The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is the epitome of a great horror story. It tells the story of Dr. Montague, a man who is fascinated by the supernatural and determined to prove it actually exists by finding definitive proof of a haunting. After he manages to arrange for a stay in a supposedly haunted house, Hill House, he decides to find others potentially sympathetic to hauntings to stay for the summer to help find proof. He ends up with Theodora, a young woman who seems to be able to determine things without any quantifiable reasoning or evidence and Eleanor, a young woman who seems unusually sensitive to any potential occurrences. They are joined by Luke, the heir to Hill House, as they start their stay. Things start out relatively pleasant, as pleasant as they can be in the circumstances, but they rapidly start getting mysterious when doors refuse to stay open and random cold spots start occurring. It starts escalating when footsteps, banging on doors, and voices randomly start happening in the middle of the night. The longer they stay the darker and creepier things start getting and they seem to be aimed at Eleanor.
I am going to start this with the fact that I didn’t actually find this book particularly scary but I will admit that I did find it rather creepy. Mind you that may be because I actually do believe in the existence of ghosts and the idea that a property can be haunted. The story itself did a great job of slowly building up the creepy factor and the level of the haunting and in the process building up the tension. It also really helps to draw you right in while doing so. My one complaint here is that the story was just too short to really build it up the way it probably deserved. I know the story only takes place over barely a week but it feels like it should be longer and the story as well to go with it. There are several time frames that are glossed over with barely a mention that could have been expanded upon to heighten the tension of the story. It functions fine the way that it is so I won’t say that this was needed. I also would have liked a little more depth to the characters, especially Eleanor since she is the primary narrator. Again the story works fine the way that it is but for personal preference I like to see more character depth if possible. Overall, it was a great story that held just the right level of terror and tension throughout. I am happy giving it four out of five stars.
A great short horror story for those who tend to enjoy horror stories already. It definitely falls more in the terror category though as there is no real gore or other violence though there are numerous references to death, suicide and insanity throughout. Honestly, despite the genre this book could probably be read by readers as young as fourteen without any major issues. I would consider this to be a story well worth reading so at least consider trying it. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.