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.
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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Readers say *The Haunting of Hill House* is a literary classic praised for its masterful atmosphere and psychological depth, especially in portraying ...
The Netflix Hill House series is one of my favourite so I wanted to read the inspiration. It was hard to read this without comparing, but ultimately I didn't enjoy it as much. It did have the spookies and the setting and the character. However, it felt a little flat and I didn't love the ending.
The Haunting of Hill House just did not work for me.
I know it’s iconic. I know it’s beloved. I know Shirley Jackson is a legend. But I spent most of the book confused, disconnected, and waiting for something to actually happen.
It’s very atmospheric and psychological, but it felt slow in a way that never paid off for me personally.
I can appreciate its importance. I just didn’t enjoy the experience.
Not my favorite.
I had heard a lot about his book as one of the classics in Horror fiction. But I gotta say, except for maybe one or two instances, where a cold chill runs down your spine, there isn't anything scary about the book. I even made it a point to read the book only in the night after I turned out the lights, but still it wasn't as scary. The story too seems a little incomplete. It was building up pretty nice, and the Author should have gone in more details and brought out more paranormal activities.
One thing I really liked was the voice of the narrator, Bernadette Dunne (I read this as an audiobook on Audible). It is raspy and creepy and perfect for a Horror book.
It is definitely a one-time read for horror fiction fans, but I don't think this one's anywhere close to Stephen King
One thing I really liked was the voice of the narrator, Bernadette Dunne (I read this as an audiobook on Audible). It is raspy and creepy and perfect for a Horror book.
It is definitely a one-time read for horror fiction fans, but I don't think this one's anywhere close to Stephen King
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