Reviews with content warning for Car accident - The Haunting of Hill House

Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

101 reviews

aas's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

emmonsannae's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The slow dread of this book is unparalleled. Its tragedy is both self-aware and utterly unavoidable. What an excellent read! I can already tell I will be coming back to this again and again.

Content Warnings

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Big thanks to my newest literary heroine Shirley Jackson for yassifying the ghost story. You truly were ahead of your time.

Content Warnings

thebigemmt505's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.25

The Haunting of Hill House is a novel much different than I expected it to be given all its hype as a scary ghost story. It follows four characters: two women who have had supernatural experiences, the hier to Hill House, and a doctor investigating the existence of the supernatural. The narrative centers around the perspective of Eleanor, one of the women, who slowly descends into madness while staying at Hill House.

Of course, The Haunting of Hill House is a classic for a reason. Its writing is unique and intriguing, and the atmosphere is impeccably crafted through each paragraph. The book is relatively fast-paced, though it meanders through a lot of character dialogue that is, in all honestly, utterly bizarre. The dialogue is a strength and a weakness in the sense its strangeness fits the vibe of the environment, but it also makes the characters feel unreal, like they’re not even fully present in the narrative. I found myself un-intrigued by the characters aside from Eleanor. Eleanor is a meek and anxious woman who daydreams of excitement after a long, bleak life caring to an overbearing mother, and this characterization both makes her interesting and explains how she was so easily influenced by the house (or, alternatively, influenced by her own fragile mind in an unfamiliar environment.) Technically speaking, though, this book is very well written and executed.

I expected more from the horror. It falls more into a gothic psychological horror category than a supernatural horror one. The narrative, ironically, was haunting more than it was scary. The supernatural events are vague and left to the interpretation of the reader which is again, a strength and a weakness. I found the whole novel to be more sad than scary and more intriguing than thrilling. While I’m satisfied with the read, the story fell a bit flat. It’s much more anti-climatic than one would be led to believe from the hype. It’s certainly an interesting exploration on the fragility of the human mind and the importance of belonging, lest one slips into the deceptive embrace of their own “Hill House,” but there was something missing. It might just be the hype around the book that opened this void, but it was there nonetheless.

Oh, and also, I did not expect this book to be queer-coded. And like, ACTUALLY queer-coded, not the weird projection so many people put on every popular piece of media where a character slightly subverts gender or orientation norms. The weird dynamic between Eleanor and Theodora was fascinating. Bravo lesbians!!!

Anyways, I enjoyed this one a lot, just not as much as I was hoping. I might have to look into some of the film adaptations of this to see how the horror translates on screen…

Content Warnings

saliwali's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

silea's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Eleanor deserved better and the fact that Theo lived and she didn’t is absolute bullshit

Content Warnings

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was somehow everything I expected it to be and nothing like I expected it to be all at once. It was so creepy, and the atmosphere was incredible. I loved it so much. The characters were so compelling to read about too, especially Theodora and Eleanor. I loved watching Eleanor's character and how she was impacted by the house over the course of the story. I also loved how the horror aspects are more subtle except for a few very key moments, and it was all blended and weaved together beautifully in my opinion. It was really good, and the ending was shocking, but in a different kind of way. It was the kind of ending that you felt like you saw coming, but then you feel like it's been avoided until you realize, almost at the same time all of the characters do, that it's not at all, and could never have been avoided. At least, that was my experience reading this book, and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had with a book like this. Haunted house stories are always very fun, and I have to say, I couldn't have picked a better book to start off October with!

Content Warnings

kate_arts's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book isn’t scary per se,but it sticks with you. Definitely more psychological than actual jump scares, though those are present as well. Nothing really like the tv show.

I especially like that Eleanor’s tone changed as a narrator as the book went along you can see her loose her sense of self in how the different occurrences are described. I also really like how you get to the last evening and you have to second guess yourself about all the crazy things that have happened so far. Like the blood in Theon’s room but also the knocking.

Content Warnings

babudarabu's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

More...