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

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

54 reviews

bexsur's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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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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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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emzhay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

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

what if a guy built a house that was so wrong lesbians kept dying in it?

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hannahpings's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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filipa_maia's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

So... I was expecting a little bit more from this book. Being my favorite genre and so acclaimed (this book was the inspiration for the Netflix series) I was expecting pure, dark horror.

Don't get me wrong, the book is good: a haunted house and a bunch of people living in it is the perfect plot to a great book. We get all the classics: knocks on the doors, footsteps when nobody is around, people acting in a very weird way. But that was not enough. The dialogs are long, superficial and, sometimes, very confusing - almost as if it was written to be a script and not a actual book. The characters are annoying and you never, truly, understand if that's how they really are or if that's part of the house's influence. Maybe that's the intention, after all. But we will never find out.

For me, there is a lot of talking and not enough action. I hear very nice thing about the series so I'm going to give it a try.

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