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The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics)
The greatest haunted house story ever written--the inspiration for the hit Netflix horror series! One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers--and soon it will choose one of them to make its own. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers--and soon it will choose one of them to make its own. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Community Reviews
Dr Montague, an occult scholar, is researching for a book on what are considered 'psychic disturbances'. He finds Hill House and upon renting it for the summer, invites guests who have had experiences with the occult at some point in their lives. We see everything unfold through the eyes of one of the invited, Eleanor Vance. What follows is a creeping feeling of dread and the feelings of being in a fever dream. Eleanor goes from firmly grounded in reality to not being able to identify what is real and what is not.
Erie and creepy but not necessarily scary. I would say that the creepiness and fever dream feel to most of the story fit in the horror genre but I don't personally consider this a scary book.
I read this first as a child, and I would definitely re-read this again at some point in the future.
Obviously this is about a haunted house.
"How weary one gets of this constant pounding,” Theodora said ridiculously. “Next summer, I must really go somewhere else.”
"There are disadvantages everywhere,” Luke told her. “In the lake regions you get mosquitoes.”
Bwahahaha!
"How weary one gets of this constant pounding,” Theodora said ridiculously. “Next summer, I must really go somewhere else.”
"There are disadvantages everywhere,” Luke told her. “In the lake regions you get mosquitoes.”
Bwahahaha!
I don't think my review will be very popular. And with how many positive reviews I second guess my thoughts and opinion on this but I will include it in my review anyway.
I thought the overall book was okay. I do think that watching the Netflix show will completely ruin this book. I found the Netflix show really well done, but as I read this book I realized that they are completely two different stories.
I did like in the book the fine line between mental illness hallucinations and fact. I felt the book consistently had me thinking whether something was real or not.
I think saying this book is a slow burn is definitely an understatement. I think there were about two or three instances where it could have been very scary. I am confused why this is named one of the best horror books of all time. I just didn't get it. I found the characters quite annoying and not very nice. I think the author is really great at describing the house and really putting us in the story. But I just found it really lackluster.
I thought the overall book was okay. I do think that watching the Netflix show will completely ruin this book. I found the Netflix show really well done, but as I read this book I realized that they are completely two different stories.
I did like in the book the fine line between mental illness hallucinations and fact. I felt the book consistently had me thinking whether something was real or not.
I think saying this book is a slow burn is definitely an understatement. I think there were about two or three instances where it could have been very scary. I am confused why this is named one of the best horror books of all time. I just didn't get it. I found the characters quite annoying and not very nice. I think the author is really great at describing the house and really putting us in the story. But I just found it really lackluster.
Although I liked it, I don't entirely recommend or love it.
The personalities of the characters were really confusing and in some parts, annoying. At one point the character seemed smart and then 2 chapters later, childish and annoying.
I also couldn't catch on with what was really happening, for instance Eleanor started hating Theodora and then suddenly she wanted to come home with her and they were best friends again?
Also I feel like we should have gotten a wrap up, maybe the book Dr Montague was supposed to write, to tell us how the experiment really concluded, as some reader's (including me) may be confused on what really happened.
The personalities of the characters were really confusing and in some parts, annoying. At one point the character seemed smart and then 2 chapters later, childish and annoying.
I also couldn't catch on with what was really happening, for instance Eleanor started hating Theodora and then suddenly she wanted to come home with her and they were best friends again?
Also I feel like we should have gotten a wrap up, maybe the book Dr Montague was supposed to write, to tell us how the experiment really concluded, as some reader's (including me) may be confused on what really happened.
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