August 2022 Review of The Haunting of Hill House
Written by Shirley Jackson
Intro by Laura Miller
About from Goodreads.com
It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
Review
‘The Haunting Of Hill House’ is a classic. I haven’t read a classic or a horror book for a very long time. Last one I read was when I was around 12 years old, which was an HP Lovecraft book. I read it because that summer my dad would pick a book out and he wanted me to write a report on it. I really enjoyed doing this because I have always loved reading and writing. I also really enjoyed school and learning(I still do), I did miss a lot of school though, but that is because I dealt with issues with constant vertigo (I still deal with this to this day). Sorry for going on a tangent, Dear Reader.
Getting back to the book, I could see how some people may like it, I just don’t think it aged very well because certain words don’t mean the same thing anymore, like gay which used to mean happy, so that might be a bit confusing to some. One thing I did like about the word choices was that I got to learn new words like atavistic and Juxtaposition. I could also see this being an issue for some, especially if you don’t want to stop and pick up a dictionary or look it up on your phone. I usually read digitally so it's very simple to look up a word.
There were a few other things I liked like all of the extreme amount of detail in this book here is an example.There were blue dimity curtains over the two windows, which looked out over the roof of the veranda onto the lawn, and a blue figured rug on the floor, and a blue spread on the bed and a blue quilt at the foot. The walls, dark woodwork to shoulder height, were blue-figured paper above, with a design of tiny blue flowers, wreathed and gathered and delicate. I really did enjoy this, but I enjoy anything that can help me picture the scene.
Another thing I enjoyed was that, I am like 1000% sure the Main Character Eleanor deals with Psychosis which I deal with on a daily basis. At first, I was thinking Eleanor had an extreme imagination but it gets worse and worse the longer the story goes on which can happen in stressful situations. Eleanor gave me Alice from ‘Alice and Wonderland” vibes. Just a darker version of Alice. Also instead of running after a rabbit, Eleanor runs away from one.
On to things I didn't like, first of all the introduction. I have no clue why Miller thought it was a great idea to ruin the entire story in the introduction. I hope this is not a normal thing for Penguin Publications to do. If it is, that is messed up in my opinion. I highly recommend skipping the introduction and reading it at the end or just skipping it all together, which is what I usually do. Or you could still read it beforehand, you do you Boo.
My Second issue was, some of the dialogue was complete nonsense, literally. There was some dialogue between Elenor and Theodora at the end of chapter 2. Where the women were just saying two completely different things, this is a snippet of how the conversation went.
“No. Freckles.”
“I went to that private school where they made me learn to curtsy.”
“I always had colds all winter long. My mother made me wear woollen stockings.”
“My mother made my brother take me to dances, and I used to curtsy like mad. My brother still hates me.”
“I fell down during the graduation procession.”
“I forgot my lines in the operetta.”
“I used to write poetry.”
If you understand what just went on please tell me. I read this conversation over 3 times and I am still utterly confused.
I do have a few theories about this book. One, it is a weird twisted Alice in Wonderland like story. Two, Eleanor is actually is a psych ward in the hills and the other characters minus Mr. and Mrs. Dudley and Dr. Montague. I believe 2 is most likely because the way conversations are just so strange and it would explain for so much ( I won't say anything else since I don’t wanna give you any spoilers)
I am giving this book 2.5 out of five stars because I was expecting for an actual horror but, this is a psychological horror which I still enjoy. I just didn't expect it. Another reason is I found some parts confusing but, once I started thinking of the book as in terms of my second theory, this book became much better and enjoyable. I am still putting it as a 2.5 instead of 3 because of that darn introduction, it absolutely pisses me off that they would ruin a book before a reader could even read it. Luckily, I noticed they started giving spoilers. I stopped reading it but, it doesn’t mean I still didn't have anything spoiled for me.
Enjoyed
The amount of detail that was added which makes it easier to picture in your head
Everyone seems a bit off their rocker
Disliked
The Introduction that ruined the story and gave spoilers.
Confusing dialogue
Quotes I love
Journeys end in lovers meeting
She brought her hand up to the heavy iron knocker that had a child’s face
2.5 /5 ⭐️
Info
Trigger warning- Death, Suicide, Mental illness
Spice level- 0 / 5 🌶
Numbers of pages- 182
Publish date- first published in October 1959 republished November 2006
Awards-National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (1960)
Genres- Horror, Classics, Mystery, Paranormal, psychological horror
If you deal with suicidal thoughts call the national helpline-988
Please be safe you are loved, even if you don’t think you are. YOU ARE. YOU ARE IMPORTANT!
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