A review by an_library_stan
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hill house hooked me. It's simultaneously unsettling and comforting. Jackson does a good job of building slowly. For such a short book she fits in a remarkable amount of waiting. Life and the small community at Hill house feel familiar, safe, sometimes fun. After each mysterious occurrence things return to a semblance of normalcy. You think, ok we've managed that night / event, no danger here. 

It's a meditation on loneliness and isolation. The protagonist Eleanor is immensely lonely at the start of the book. She builds somewhat of a community with Luke, Theo and the Dr, has the potential for lasting connection, especially with Theo. But then the house, Eleanor, and increasing the others in the house isolate her. (She was somewhat of an outsider within the group to begin with). 

The scariest parts of the book for me involve isolation. Things feel manageable when the group faces dangers together. It's the moments when Eleanor is alone, even in the presence of others that are most unsettling.
At one point Eleanor thinks she is holding Theos hand in bed, only to wake up to find her sitting across the room. In another, she thinks Theo and Luke are following behind her in a jaunt down to the stream. She hears their steps and chatter. But when she turns around no one is there. Later in the house, she has an intrusive thought about killing Theo and seeing her blood on the carpet. This while she is having a normal conversation with Theo. Later on as the house claims her she becomes closer to the house and more disconnected to the others. She spaces out in conversation, they sometimes ignore her, she hears things they do not, wanders the house alone at night, threatens to jump from the library balcony, and eventually drives herself into a tree, relishing that they don't know what she is planning, even as she wonders why they aren't trying to stop her.


The introduction dispelled the possibility that Eleanor is gay. I think Miller has the right take that Eleanor is so childlike compared to the others that she doesn't really feel that type of attraction towards Theo. But Theo definitely seems fruity, and attracted to Eleanor at first. 

"I think we are only afraid of ourselves," the doctor said slowly.

"No." Luke said. "Of seeing ourselves clearly and without disguise."

"Of knowing what we really want," Theodora said. She pressed her cheek against Eleanor's hand and Eleanor, hating the touch of her, took her hand away quickly. "I am always afraid of being alone," Eleanor said, and wondered, Am I talking like this? Am I saying something I will regret bitterly tomorrow?

Overall liked the book a lot. Have only seen a bit of the show but they struck me as very different. This is more of a slow psychological thriller vs. the show starting out immediately with an oh shit run energy. 

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