The Haunting of Hill House

By Shirley Jackson and SHIRLEY JACKSON

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.

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Published Nov 28, 2006

246 pages

Average rating: 6.72

758 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *The Haunting of Hill House* is a masterpiece of psychological horror and a foundational haunted house story, praised for its masterful at...

Thriller Crush
10/10 stars
2026 Review 📚👏🏻: Fascinating knot between supernatural & psychological trauma. Hill House has perception & will creep into your mind through the thinnest crack. Beware! I loved it more the 2nd time around. I was able to view this novel as a documentation of Shirley Jackson's fears & wondered if writing this helped ease her anxiety. I didn't think it was frightening rather an interesting view on how you shouldn't be fooled into trusting houses. Their evil voices from their walls, ceilings & floorboards will manipulate you & turn you to hurt yourself or others. 2024 Review 😬: I wondered if this story was a hallucination in Eleanor's mind while institutionalized in a psychiatric ward. Hill House could be the asylum where Eleanor is locked up. Creating this paranormal study led by Dr. Montague is her only way to cope. What if Dr. Montague is her real life Psychiatrist? There are many parts implying that it could all be inside her own head. Enjoy & decide for yourself.
Thriller Crush
10/10 stars
2026 Review 📚👏🏻: Fascinating knot between supernatural & psychological trauma. Hill House has perception & will creep into your mind through the thinnest crack. Beware! I loved it more the 2nd time around. I was able to view this novel as a documentation of Shirley Jackson's fears & wondered if writing this helped ease her anxiety. I didn't think it was frightening rather an interesting view on how you shouldn't be fooled into trusting houses. Their evil voices from their walls, ceilings & floorboards will manipulate you & turn you to hurt yourself or others. 2024 Review 😬: I wondered if this story was a hallucination in Eleanor's mind while institutionalized in a psychiatric ward. Hill House could be the asylum where Eleanor is locked up. Creating this paranormal study led by Dr. Montague is her only way to cope. What if Dr. Montague is her real life Psychiatrist? There are many parts implying that it could all be inside her own head. Enjoy & decide for yourself.
Books-n-more
8/10 stars
I can see the elements used to make the movie and the tv series. Neither of which is like the book.
BrianneReads
9/10 stars
Super creepy. Great haunted house story! The writing is phenomenal can’t wait to read more by Shirley Jackson
Sandraclaire
8/10 stars
A quartet of pseudoscientific thrill seekers occupy a haunted house for a week. The arch dialogue among the three younger guests is alone worth the price of admission.

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