Book Review: The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House is a gothic horror story written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1959. It holds a notable legacy as one of the most well-regarded classical horror stories in the history of literature with a ton of inspirations and adaptions that have spanned right across to the modern era. The narrative behind this book follows Eleanor Vance, a shy young lady who receives an invitation to conduct a paranormal experiment alongside Dr. John Montague at a supposedly haunted estate known as Hill House. After arriving at the estate, Eleanor meets a bohemian artist called Theodora who was also invited to take part in the curious doctor’s experiment. Taking an instant appeal to Theodora’s confidence, Eleanor then meets the final member of their party, Luke Sanderson, the young nephew of the estate’s owner.  Over the course of several days, the group spends time wandering and residing within the confines of the house with the objective of noting any supernatural phenomena. As the days go by, the group soon learn that the house’s reputation may be more than mere hysteria as more and more mysterious events occur.

I wanted to like the narrative behind The Haunting of Hill House, I truly did.  I appreciate the setup of a collection of unique individuals being subjected to a haunted house; it’s a concept with broad opportunity to develop and introduce unique ideas.  It was even more of a shame in this case when the story turned out to never shift into primary gear in spite of its opportunity.  I realize this story is more so a character piece rather than a true ghost story. The evil, oppressive feeling behind the estate isn’t meant to be reflected in a violent, physical sense but more so from a mental perspective. Eleanor is the representation of the maddening toll the house can have on it’s chosen victims and while it’s an eloquently written story, it’s just awfully boring because of this. Nothing really happens and the characters simply retread the same rooms, repeat the same activities and discuss the same mundane topics.  It’s a story where the core concept is weakened because of the way it chooses to tell it. 

While the story may be a slow slog, I cannot take anything away from Jackson’s writing style. For a classical book published in 1959, the tone and wording used in this book is remarkably insightful.  Its eloquence is the books strongest element in all honesty; it describes sequences and dialogue with a real sense of finesse.  Tonally it reflects the period it’s based in really well, everyone has this prim and proper identity but Jackson smartly dissects everyone’s character through the use of Hill House as a character of its own.  When the story get’s spooky, Jackson really takes her time (for good or worse) to setup the slow, oppressive dread the house holds deep at its core.  As one of the most prominent examples of gothic horror, it definitely a well stylized book for the most part. 

I hate giving The Haunting of Hill House such a low score because I can genuinely see what Shirley Jackson was going for with this book.  I feel the unique quality emanate from the pages but just because it holds a sense of descriptive eloquence, it doesn’t dismiss the core issue the narrative holds. It’s just too slow and nothing much happens; it’s aim to be a character piece requires a lot of effort from the reader to appreciate it.  I get why a lot of people like this story and I’m not going to act like my opinion is the superior one, but I have to be honest here, it just wasn’t a book for me sadly.