extremely scary, so don't let others tell you otherwise. In a nutshell, the Haunting (of Hill House) is about how an experience makes a certain person (won't tell who) turn into an evil, sinister person. Although the story may be a bit strange, it has twisted plots and people. Also, the ending is a very unexpected, yet foretold, event in itself. I highly reccommend this books to anyone and everyone!

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Summary: Slight Disappointment
Review: Maybe my mistake was watching the movie before reading this book. I was very interested in the story line and couldn't put the book down right up until the very ending. I guess I just expected the typical house blowing up and everyone dying except for one person kind of ending. Overall, the book was not terrible, it was actually quite interesting and at times suspenseful. Jackson does a wonderful job of describing the kinds of relationships and different characters all placed under the roof of a house that seems to have a mind of its own.

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Summary: the words... the words...
Review: The flow of Shirley Jackson's words smoothly over the distorted thoughts of her characters is the reason why I can pick this book up at any time, turn to any page, read and be happy.

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Summary: These other reviewers must have read somethig else
Review: This is absolutely the worst book I have ever read. I was hoping for something that would be genuinely disturbing, and this book just put me to sleep. Don't waste your money.

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Summary: one of two books which have genuinely scared me
Review: I saw "The Haunting", the movie version of the book when I was in high school and I remember, quite vividly, how much it scared me. What's so ironic, taken in the context of today's effects and fireworks shows, is that back then, in the early '60s, this movie never shows a monster...or anything else that would OBVIOUSLY frighten. The breathing doors and sounds in the hall were more than ample to illustrate fear. The book is much richer in detail and includes, especially, two scenes which I feel really should have been included in the movie. The first is when Eleanor and Theo take a stroll around the grounds of the house with Luke and Theo and Luke pair off and Eleanor thinks they are right behind her. They are some distance away, yet she senses them (or something) close by. The second is after an altercation one night Eleanor stalks out of the house and Dr. Marquay sends Theo after her to bring her back. The two of them are so wrapped up in their respective inner turmoil they fail to notice how far they've walked from the house(and at Night!) They notice, suddenly, that the landscape has become like a negative photograph, with light and dark reversed...they continue on and come upon a happy scene, in bright color, of a family having a picnic. The description of this made my hair stand on end. The horror is implied and erupts only occasionally but always with tremendous effect. This is truly a modern classic of the genre...the opening lines as memorable as "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" or "Call me Ishamel"..."Hill House, not sane, had stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more...within, floors were firm, windows sensibly shut, and whatever walked there, walked alone." My suggestion...don't read this book alone, but read it!

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Summary: JACKSON'S CLASSIC WITCH'S BREW
Review: THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is one of the most subtle yet disturbing ghost stories ever written. Deservedly a true classic of the genre and a fine piece of modern American literature, the genius of Jackson's writing is in her SUBTLETY. Generally I find that readers who don't like or understand the book don't realize that all the while they're under Jackson's spell. (it's a book many people need to read over again) This short novel is one of the RARE FEW which will LINGER in the psyche LONG after it's been read! In the previous reviews, approximately 90% of the readers who were "disappointed" felt there was SOMETHING unique about the book. Eleanor. Eleanor was never "normal" to begin with; in Hill House she was like a kid in a candy store! Unable to relate to people, the house becomes her lover and her best friend; they become as ONE. I have to admit that I would have liked the book to have been longer, but I suspect Jackson's sudden ending was her style of "shock". Shirley Jackson knew what she was doing; this book is a classic witch's brew of symbolism and, boy, does it prey in the hallways of the mind! Forget what the previous scoffers say: read this alone in bed on a stormy night and I GUARANTEE you'll agree that Jackson was a master of her craft!

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Summary: Sadly, uninteresting and bland.
Review: I leaned back and thought about this novel after I had finished. What didn't sit well? What was the impact upon completion? There was none, I was indifferent about it and the character outcomes. Prompting this realization was the overall feeling of blandness in the writing. The novel ends rather abruptly, anti-climactically for the slow build up that preceded it. Perhaps the times are dating this 1950's story, but I don't think that's it. It was quite banal, both in terms of character development and descriptions of the plot elements. In brief synopsis, four people from various backgrounds converge on a 'haunted' mansion to spend a few days noting any disturbances. The disturbances themselves are not even portrayed w/ a sense of urgency. One of the party succumbs to madness within its walls. But none of the characters are sufficiently explored. Even Eleanor herself is not given ample space and time to allow us to believe that she is spiraling... and is she even spiraling? The wife of the doctor, and Arthur added in the last few chapters, do nothing to enhance the story and appear mainly for humour and exposition through planchette, of the prior occupants torment. Which is further, never drawn out. This was a very subtle novel; unfortunately, to the point of being uninteresting.