The haunting of Hill House

 Author: Shirley Jackson 

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Original publication date: October 1959

Book description (from the back of the book): 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.

Thoughts:

The writing style from the very first page is something you need to get used to. The word choice and the overall style is interesting. I had a hard time getting into it, but after 40 odd pages, it grew on me.

When you into it it's best not to know much. With the Netflix adaptation, I would assume many people came aware of it. I had certainly heard of it, but no one had really explained the plot. The main reason is that there is not much.

We follow a group of people who are invited to Hill House by Dr. Montague. Each one has been involved with a paranormal activity or has an affinity to believe the things most people would ignore or try to reach a logical explanation. We get glimpses of the life they led before being invited to spend the summer in the house mainly of Eleanor and Theodora.

The vibe is creepy-haunted-house pretty much since the beginning. The couple who works as the caretaker of the property is very rude and off-putting. They seem to be trying to guard the house against outsiders, they set the tone of the stay. 

We see a lot of waiting, a lot of eerie descriptions but little else. We just follow them in part, the storyline is in segments. We skip a few instances, from one moment to the next few hours minutes with no description of what exactly happened. It is designed to keep you confused and uncertain.

We do not know what is going on or if there really is something in the house. This might be that the story is an older work but it did not feel like a horror story, it was more suspense and atmospheric read. 

There are a few characters introduced later, Mrs. Montague. She comes into the picture a week after the initial group has been staying in the house. She is very annoying and unlikeable. She seems to believe in spirits a lot but her attitude is one that angers me greatly. That couple would not be a good example of a good marriage. 

**Spoiler**

Nothing is explained in the end! Take that as you will.

The ending is wrapped up almost as soon as the climax is still ging, it felt rushed and unsatisfying as I did not even get the what after.  Hard to explain but we see the whole group doing something, they make a decision as a whole. One of the group is not happy with it but is trying to comply as they get no choice in the matter. The discontent person makes an irrational decision at the last moment. Change page and a completely different scene. Very short and with no details.

What explanation was provided for the outside world? Were they necessary? What happened next to the house? 

**End spoiler**

This is coming off worse off than I expected.

This is an older work, the style of writing needs to get used to and the ending is unsatisfying. But I see why many people still refer to this as such an iconic representation in the genre. 

I would recommend to someone who already reads classics as the writing style feels old and that enjoys stories where not everything is explained. There is not something very scary so even that can be seen as a good thing, you will not have to sleep with the lights on while reading this book.