What do you think?
The Haunting of Hill House
It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, the 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.
- GenresHorror
223 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 25, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 11, 2026
Oh my goodness what an awesome read. Totally a Mads book. I was skeptical that I would be scared reading a book. I was scared reading this book. It’s a delightful scare though and I much prefer it to the fear I feel from movies.
September 14, 2025
re-read, need to read more shirley jackson soon
September 30, 2026
A re-read of a classic that I had largely forgotten about. But after picking it up again, I doubt it will leave me anytime soon.
I read this book I believe way back in 2021! It would have been Christmas time in Newcastle, I would have curled up on the couch with a "fireplace" on the tv , a cup of coffee next to me and listening to my reading music through my headphones. I remember really liking the book at the time, but also coming away from it feeling confused and fuzzy about the main events of the book. And now that I have read it again, I can certainly see why I was so dazed.
The book mainly follows Eleanor, a sheltered but disturbed woman who has been invited to spend time in Hill House, at the behest of Dr Montague, a researcher who wishes to spend time in this "haunted house" and investigate the supposed paranormal activity that happens there. Eleanor, Dr Montague, along with two other guests named Theodora who has certain "medium" abilities and Luke, a family member that is connected to Hill House and stands to inherit the property, stay in Hill House for a week and experience the horror for themselves. This story and its structure are the genesis of countless horror stories and haunted house tales. The house is huge, mysterious and holds secrets at all levels. The angles of the building are off, there are statues and odd ornaments scattered around the house, rooms are dark and cold and doors close at random and everything just seems...off. Jackson sets up the perfect location for a horror story and by god its dripping with atmosphere.
The main thrust of the story is Eleanor's detoriating mental faculties as she slowly succumbs to the hauntings of the house and is eventually driven to suicide to never be separated from it. The house is often personified throughout the text as having a mind of its own. It seems to watch, to test and to separate its victims as best it can. Dr Montague comments on this early on and makes note that whatever is at play here, clearly understands what it is doing and has possibly done this before. Eleanor, who is already suffering from her own trauma of the death of her own mother (which she may have caused), the fear of abandonment and no real sense of purpose or belonging in her life, is drawn to the house's calls and once she is in its clutches, it never lets go. It writes her name on its walls, it calls to her in the night, and even tries to separate her from Theodora, her closest companion. I loved the scene where both are compelled to run outside and visit the area of the grounds where they once planned to hold a picnic. After a frantic sequence of them running through dark fields together, they arrive at the site and Theodora screams in horror and begs Eleanor to run, and to not look over her shoulder and see what she has seen. I wondered if this was done to demonstrate that the house was trying to test both of them, but while Theodora saw the house for what it was, Eleanor never witnessed the horrific truth. And in the end, the house ultimately chose Eleanor.
A key aspect of this book that many have pointed out is how jarring its prose and narrative can be. Jackson frequently jumps between reality and dream like sequence, often blurring the lines between what is really happening and what Eleanor is experiencing. This shift increases as the story progresses, demonstrating the decline in Eleanor's ability to discern fact from fantasy. Jackson asks a lot of her readers in this section, as it really can be quite difficult to discern what is actually going on. This leaves a lot of the horror up to your imagination, as we never really see any ghosts or apparitions. The main ghostly sequences we get are the bangings on the door of the bedrooms that startle and terrify Theodora and Eleanor. But apart from that, the text largely relies on its atmosphere and eerie tension to keep you hooked.
The pacing at times could be a little hit or miss and I didn't really like the introduction of Mrs Montague and her companion Arthur. They almost felt like a comedic duo that were inserted into the story to provide a contrast to the horror that was unfolding. Their unabashed approach to speaking to these spirits head on was jarring and the other four characters only watched in incredulously. They were a late addition to the story and I feel like maybe with a few more chapters, they could have been made more interesting by something meaningful happen to them. But ultimately, they muddle the ending part of this book for me.
Overall, I would highly recommend this to all to read. Its something you could finish over the course of a few days or binge over an evening. Onto the next
I read this book I believe way back in 2021! It would have been Christmas time in Newcastle, I would have curled up on the couch with a "fireplace" on the tv , a cup of coffee next to me and listening to my reading music through my headphones. I remember really liking the book at the time, but also coming away from it feeling confused and fuzzy about the main events of the book. And now that I have read it again, I can certainly see why I was so dazed.
The book mainly follows Eleanor, a sheltered but disturbed woman who has been invited to spend time in Hill House, at the behest of Dr Montague, a researcher who wishes to spend time in this "haunted house" and investigate the supposed paranormal activity that happens there. Eleanor, Dr Montague, along with two other guests named Theodora who has certain "medium" abilities and Luke, a family member that is connected to Hill House and stands to inherit the property, stay in Hill House for a week and experience the horror for themselves. This story and its structure are the genesis of countless horror stories and haunted house tales. The house is huge, mysterious and holds secrets at all levels. The angles of the building are off, there are statues and odd ornaments scattered around the house, rooms are dark and cold and doors close at random and everything just seems...off. Jackson sets up the perfect location for a horror story and by god its dripping with atmosphere.
The main thrust of the story is Eleanor's detoriating mental faculties as she slowly succumbs to the hauntings of the house and is eventually driven to suicide to never be separated from it. The house is often personified throughout the text as having a mind of its own. It seems to watch, to test and to separate its victims as best it can. Dr Montague comments on this early on and makes note that whatever is at play here, clearly understands what it is doing and has possibly done this before. Eleanor, who is already suffering from her own trauma of the death of her own mother (which she may have caused), the fear of abandonment and no real sense of purpose or belonging in her life, is drawn to the house's calls and once she is in its clutches, it never lets go. It writes her name on its walls, it calls to her in the night, and even tries to separate her from Theodora, her closest companion. I loved the scene where both are compelled to run outside and visit the area of the grounds where they once planned to hold a picnic. After a frantic sequence of them running through dark fields together, they arrive at the site and Theodora screams in horror and begs Eleanor to run, and to not look over her shoulder and see what she has seen. I wondered if this was done to demonstrate that the house was trying to test both of them, but while Theodora saw the house for what it was, Eleanor never witnessed the horrific truth. And in the end, the house ultimately chose Eleanor.
