The Haunting Of Hill House
5 stars
Best ghost story ever.
hardcover, 288 pages
Published Oct. 1, 2013 by Penguin Classics.
The Haunting of Hill House
4 stars
(16 reviews)
The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. 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.
bookmarc reviewed The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Review of 'The Haunting of Hill House' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Maybe I was just lucky to be in the right mood, but this book made me feel sick to my stomach, with my eyes wide in horror. While some of the choices didn’t work for me - hence the 4 stars - there was no way I could shake the feeling of unease I maintained while reading. Every time a new day dawned and there was a little break in the eeriness, all I could do was dread what was to come in the next night. This is the scariest book I have ever read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good creepy read.
Marcus reviewed The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Review of 'The Haunting of Hill House' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
DNF. Writing relied too hard on visual elements and the writing just didn't illustrate it well. The feeling of being watched and the house constantly shifting was good. But things were definitely glossed over.
patchworkbunny reviewed The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Review of 'The Haunting of Hill House' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The Haunting of Hill House was my Halloween read this year, even though I didn’t read much of it on the actual day. Something I love about books from this sort of period is the amount of booze consumed in a casual sort of way. Worried the house is evil? Never mind, have a brandy! It seemed there was a time where a drink solved everything. Or maybe it just helps to distract you from the ghosts…
It’s not a very scary book though. The only time I got a bit creeped out was because I was reading on the bus and then had to walk down the road in the dark and fog on quite a cold evening. The haunting manifests itself in cold spots in the book, so clearly it managed to latch on to one bit of my brain.
I did enjoy it though, more as a …
The Haunting of Hill House was my Halloween read this year, even though I didn’t read much of it on the actual day. Something I love about books from this sort of period is the amount of booze consumed in a casual sort of way. Worried the house is evil? Never mind, have a brandy! It seemed there was a time where a drink solved everything. Or maybe it just helps to distract you from the ghosts…
It’s not a very scary book though. The only time I got a bit creeped out was because I was reading on the bus and then had to walk down the road in the dark and fog on quite a cold evening. The haunting manifests itself in cold spots in the book, so clearly it managed to latch on to one bit of my brain.
I did enjoy it though, more as a period piece about an odd group of people staying in an isolated house. There was a point where I did start to wonder if it were all in Eleanor’s mind; which is scarier, ghosts that can’t harm you or being terrified by your own mind?
