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A review by alexandraslagle
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
5.0
A scary story in which the evil is not a spirit or entity that lies within a house, but the house itself, is a special kind of terror.
I found this novel to be highly effective in creating a sense of dread, but also a sense of wonder at that dread. The prose, while beautiful, is terrifying especially as it relates to Jackson's word choices that invoke a visceral reaction from the reader, such as describing the house as "vile" and making the characters feel uneasy and ill. The prose is also terrifying in the sense that Jackson describes the goings on of the plot without actually giving much away at all. Even the house, while confusing in itself and to the characters, is described in such a way that even when detailed by Dr. Montague, seems hard for the reader to imagine what it really looks like and leaves the reader disoriented. Both of these things allow the reader to have his or her own vision of the house and the events which makes for a scarier story than one that gives it all away. It creates a personal terror for the reader that none will be able to escape from.
The reader is made to align with Eleanor, the main character, and sit with her in awe and longing for Hill House. Jackson writes Eleanor with such interiority that the reader feels what she feels and understands why she thinks the way that she does. She is reminiscent, for me, of Esther from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Like Esther, Eleanor is struggling to find a place in the world and often feels entrapped by her life. Through this, Eleanor's journey through the novel seems strange, but not entirely odd. By the end, her choices make complete sense to the reader.
I believe that this has been one of my favorite scary novels that I have read. It was hard for me to put the book down and I finished it in only a few days. The pages are laden with anxiety and intrigue and I found it to be compelling, emotional, and terrifying all in one. I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching for a book that allows the reader to create their own sense of dread, and for someone who is looking for a different kind of terror than ghosts.
And, like Eleanor, I am now in search of my own cup of stars.
I found this novel to be highly effective in creating a sense of dread, but also a sense of wonder at that dread. The prose, while beautiful, is terrifying especially as it relates to Jackson's word choices that invoke a visceral reaction from the reader, such as describing the house as "vile" and making the characters feel uneasy and ill. The prose is also terrifying in the sense that Jackson describes the goings on of the plot without actually giving much away at all. Even the house, while confusing in itself and to the characters, is described in such a way that even when detailed by Dr. Montague, seems hard for the reader to imagine what it really looks like and leaves the reader disoriented. Both of these things allow the reader to have his or her own vision of the house and the events which makes for a scarier story than one that gives it all away. It creates a personal terror for the reader that none will be able to escape from.
The reader is made to align with Eleanor, the main character, and sit with her in awe and longing for Hill House. Jackson writes Eleanor with such interiority that the reader feels what she feels and understands why she thinks the way that she does. She is reminiscent, for me, of Esther from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Like Esther, Eleanor is struggling to find a place in the world and often feels entrapped by her life. Through this, Eleanor's journey through the novel seems strange, but not entirely odd. By the end, her choices make complete sense to the reader.
I believe that this has been one of my favorite scary novels that I have read. It was hard for me to put the book down and I finished it in only a few days. The pages are laden with anxiety and intrigue and I found it to be compelling, emotional, and terrifying all in one. I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching for a book that allows the reader to create their own sense of dread, and for someone who is looking for a different kind of terror than ghosts.
And, like Eleanor, I am now in search of my own cup of stars.