A key aspect of this book that many have pointed out is how jarring its prose and narrative can be. Jackson frequently jumps between reality and dream like sequence, often blurring the lines between what is really happening and what Eleanor is experiencing. This shift increases as the story progresses, demonstrating the decline in Eleanor's ability to discern fact from fantasy. Jackson asks a lot of her readers in this section, as it really can be quite difficult to discern what is actually going on. This leaves a lot of the horror up to your imagination, as we never really see any ghosts or apparitions. The main ghostly sequences we get are the bangings on the door of the bedrooms that startle and terrify Theodora and Eleanor. But apart from that, the text largely relies on its atmosphere and eerie tension to keep you hooked.
The pacing at times could be a little hit or miss and I didn't really like the introduction of Mrs Montague and her companion Arthur. They almost felt like a comedic duo that were inserted into the story to provide a contrast to the horror that was unfolding. Their unabashed approach to speaking to these spirits head on was jarring and the other four characters only watched in incredulously. They were a late addition to the story and I feel like maybe with a few more chapters, they could have been made more interesting by something meaningful happen to them. But ultimately, they muddle the ending part of this book for me.
Overall, I would highly recommend this to all to read. Its something you could finish over the course of a few days or binge over an evening. Onto the next
December 23, 2025
A slow-paced, creepy haunted house tale that is psychological horror rather than King/Koontz gore.
A paranormal researcher enlists three young assistants to stay with him in a notoriously haunted house for a summer to witness and provide written account of their experiences. One is a friendless introvert with mommy issues, another is a cheery, beautiful woman who revels in attention, and the last is the heir to the house. Later, the researcher's bossy wife and her assistant arrive to communicate with the spirits (and provide some comic relief).
The house is constructed to keep the inhabitants off balance, and is decked out in malevolent decor. Most of the supernatural experiences occur at nighttime, although cold areas and written messages on walls are discovered during the day. Little by little, the young people fall under the spell of the house, one more than others.
I think this book is a three-star; I gave it four because of the excellent narrator of the audiobook. I have two nitpicks. The daylight hours were rather uneventful. I'm not sure what I would expect them to be doing research-wise, but they were mostly just loafing around. And forming relationships, which I do admit does play into the psychological aspect. The other grievance is the abrupt ending. I felt like we missed a few steps before the finale.
A paranormal researcher enlists three young assistants to stay with him in a notoriously haunted house for a summer to witness and provide written account of their experiences. One is a friendless introvert with mommy issues, another is a cheery, beautiful woman who revels in attention, and the last is the heir to the house. Later, the researcher's bossy wife and her assistant arrive to communicate with the spirits (and provide some comic relief).
The house is constructed to keep the inhabitants off balance, and is decked out in malevolent decor. Most of the supernatural experiences occur at nighttime, although cold areas and written messages on walls are discovered during the day. Little by little, the young people fall under the spell of the house, one more than others.
I think this book is a three-star; I gave it four because of the excellent narrator of the audiobook. I have two nitpicks. The daylight hours were rather uneventful. I'm not sure what I would expect them to be doing research-wise, but they were mostly just loafing around. And forming relationships, which I do admit does play into the psychological aspect. The other grievance is the abrupt ending. I felt like we missed a few steps before the finale.
August 31, 2025
I expected more from Hill House. Probably because my generation had Jackson's The Lottery hammered into us in sophomore English, and we either saw or remembered some ABC affiliate stations pulling The Haunting of Hill House mid-movie because viewers were calling in saying it was too frightening or inappropriate or both for Sunday night viewing.
I've seen the movie several times (the original, the real one, not that meshugga remake) and both enjoyed and learned from it each time. Jackson's novel is also a good study in technique and craft, although there were a few points where the technique so overshadowed the craft it stood out and stopped my reading because I was more curious why she chose a certain technique at that point in the story than what happened to the characters.
Bad move, that. I don’t mind making note of good technique and going back to learn from it after I've finished the read, but not during. Kick the reader out of the story and they may not return.
I did return to discover the ending was a bit rushed.
No, not a bit, it was rushed. The foreshadowing stopped being foreshadowing and became a series of thrown bricks I wanted to dodge.
And then there we were, the end of the story, and I held the closed book up and said, "Huh?"
I've seen the movie several times (the original, the real one, not that meshugga remake) and both enjoyed and learned from it each time. Jackson's novel is also a good study in technique and craft, although there were a few points where the technique so overshadowed the craft it stood out and stopped my reading because I was more curious why she chose a certain technique at that point in the story than what happened to the characters.
Bad move, that. I don’t mind making note of good technique and going back to learn from it after I've finished the read, but not during. Kick the reader out of the story and they may not return.
I did return to discover the ending was a bit rushed.
No, not a bit, it was rushed. The foreshadowing stopped being foreshadowing and became a series of thrown bricks I wanted to dodge.
And then there we were, the end of the story, and I held the closed book up and said, "Huh?"
May 31, 2026
As stories go, a beautiful ghost story, poetic in the telling of it really. If you want intensity this book isn't it. An almost realistic haunting that leaves you wondering if it was real or psychological. The show is way different, but that's alright if you see them as two separate things.
September 6, 2026
I feel I must have read this at some point but as I read it now, I didn't remember or I was too young to take in the details that make this a great story.
October 4, 2026
Book club re read number 2
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews