The Haunting of Hill House

Rating:
Summary: Overpraised
Review: This is a potent, subtle, and menacing novel, but it has a glaring flaw for me: the dialogue.

The characters are all absurdly eloquent; it's a non-stop barrage of fanciful banter - so unbelievable it undermines the story. It's especially unlikely that Eleanor, described as a bleak mousey woman who for many years has known no society but her invalid mother, would suddenly be quipping as effortlessly and whimsically as Zelda Fitzgerald at a cocktail party.

This sort of dialogue is especially grating when it persists past the initial scares: these people would be on edge, babbling perhaps, but not in witty, perfectly structured sentences.

Personally, I couldn't get past this problem.

Rating:
Summary: Psychological horror
Review: Extremely well-written story. Jackson is a master of psychological horror. Rather than blood and guts, she writes almost sparsely, yet conveys more horror than most writers. She successfully conveys the complex web-like nature of, and disintegration of human relationships.

Rating:
Summary: Read during the day!!!
Review: The original horror!! Numerous movies have been made, and none have captures the terror of this book. This book was the first one that made me keep the lights on all night. Jackson is a master.

Rating:
Summary: Shirley Jackson's masterful haunted house novel
Review: In one of her best works, Shirley Jackson introduces us to a haunted, evil house that brings out the worst in the four---later expanded to six--people who agree to gather there. In the interest of science, Professor Montague invites a group of people to participate in a study of the psychological effect of the house. His group is winnowed down to himself; Luke, the flippant young grandson of the present owner of Hill House; the enigmatic, beautiful Theodora; and Eleanor, the repressed, 32 year old spinster who has spent the last 11 years taking care of her mother. Later they are joined by Montague's wife, an ardent spiritualist and ouija board devotee, and her bluff, hearty friend.

With a set of characters like this, Jackson's compact novel cannot fail to intrigue and satisfy. Readers who have seen the 1962 movie will find inevitable differences in plot and emphasis in the book. Jackson's carefully crafted prose will hook you from the first page to the last. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: great
Review: This was a work of literary genius, but why did thy have to make 2 movies that totally stank. The crummy actors and smelly directors made this book look bad

Rating:
Summary: Not so haunting hill house
Review: I, like the vast minority, do not understand all this lavish praise heaped upon Ms. Jackson. I've read literary crictism and essays about the book, and see what they're talking about--and agree with most points--but Hill House just isn't that great. In fact, it isn't great at all.Simply put, Hill House is a mediocre thriller, chiefly inhibited by Jackson's writing stlye, and a supreme lack of anything actually happening. I'm not saying she sucks, but the prose was a bit too choppy, the dialog was silly (and yes I understand all the nonsense about the characters creating fictious lives for themselves--it's still silly and unbelievable, and the fatal flaw:Jackson pulls the plug to early on many scenes just when they were getting interesting (the worst was the Theo and Nell storm off into the Don't Go Out After Dark Woods and happen upon a picnic and Theo yells from out of nowhere "Run Away and Don't look back." What scared her? Without that crucial "little" detail, the scene is a waste of space, and makes no sense. My point is that stuff like the preceding happened way too much, while nothing of any real interest did. I liked the booming door knocking bit, but that was the House's (or Eleanor's) best trick, and I thought it was just sad when Jackson repeated it later.
In summary, Hill House looked promising in the beginning, but never achieved anything. Maybe I'm just sick of the Female goes Crazy routine(which was done better in Yellow Wallpaper). Read The Shining instead.

Rating:
Summary: Looking deeply into the abyss............
Review: It took 2 readings for me to appreciate this book, the first time I read this about 2 years ago I just didn't get it, perhaps I was waiting for something more typical to happen. My second reading just recently was more productive, I see the subtle horror of this story now. Eleanor, a woman whose life has always been repressed in a dysfunctional family setting, had developed a fantasy life in her own imagination to cope. When she visits a "haunted house" with others there to study & record occult phenomena in a scientific way, she rapidly loses her mind and her already weak sense of self into the house.

Rating:
Summary: Are the Ghosts Real?
Review: Were the ghosts real at the Haunting of Hill House or was it just Eleanor's descent into madness? This is up to the reader to decide upon this thrilling piece of psychological terror.

The Haunting of Hill House does not describe the ghosts. It does not throw the ghosts at the reader. It only describes what the residents experience in the house: the noises, the turning of the door knob, the grasp of a clenched fist. This book makes the reader use his or her imagination what terrible secrets lie within the house. Are they ghosts?

I read this book after I saw the first movie. Do not see the second movie, please! The first movie with Julie Harris is so much better than Lily Taylor was in the second movie. (Lily Taylor is a great actress in her own right--but not in this movie). The first movie, though, clearly captures the essence of the book. But that is not to say the book is not good. I found The Haunting of Hill House to be one best examples of modern horror literature in that it can scare "bejeebers" out of the reader with its nuances of sounds and noises.

Great reading, and beware if you read it late at night.

Rating:
Summary: The Haunting of Hill House
Review: The Haunting of Hill House is a very suspensful book. When I was reading this story it keeped me on the edge of my seat and my eyes wide open. I thought this book was writen very well by Shirley Jackson. It was a good book but I only gave it four stars because I thought there could have been even more suspense and spookiness. I like this book a lot. It kept me readind and made me want more. It was easy to read and not too long. The plot is about how four peoplestay in a haunted house for a summer. I think it was a great horror story.

Rating:
Summary: My view is don't watch the film before you read this!
Review: Yes I know I made the basic error, but I couldn't really avoid it. I was very young when I saw the excellent original black and white film. So I only learned then that it was based on a book.

Somewhat later I got around to reading the book. For one thing it is remarkably similar to the original film screenplay, lines are identical on page as they are on the film, in certain areas. The quality of the book is not in question, it is a remarkable read, full of suspense and drama, but it all depends on whether you prefer your chills and frights from the page or the screen. Only then, to get the full impact of the storyline, can you decide whether to read this book first then watch the film or vice versa. It's upto you.

My own personal choice would be to read this first, then watch the film, but like me, many of you who have already seen the film and not read this book will be left in a quandary. Don't be, this book is a great read, buy it either way.