A Haunting on the Hill

by Elizabeth Hand

Or was it the same one I’d just seen? I couldn’t be sure, but as I stared, the hare raised itself onto its hind legs. And then it kept rising. Its body extended, growing longer and longer and thinner and thinner, as though made of some substance other than flesh and fur and bone, until it seemed like it might snap like a piece of Silly Putty stretched too far. If it had stood beside me, the tips of its ears would have brushed my chin. It gazed back at me with unblinking eyes the color of a new penny, and then it sprang into the forest.

At the right front corner rose a granite tower, its base wood-shingled, which had begun to pull away from the main structure. Someone had repaired it with a series of rebars, binding it to the front of the house like a severed arm that had been sutured back in place.

The hare rose on its powerful back legs to face me head-on. My wonder turned to horror as, very slowly, it smiled, its mouth opening onto a row of square teeth stained red.

“Are those rabbits hers? I saw a black rabbit by the trailer, and another one here before I came inside. It was huge. It—” I fell silent, recalling the animal’s disturbingly human grin. “I wouldn’t know about that,” said Ainsley. Somehow, I knew that she was lying.

She lifted her chin defiantly. She wouldn’t give it the satisfaction of knowing it had frightened her. She wasn’t going to let herself be gaslighted by an old ugly house.

“You need to inhabit the characters, Nisa. Think of them like a house you’re supposed to live in, not demolish.”

But it’s just an ugly old house. We should keep working.” Nisa didn’t bother to hide her scowl as Amanda went on. “Do you know why certain houses make people feel uneasy?” Nisa rolled her eyes and cut in. “Because they’re obviously haunted?” “No. It’s because we can’t tell whether they’re actually a threat. I heard it on a podcast. If you were to open the door to Hill House and see a dead body, or a collapsed ceiling, you’d refuse to enter. But nothing here is obviously wrong. It’s just all slightly wrong. Which makes it harder for us to know if it’s safe.” She settled back into her chair, pleased with herself.