Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Spuk in Hill House

I really related to Nell, her worrying about fitting in and whether she had said the right thing. I do think she is an interesting character who has experienced a lot of stress prior to visiting the house. The thoughts she expresses on her journey suggested to me that her mental health was quite fragile to begin with, and while there is a clear paranormal possibility in the book- the psychological explanations are almost more interesting.

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kassandrik's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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julesmv's review against another edition

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5.0

Spoiler: The character of Eleanor (nicknamed Nellie) gets invited by a doctor to Hillhouse, meets a few others, becomes very comfortable with them but she starts noticing dark forces in the house. Shes dealing with her own personal abandonment because she never had a home to go to. They say Hill House attaches itself to the painful parts of your life and amplifies it. So Nellie starts believing that she could just stay at hill house because the house has wrapped itself along with her. But the doctor and 2 others notice she’s been acting strange and so they send her home to save her. And literally the last page, she’s frantic and is like, “I don’t wanna go home, I have no home to go to, I need to stay, they can’t force me to leave” So she drives off accelerating the gas and crashes herself into a tree. I’m like oh my god 😭 it’s sooo sad. In the show (which is a diff story of the house), Nellie also commits sui*ide. I mean honestly, what did I expect, a happy ending??. Overall such a good book wow! I really enjoyed the read and it drove me to think about how our past can really drive darkness into our lives.

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crackedchelle's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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jedore's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

To learn what we fear is to learn who we are.

I finally got around to reading this book after watching the movie adaptation on Netflix several years ago. I have to say, the book is a classic for a reason.

The story follows four people who come together at Hill House, a mansion with a mysterious and creepy past. Dr. Montague, an investigator of the paranormal, invites three others to join him in his study: Eleanor, a shy woman with a troubled past; Theodora, a bohemian artist; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. As they settle in, the house’s sinister nature starts to reveal itself, particularly to Eleanor, who becomes increasingly affected by the house’s eerie presence.

The Haunting of Hill House is considered one of the best ghost stories ever written and has influenced countless other works in the genre. Shirley Jackson’s ability to build suspense and a sense of dread without relying on cheap scares really sets this book apart. It’s more about what’s happening in your mind than what’s jumping out at you from the shadows.

While I found the book interesting, I couldn’t help but notice it doesn’t dive too deeply into the characters’ inner lives. I mean, there’s definitely some psychological complexity, especially with Eleanor, but the writing feels a bit distant. Maybe that’s because it was written in the 1950s, and that kind of character intimacy just wasn’t as common back then. To me, it felt like a less sophisticated version of “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier—similar gothic vibes but without quite the same depth of character exploration.

That said, I really enjoyed the complex psychology that’s woven into the story. If you’re in tune with what’s going on in the characters’ heads, the plot becomes pretty predictable, but that didn’t bother me too much. The psychology is so much bigger than the ending itself that it almost doesn’t matter where the story ends up.

This is definitely a must-read for anyone who’s into gothic horror. It’s more about atmosphere and psychological tension than anything else, and Jackson does that so well.

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sparrowhearted's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Unmoored in life after the loss of her mother, Eleanor Vance follows the summon of psychologist Doctor John Montague to spend a summer in Hill House, a property mired in tragedy. Alongside Doctor Montague, the self-important, charming heir to the house Luke Sanderson, and the temperamental, lively artist Theodora, Eleanor embarks on a task to uncover the root of the supposed supernatural that haunts the halls of Hill House.

But Hill House is hostile to its very foundation, and soon Eleanor starts to find herself slipping as it feels like no one else quite experiences the things she does…

A disorienting, sad and occasionally chilling read. On technical merits alone I'm not sure this constitutes a five star read; but the lingering thougths and feelings left behind are enough for me to consider it one for myself. Would perhaps be careful recommending unless I know I'm talking to someone who shares very similar preferences in media, but I'm very glad I read it.

I should preface this review by making it very clear that I'm not the right audience for horror. I get easily scared and can't stomach that particularly well, and I only decided to read The Haunting of Hill House because I don't believe watching the Netflix series of the same name is going to do my mental health much good (as much as I'd love to; I've heard excellent things about it).
As such, I might also not really be receptive to the impact Jackson's work has had on the horror genre as a whole, though I'm aware of it on a theoretical level.

What struck me most about this book, however, was that I didn't find it particularly scary at all. There were chilling moments and there is one particular scene that I find really beautifully executed and terrifying, but for most of the part what Hill House is, that is a profoundly sad novel.

None of the protagonists are particularly likeable, we only know them for the brief amount of time we spend at Hill House with them, and even then only through Eleanor's lens, and Eleanor Vance, our only access to the events that unfold in Hill House, is nothing if not an unreliable narrator.
It's not hard to believe that even outside of her limited view neither Dr. Montague, Theodora nor Luke are pleasant people to deal with but burdened by her own fragile mental state the lines between what is real and what is Eleanor's perception of reality blur.

I didn't find it difficult to understand why Eleanor grew uncomfortably attached to Theodora so quickly, nor did I struggle to see why she felt about Luke and Dr. Montague the way she did even when I found her thought processes and actions worrisome or repulsive. Eleanor is sad, desperate and deeply lonely and never quite manages to fit in — it's always just a matter of time until she makes a fool of herself, as the book puts it, saying the wrong thing, not reacting the right way, letting her interpretations of what she's being told take her down paths that make it hard to parse whether she was right or unfair to do so.

Her sadness and desperation to belong are a central part of the book. Once she doesn't find this idealized sense of belonging she is chasing it's Hill House instead, 'not sane, […] holding darkness within' to quote the opening paragraph, that catches her instead, wearing her down until… well, something has to give.

Shirley Jackson's prose is lovely and whimsical and suits the not-quite-real setting of Hill House very well, but the pacing often drags and only really picks up in perhaps the last fifth of the book.
Not much happens throughout The Haunting of Hill House, either, and when there is tangible, lasting action it's often things happening to the characters rather than them exerting their agency.
A lot of these 'flaws' that made reading Hill House feel like a bit of a chore at times, even if I understand that they were purposefully placed there. That kind of makes me believe that the execution might not be quite as tight as it might have needed to be at times.

I understand why this book might feel empty or pretentious to some, but I personally found it a fascinating look into Eleanor's psyche and its deterioration and enjoyed it for that exact reason.
I also, and I understand that to someone who might be looking for a hair-raising read this will be a deterrent, really appreciated that it isn't a book that is going to make me lose sleep for a week after reading it.

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glacialis's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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grave_liminal's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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