The Haunting of Hill House – review
This deeply troubling book that was the basis of the 1963 movie, plus the 1999 remake, The Haunting.
It’s the kind of book you’ll read on a windy night when the house is creaking, and you’re ready for a “good scare.”
By the time you finish the book, you may regret ever picking it up. It’s that scary, but in a subtle way that can rattle you more than you expected.
The book’s plot is almost identical to the 1963 movie, The Haunting. A group of people spend several days at Hill House, testing the house and their own psychic abilities.
The main characters are an inquisitive scientist, a skeptical playboy, a woman who follows “a different drummer,” and another who is looking for an escape from guilt and the feeling that life is passing her by.
The jovial house party quickly unravels as the house — and its ghosts — torment the most vulnerable guests.
As madness begins to manifest, more than one of the guests is at risk.
It’s a thoroughly chilling tale on several levels.
This book accurately presents the troubling side of ghosthunting in a fictional setting. And, because it is so vivid, reading this book can push some people too far.
If you are bothered by unwanted thoughts, I cannot recommend this book. Its effects can be damaging and insidious.
However, if you’re rabid about ghosthunting, and are either stalwart or foolhardy enough to tackle this book, it’s a brilliant work of fiction by an award-winning writer.
As with the movie, this novel provides a genuine sense of what real hauntings are like.
SUMMARY
- Eerie, terrifying book written with chilling accuracy
- Subtle themes can depress vulnerable readers
- A classic, similar to The Turn of the Screw
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
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Or, buy a copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
— review by Fiona Broome
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