The Haunting of Hill House

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Manufacturer: Shirley Jackson
Brand: Horror, Suspense
Brew: Hardback
Steeping Time: 235 pages
Tea Service: Personal Choice
Strength:

Synopsis: 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.

This book was a trip. Especially with COVID brain fog.

If you’re looking for a classic haunted house/ghost story, you’ll find it in The Haunting of Hill House. As many people know, Netflix released a series a few years back that shares the same title. While the show is certainly based on the book, it is by no means the same story, so keep that in mind if you’ve seen the show and are interested in picking up the book. If you’re looking for a far more accurate adaptation, check out the 1963 film, The Haunting.

Before I go too much further, I’d like to disclose that I read The Haunting of Hill House while dealing with a very mild case of COVID. My symptoms were manageable without much complaint, but the thing I was unprepared for was the brain fog. There were moments where I felt like I wasn’t in my own body, so this book was an extra trippy read.

For that reason, take this review with a grain of salt. I’m not entirely sure how accurate I’ll be.

The book follows Eleanor, a woman in her thirties who has spent all of her adult life caring for her ailing mother. This is her first foray out into the world on her own, and her mental state from the very start is a little questionable. To say she is an unreliable narrator is a bit of an understatement. For 90% of the book, I couldn’t figure out if the other characters were playing tricks on her, or intentionally making her feel crazy, or if she simply wasn’t stable in the first place. The other option, of course, is that it is the doing of Hill House, and Hill House alone. So much of the suspense in this novel comes from not knowing what is real or what is imagined. Or perhaps, what is the effect of the house that no one but Eleanor can detect.

The pacing is a little slow, but I didn’t ever feel bored. A constant undercurrent of suspense kept me glued to the pages. I was eager to see what would happen next or try to figure out what the deal was with Theo. Was she actually a friend? Or was she an enemy? Even in the end, I’m not really sure. The Haunting of Hill House definitely kept me guessing, long after I’d turned the last page.

From start to finish, you’re never sure if Eleanor is going to make it from one destination to the next. From leaving home with the car to arriving at Hill House, to surviving through the night, it’s all up in the air. I felt like I held my breath through the entire book in the best way possible.

I don’t know if I’d classify The Haunting of Hill House as a true ghost story since there were never any actual ghosts, but it does fit the spooky bill.

A big abandoned house on a large estate? Check. Multiple deaths in the house and on the property? Check. Poltergeist activity? Check. Many elements from the haunted/ghost genre make an appearance, and for me, that was enough. Even during daylight hours, things are not what they seem.

I found the writing style a little hard to get into at times, and there were a few moments where I had to reread to figure out who was talking, but again, I was in a weird brain fog haze, so I’m not sure if that’s the same for everyone. It didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story, but it was a bit of an adjustment at first.

If you enjoy reading the classics or are in the mood for something spooky, give The Haunting of Hill House a go. If you enjoy it, there have been many film adaptations over the years to binge afterward.

Have you read The Haunting of Hill House? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia