Title : The Haunting of Hill House
Author : Shirley Jackson
Language : English
Publishing House : Viking
Publishing date : 1959
Genre : Horror, Psychological Fiction
Page count : 246
My Rating : 4/5
I have no idea what took me so long to pick up a Shirley Jackson but I am so glad that I finally did!
“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
It's Halloween season! Evidently I have been reading spooky, gothic, nightmare inducing books. Which is how I stumbled upon the genius of Shirley Jackson and read her 'We have always lived in the castle'; quickly followed by 'The Haunting of Hill House'. Right from the infamous first line, Hill House gripped me - I wanted to know more about it's creation, it's history and what exactly lies within.
The story has the usual Haunted House cast - Dr. Montague, a professor who wants to investigate the horrors of hill house; Theodora, the confident fun artist; Luke, the lazy heir of hill house; Eleanor, our shy lonely protagonist and Hill house in itself has an ominous presence. Despite being published back in 1959, having a familiar cast of characters and the fact that I have read (and watched) countless haunted house stories; 'The Haunting of Hill House' never felt boring, not for a moment. Shirley Jackson has created a story so captivating it casts you under a spell which simply cannot be recreated.
The writing of this book has a similar feel to 'Wuthering heights'; wherein as you continue reading the very air around you feels misty, thick, eerie, and mysterious. In the beginning of the book we are introduced to the characters in an extremely straightforward fashion but it acts as an interesting peak into their lives. We understand that Eleanor is quick to create fantasies in her head based on whatever she sees. We are following Eleanor's perspective throughout and seeing things through her mind; which paints an unreliable picture. At times I was reading one scene and suddenly it transcended into another one which gave a disoriented, fractured effect. This only adds to the psychological thrill of the story and makes it even more difficult to discern reality. Are the scary happenings done by one of them on purpose ? Or is the house actually evil ? Or both ? Is everyone and everything that's happening just a figment of Eleanor's imagination ? Or are all of them simply hallucinating as a result of the odd house design and location ? I leave that to your interpretation.
The backstory of the house; it's many habitants and their ill-fates; the repeating pattern of sisterhood and hints at queer relationships appearing throughout the book tie the story together pretty well. Hill House itself offers a personality of it's own - a house that is inherently evil and watches your every move. The scary bits of this book are not the one's that induce a jump-scare but the kind that send a chill down your spine, which sets it apart from others in this sub-genre. Even though the book is only about 200 pages long; somehow it manages to provide us with enough material, with just the perfect pace and the whole story settles onto the reader like dense fog.
Even though the premise is extremely familiar, for you must have surely been acquainted with some form of haunted house story influenced by this one; 'The Haunting of Hill House' is sure to surprise you and subtly prove why it is the acclaimed classic.
P.S. : The ending line of the book is one of the most memorable one's and literally made me shudder.
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