The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Published by Penguin Classics on October 16th, 1959
Genres: Horror
Pages: 242
Format: eBook
Source: My Kindle
Goodreads
The greatest haunted house story ever written, the inspiration for a 10-part Netflix series directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, and Timothy Hutton
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.The greatest haunted house story ever written, the inspiration for a 10-part Netflix series directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, and Timothy Hutton
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
It’s that time of the year. Everyone is obsessed with ghosts, vampires, zombies, pumpkins and of course – haunted houses. Are there a more well-known haunted house than Hill House? Even if you’ve never read the gothic classic by Shirley Jackson, I bet you’ve heard of it. Even more so with the hit series streaming on Netflix. W haven’t watched it yet, will get to it soon.
We are slam-dunk in the middle of the Fraterfest Readathon 2022, and what better time to read this novella. It was my first time reading it and I started reading in bright daylight, because I was scared the book might just go bump in the night. I ended up not being scared, but rather psychologically spooked. I strongly suspect that has been the main aim of the book for the last 60 years.
It’s not about what happened, rather about what you thought and perceived. Aaaah perceptions and interpretations. Are you ever really wrong?
But maybe it really was just a haunted house. Some houses are just not fit for human habitation.
“It was a house without kindness, never meant to be lived in, not a fit place for people or for love or for hope. Exorcism cannot alter the countenance of a house. Hill House would stay as it is until it was destroyed. “
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I’ve read Haunting of Hill House a few times and enjoy it but don’t really have the slightest idea what is truly going on in the book! I just follow along and enjoy the creepiness. I really should pick it up again. It’s been far too long since I’ve read it.
Great post! I haven’t read this yet, but I’m hoping to get to it at some point.
It’s actually just a novella and a rather quick read, Ali. And yes, you can read it at night. Alone. It messes more with your mind than with your senses, so you really determine your own fear factor!
It’s a classic and worth trying it out!
Good to know that it’s a quick read!
I’ve enjoyed Shirley Jackson in the past and this sounds like an awesome series to be enjoyed in October. I didn’t realize this was written that long ago (1959).
Hi Diane!
I’ve actually read it a couple of years ago for the first time, just to see what all the hype is about. It’s way more screwing with your mind than your senses, there really is a reason why this book is such a classic horror/gothic classic!