Book Review: ‘The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson
‘The Haunting of Hill House’ by Shirley Jackson has had a bit of a renaissance recently, made popular again through the Netflix adaptation. Do not be fooled, however, into thinking that you're getting the same on screen as you would get on page. The two stories are wildly removed, and to say it's an “adaptation” is a bit of a stretch imho.
We read ‘Hill House' as part of season 6 of the podcast. It was our Dark Academia adjacent title, which means that we are more exploring the origins of Dark Academia tropes within classics, rather than discussing whether a title is DA or not.
I've now read two Shirley Jackson books, the other being ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, and I can say with great confidence that her books are absolute masterpieces. Each being odd, unsettling and so masterfully crafted.
Unlike ‘Castle', which has a quirky kind of charm, and still manages to create a kind of warmth, ‘Hill House' is chilling and disturbing, and still I could not put it down… Not even when the sun set and the room was dark and I was utterly terrified.
It takes a lot for a book to spook me, but Jackson did it.
It's a short read, but it weighs on you. It may not take long to go from cover to cover, but it will stay with you for a while after. Dare I say, it might haunt you for the rest of your days.
Am I being a bit dramatic? Maybe. But I was effectively creeped out by this book. There aren't actually that many instances of actual “supernatural” occurances on page (I put it in speech marks because the jury is still out on whether or not it was something real or manisfested within a collective psyche) but the sense of threat and horror is always lurking at the edge of every page.
I think ‘Hill House' can easily be held up as a shining example of how to do the “haunted house” trope with both wit and modern interpretation, as well as respect for a literary tradition.
Such an unlikable cast of characters, and the protagonist, Eleanor, cannot be trusted. She's one of the most unreliable narrators I've ever come across. Theodora, her new BFF is utterly awful, and Luke, poor Luke, really should have done more. They jokingly call him a coward on more than one occasion, but what's that phrase? There's no smoke without fire? Dr Montague deserves prison, really. What is he doing? Seeking out a bunch of vulnerable, easy to manipulate and manage, young people, to stay with him at a remote location… To play with spooks?
On the surface this reads like a cleverly twisty gothic horror, and the ENDING. Damn. But it has so many layers, and so many opportunities to explore deeper themes and metaphors.
We’re actually going to be exploring the haunted house, as a trope, and how it relates to Dark Academia in a special episode, just for subscribers to our mailer. So if you want that, and so much more exclusive content, consider signing up! You can do so by clicking here.
I'm trying to be very careful about what I say because I don't want to give too much away. I went in blind to this read and I'm so glad because it was an “experience”. ‘The Haunting of Hill House' is the perfect read for spooky season, and if you've been on the fence about whether or not to boost it up your TBR this year, lemme tell you emphatically DO IT.
But maybe keep the lights on…
Written by Sarah
