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

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

143 reviews

fionamatilda's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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e_r_q's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

RE-READ

"During the whole underside of her life, ever since her first memory, Eleanor had been waiting for something like Hill House."

The Haunting of Hill House is quite possibly my favourite book of all time. It feels like the culmination of all of Shirley Jackson's best stories, characters and themes.

Jackson's writing is perfect. From the strikingly gorgeous and vivid descriptions, to the chilling personification of Hill House, everything is just so exquisite. Jackson's prose is rich in hidden meaning, symbolism, metaphors, subtlety, social commentary, themes, and fascinatingly interpretable ambiguity. It's also genuinely very creepy at times. While listening to the audiobook late at night, I kept getting full-body goosebumps, and found myself darting quickly through the dark hallway of my house to reach the safety of my bedroom. Jackson effectively taps into the primal human fear of the unknown, forcing the reader to imagine what exactly lurks behind the closed doors or in the deep shadows of Hill House.

The characters are all so insanely well-written and believable. The pragmatic but superstitious Dr. Montague; the performatively heroic but opportunistic Luke; the flirtatious, queercoded and spiteful Theodora. The tragically relatable and unreliable protagonist of Eleanor is one of my favourite characters in fiction. Jackson offers such an enthralling glimpse into Nell's unique internal monologue and crumbling Psyche. In regards to characters, I also adore Jackson's authentic but distinctively quirky dialogue style.

The Haunting of Hill House is so flawlessly paced. It's extremely fast and engrossing, yet Eleanor's unraveling is so gradual, that you don't even realise it's happening until it's far too late. This makes the ending all the more devastating, to the point that I actually teared up this time.

Ever since I first read The Haunting of Hill House several years ago it has stuck with me. That's why I felt so compelled to revisit Hill House. And like Eleanor, I don't think I will ever want to leave.

My personal interpretation of The Haunting of Hill House:
(SPOILERS)

"I am disappearing inch by inch into this house, I am going apart a little bit at a time because all this noise is breaking me..."

I feel there are two ways I tend to read The Haunting of Hill House.

The first interpretation is the more surface level one. Hill House is evil, and it is haunted by something. Hill House chooses to prey upon Eleanor's squandered life and her feelings of estrangement, loneliness, aimlessness, entrapment and also her guilt over the death of her mother. Hill House torments, possesses and allures Eleanor, driving her to suicide, claiming her spirit for all eternity.

The other way to read it is that Hill House isn't haunted at all, not in the traditional sense at least. There is undeniably something wrong with Hill House, but I believe Eleanor is the cause of the various spooky goings-on throughout the novel. Early on it is heavily implied that Eleanor posseses some kind of telekinetic abilities; therefore it can be suggested that Eleanor subconsciously causes the hauntings in Hill House through her supernatural abilities, as a result of her fragile mental health.

But regardless of how you interpret The Haunting of Hill House, two things are very clear: Hill House haunts Eleanor, and Eleanor haunts Hill House.

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pupaebug's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

One of the best books I have ever read!! Intriguing and fast paced, I never wanted to put it down. Eleanor is an incredibly flawed person and unreliable narrator but she's so hard to not sympathize with. This book was creepy, chilling, but above all heartwrenching.

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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

3.25

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lunarpancakes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I went into this one knowing I was going to enjoy it. I had watched the Netflix series beforehand and was curious as to how Mike Flanagan lifted the material from the original text -- even though I knew this came first, I had a small inkling I was going to have enjoyed the Netflix series more. Not the case -- because they feel immensely different. In "Monster She Wrote," the author talks about how the Netflix series is an adaptation from the bare bones of The Haunting of Hill House -- and I agree.

Something that I found out after I read it was that

It may very well be an allegory for familial abuse -- namely, the relationship between Shirley Jackson and her toxic mother. The house bears down on Eleanor and whittles at her until she collapses under the pressure of it. The house -- though physically cozy -- psychologically preys on Eleanor's trauma.

Another interesting interpretation that I actually had myself while reading was that Eleanor was doing all of this to herself. Not intentionally, obviously, but that Eleanor was actually the cause of the shower of stones on her childhood home. The idea that, when Eleanor faces some kind of emotional intensity or trauma or the like, she psychically manifests things i.e. the blood on Theodora's door and all over her dresses.

This book is such a slow burn with rich language that makes you savor every bite. Every character was fully realized, spoke with charming and realistic dialogue, and at the same time, would disappoint you in ways that real humans let you down. A fully engrossing read that left me just. sitting there. After I finished. Bravo.

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anemosise's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

loved this, loved the characters and she's so me fr
only reason it's not 5 stars is I didn't really get as spooked as I feel like I could have in some of the more tense sequences. other than that it was honestly phenomenal

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priscillarobock's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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mlewis's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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another_dahlia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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melongin's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I read it for a book club. I did enjoy it, it just didn't blow me away, although I'm not really one for the horror genre. I think my expectations were high because of the Netflix TV show based on the book. I didn't realize the book was completely different with just the house and the names of the characters being the same as the TV show.

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