The Haunting of Hill House

by F. Andrew Leslie (Adaptor), Shirley Jackson

A dramatization of the novel in which an anthropologist conducts an unusual research project in a reputedly haunted house.

Genres: Plays, Horror, Fiction, Theatre, Supernatural, Paranormal, Literary Fiction

78 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Creolecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stage adaptation of Shirley Jackson's fantastic novel.

[The Shayne-Train · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soooooooo....ghosts?

I will be co-directing this show for my "Little but Fierce" community theatre group, Some Theatre Company. This will be our first show back after the word-changing hullabaloo of COVID19 forced an extended hiatus.

So this play relies a lot on the "creepy atmosphere and sounds while the scary stuff happens offstage/in your mind" trope, which makes sense as it's a stage play. We do tend to do well with tech and sound, so I think we'll be able to make the scary parts actually scary.

What worries me is the dialogue. It's extremely old-timey, to the point of often being downright hokey. A dude says "Balderdash!" when obviously he means "Bullshit!" Another character talks about a "gay fling," and it's not the cool kind that you'd expect. We are considering setting it in modern times (with the mansion retaining its old, brooding timelessness, of course), but I fear that's gonna entail some maaaaaajor dialogue rewriting.

Either way, it's a middle-of-the-road supernatural drama, that's going to depend on US to make it awesome. Challenge accepted, ghosts!

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly impressive adaptation that preserves the eerie atmosphere of Jackson's prose and does exactly what a good "ghost play" should do - places the emphasis of the horror on a little clever sound and lighting, and a lot of leaving what's happening to the audience's imagination. I feel the ending is a little weak only because it introduces a theatrical device that hasn't been used anywhere else in the play, but given the (otherwise very effective) limitations of a unit set I don't know that there would be a better option. Of course, reading the script is never a substitute for seeing a production, so I would still give it the benefit of the doubt.

[Micah Spiece · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, straightforward adaptation of the novel for a simple and specific stage. Some favorite lines don’t make the transition, which is annoying and frustrating, and there is a distinct lack of “effects” in this dramatization, which would make it easy to produce, if less spectacular. The finale is nothing short of disappointing due to this approach.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this play. Reading it and seeing it in my mind's eye already gave me the creeps, I can only imagine seeing it live.

I enjoyed the characters and how easily they slipped into each other's lives. They felt fairly genuine and dimensional. The fact that the relationships can be played in more than one way also has me intrigued. Nice options for the climate of your community. The only time I felt the characters were wrong was the introduction of Mrs. Montague and Arthur. While Arthur didn't bother me, Mrs. Montague's attitude was so stark in comparison to the rest of the cast, and I feel like her role added nothing to the plot.

I do feel like there is a fourth act missing, but not being familiar with any iteration of The Haunting of Hill House, this may be an excellent reflection of the actual text from which the play is adapted. I do like the slight ambiguity of the final scene, though. The fact that there are questions left unanswered and the fact that Hill House hasn't claimed its last victim.

[Tony Loyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very faithful to the book and has a lot of scary parts that should thrill audiences/creep them out. Dry in many ways and there were times I thought the pacing was slow. I think this play demands a good director with vision to really get the most out of it. I wish when they had gotten to the scene with the tower, something different could have been done besides having the characters leaning through the door and having all the "action" off stage. Overall, I enjoyed this read and I think it has potential as a play, but it isn't perfect and is a little slow. Other plays may be better enjoyed by audiences but they may not have the same draw as "The Haunting of Hill House" so in appeal I think it's a mixed bag. I would love to see this play produced. Good roles for women in particular.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and compelling stage play -- I'd love to see this produced. Roles for four women and three men. Mostly psychological drama, with some character-based humor to lighten it up at times. The lighting, sound design and set design would make or break this show -- there are several supernatural occurrences in the three acts of the play, and if done well they'd be both scary and shocking. If done poorly, they'd weaken any production of this play.

Stays fairly close to the original novel's plot.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big horror reader, but I really love seeing how it can be adapted for the stage (I also didn't realize that basically every film/TV adaption of this book basically completely changes the story). The story is really straightforward, and while there are a few moments of suspense (the door knocking, Eleanor's sleepwalking), there really isn't much action, and even me being a very skittish haunting reader, I was like "... this is it?"
If you're looking for a haunted play to do, I'd recommend reading The Woman in Black.

[Abbie Caskie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars. This was wonderful. I would very much like to see this live now, please and thank you.

This was a very enjoyable adaptation. I read this after watching the black and white film The Haunting and it is very interesting to see how they have both adapted the piece and how what things they have added in to make the story fit the different format. However, where was "Journeys end in lovers meeting"? Unless I missed it I don't think that was in this.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a straight-forward adaptation of Jackson's novel and, at that, it accomplishes its goals wonderfully. The only real change is adding actual concern to the last scene instead of irritation which enhances the terror of it. It's definitely worthwhile to stage.

[Carissa Bjornson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I'm not sure how they managed to get such good movie and television out of this book. There was nothing remotely unnerving about the story and the ending was terribly bland and disappointing. Very anti-climatic. This is one time Hollywood did it better than the book.

[Logan Noble · Rating 2 out of 5]

Final book for my 2022 Reading Challenge! As I’m considering writing a horror play, I’ve decided to conduct research. Unfortunately, this didn’t work. All the best bits of the book are gone. Kinda’ sad.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful interpretation of the Shirley Jackson novel. It captures the subtlety, suspense, and atmosphere of the novel just as well as the original movie had.

[Mike Schuh · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the popularity of the Netflix show, I wanted to see how this adaptation matches the novel. Adaption is very antiquated and some of the dialogue is cheesy. Disappointed with how the play ends

[Chris Kenyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent adaptation of the famous Shirley Jackson novel. Would love to see this on stage!

[Paschalis]

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[Annie Finnegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed and close to the original book. As someone who works in theatre, it was fun imagining the light and sound plot.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully surmised (apart from the terrible off-stage tower scene)

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice psychological thriller - is the house haunted or is she crazy? Will be fun to see on stage!

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

An effective adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s novel, retaining the best bits from the source material while cleverly working around the elements which would be too elaborate to reasonably accommodate on stage.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this aloud with my play reading group--we had fun!

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite creepy, spooky play! Truly scary, as the book is, and a great adaptation, faithful to the novel. I think this would be a great option for a community theatre to produce.

[Beth Shields-Szostak]

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