Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Haunting of Hill House

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

92 reviews

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The writing is stellar and the story is unnerving, very good at creating an atmosphere of dread. I saw myself in Nell and the ending feels abrupt but impactful—it’s very fascinating how nuanced and accurate

suicide

is portrayed in this book considering the cultural climate

around mental health

in the 1950s.

It’s always interesting to see the literary DNA of a genre through its classics. In particular, I think it’s fascinating to look at the characters as early iterations of different horror archetypes in this book; for example, Mr. Dudley stuck out to me as a prototype of the “Crazy Ralph” character.

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eerie_iri's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Peace, Eleanor thought concretely; what I want in all this world is peace, a quiet spot to lie and think, a quiet spot up among the flowers where I can dream and tell myself sweet stories.

About 70% into this book, I suddenly had the thought, "It feels like this book is reading me"--which I realize is melodramatic, but it's the most precise way I can phrase the way Shirley Jackson constructs Eleanor's train of thought and the description of the happenings in Hill House. The descriptions are vague, which to me amplifies the atmosphere of dread and pressing anxiety because Jackson leaves quite a bit to one's imagination. The reader is complicit in the hauntings; it's a back-and-forth engagement between audience and text. (I actually had some very strange dreams while I was reading this book, tried to finish it as fast as I could partially because of this.) I kept thinking of this book in film terms, for some reason--"zoomed out," "just offscreen," "soft focus," etc. It might be because while it isn't told in excruciating detail, I still found Jackson's writing to be very evocative in the sense that it's impressionistic. We feel Eleanor's loneliness not merely in the sense that she longs to belong to something but largely through her habit of concocting narratives to try to fit herself into--and the failure of these narratives to come to fruition.

Even by the end, when Eleanor falls victim to Hill House and becomes subsumed by it, she will not belong. Whatever walks in Hill House walks alone.

I think I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long while.

As far as the type of horror goes, I think it's apt to say YMMV. I don't think it'll do what people looking for a "haunted house" story might want it to do. If what you're looking for is something more creeping, psychological, and character-focused, I think this might satisfy.

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joensign's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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nigrumcattus's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Reminded me of Perkins' The Yellow Wallpaper at times, in ways.

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monicaa_d's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I can see why this is a classic. It's timeless, creepy, and engaging. Eleanor is relatable, but as the story progresses the reader gets thrown into the uncertainty of an unreliable narrator and is left to wonder what's real. The tension builds throughout the book, and it manages to be scary without body horror or actual injury. It's terrifying in the way a haunted house is- no one touches you, but the threat feels looming.

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laurenmiller100's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

Characters: 10
Atmosphere/Setting: 10
Writing Style: 9
Plot: 10
Intrigue: 9
Logic/Relationships: 7
Enjoyment: 10

Wow! What a masterwork! I am usually someone who is pretty nervous about horror media, and this was perfect. Unsettling, but not necessarily scary.

This book was incredible. Well written with well developed characters and chilling atmosphere. The author does a great job making the house seem so hostile and the characters so loveable. The queer under stones are also incredibly progressive for the time. I really enjoyed it!

The final line of Eleanor saying “Why am I doing this?” is insanely chilling. Moreover, the fact that we only get logistical updates from the rest of the characters really speaks to gloom and resignation.

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writteninmagic's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

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beccaperson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? No

3.25

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sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Rereading "The Haunting of Hill House" after my initial foray in 2018 showed how important rereads can be. Six years is a long time, and I've grown as person and artist (dichotomy intended). I love Shirley Jackson, but I thought this book was hella boring. Nothing's scary and nothing happens! Whats-her-face just drives into a tree! How is this the "scariest horror novel" or whatever?

... but this time, I've realized a mastery of Jackson's prose: your imagination is what makes it scary, just as the characters' imaginations bring forth the House. Jackson doesn't outright describe the pathway through the forest that Eleanor and Theo take, because she knows anything your mind uses to fill in the gaps makes it far creepier. You might read about the room in the center of the house that the characters' sing and dance and hang out in, and as we all know merriment dispels ghosts... but what if you expand outward and consider the whole house? What if you imagine this island of ostensible happiness as a silent, dark, house leans over them in what is its absolute focal point? Jackson's stark prose came off as beige in 2018, but that couldn't be further from the truth; what she did was provide me the outline, knowing what whatever I sketched in would be far more terrifying and bring me closer to Eleanor than anything else. And *that* is the horror of Hill House within the book... and without.

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