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The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson,

Laura Miller (Introduction)

Start date: May 1, 2019

Finish date: May 31, 2019

Discussion: Current Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Revisit the Shelf, May 2019

Previous Group Reads
October 2017, New School
[close] Revisit the Shelf, May 2019

Previous Group Reads
October 2017, New School

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What Members Thought

Nov 16, 2012 Andrea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-horror, read-sorted, publisher-penguin-modern-classics

No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.

This must be the most deliciously chilling opening to a horror book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Absolutely everything about it is perfect. This is my second time at the Hill House, but I think I appreciate the writing even more now that I'm older and (hopefully) wiser. I think this must be the most iconic haunted house story you can possibly find; it sets a benchmark for the future generations of writers. Every sentence and every scene are precisely crafted to make you walk the old, creaking floors, smell the dusty draperies, and hear the ghost calling out in the dark. The house is a character in its own, and is not easily forgotten:

No Human eye can isolate the unhappy coincidence of line and place which suggests evil in the face of a house, and yet somehow a maniac juxtaposition, a badly turned angle, some chance meeting of roof and sky, turned Hill House into a place of despair, more frightening because the face of Hill House seemed awake, with a watchfulness from the blank windows and a touch of glee in the eyebrow of a cornice. Almost any house, caught unexpectedly or at an odd angle, can turn a deeply humorous look on a watching person; even a mischievous little chimney, or a dormer like a dimple, can catch up a beholder with a sense of fellowship; but a house arrogant and hating, never off guard, can only be evil. This house, which seemed somehow to have formed itself, flying together into its own powerful pattern under the hands of its builders, fitting itself into its own construction of lines and angles, reared its great head back against the sky without concession to humanity. It was a house without kindness, never meant to be lived in, not a fit place for people or for love or for hope. Exorcism cannot alter the countenance of a house; Hill House would stay as it was until it was destroyed.

I'm not sure why I have not yet devoured every single book written by Shirley Jackson, because I am fully determined to rectify this error. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2019 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 02, 2012 AmberBug com* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, favorite-author, classic, sn-to-post

I love Shirley Jackson, I really do. I've always put this book on the back burner because I wasn't in the "mood" for a haunted house story. Little did I know that this is SO much more than that. Okay, yes... it IS a story of a haunted house but what Jackson has done for the haunted genre mirrors what Hitchcock did for the spooky film genre. She knows how to descriptively get into the mind and send icy chills throughout your body. I think one of my favorite things about this book is how much I ha ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 27, 2019 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it liked it

Shelves: horror, read-in-2019, classics

It is rare that I read horror of any sort, but this one has been on my radar for quite some time, and so I finally checked out the audio of Overdrive and was happily surprised. There are no murders, monsters or gore here. It is more about psychological fear of the unknown, and I found it a true snapshot of what it is like to live with that fear. I liked this one much more than expected.

"No one knows, even, why some houses are called haunted."
"What else could you call Hill House?" Luke demanded. ...more

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Dec 02, 2019 BurgendyA rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A really good psychological and thrilling read. Not bad in the writing but for a classic horror I thought I was going to get a spine tingling feeling but this tale was very interesting. This was the second book of Shirley Jackson that I've read and I did like but not as much as I loved The Lottery.

So I give it 4 stars & two thumbs up. ...more

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Oct 07, 2016 Cait rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, owned, cold-weather-reading, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, october-country, audio, read-in-2016, read-it-again

When I first read this book 6 years ago, I gave it 4 stars. Upon finishing it for the second time, I can't help but bump it down to three stars. It just wasn't as"wonderfully creepy" as I found it the first time around. On the bright side, it's been so long since I've seen the (far inferior) movie version that I didn't picture the actors in my head as I was reading. Unfortunately, I still found that I couldn't stand Eleanor. And don't get me started on Mrs. Montague, that bitchy self-important c ...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Kathy rated it liked it

I honestly don't know what to think of this book. It was a ghost story, a haunted house story but very weird and I hestitate to say I don't think I "got" it really.

The story of Dr. M., his dragon lady wife and her minion Arthur, Luke the heir apparent of Hill House and Theodora and Nell/Eleanor (friends or maybe frenemies)?....whatever.

The house itself seems to be a character albeit a hostile one in this tale of weird. (See below for more detail).

The house is haunted and the group has come to in ...more

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