The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Little Miss Evil House
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is one of the true classics of the horror genre. Keen to make a name for himself and his research, Doctor Montague invites some strangers with paranormal potential to stay at a haunted house and observe the evil that results.
Story ☆☆☆★★
The story has become almost cliché at this point, and it's hard to remember that this is the book that made the clichés. The Haunting of Hill House has been adapted twice for film, once for stage, and now a TV series is being produced for Netflix. So it feels like describing the story really isn't necessary. A group of ghost hunters travel to a remote house with a bleak history, which the locals are convinced is haunted. The hunters are slowly separated, the house appearing to single out one woman for special attention.
It's not Jackson's fault that this story has been repeated time and again in the horror genre, but for a 21st century reader the plot is still painfully obvious.
It's not Jackson's fault that this story has been repeated time and again in the horror genre, but for a 21st century reader the plot is still painfully obvious.
Style ☆★★★★
What isn't often copied, however, is Jackson's style. This is one of the best examples I've seen in horror fiction of a true descent into madness. The novel is narrated in the third person following Eleanor, a quiet mouse of a woman who is excited to escape her hum-drum life and take part in this mysterious experiment.
Whether the house sees Eleanor as a weak link, or whether all of the characters are experiencing a similar splitting of reality is never explained. All the reader has is Eleanor's steady decline, as she holds conversations with people who aren't there and starts to listen at doors, paranoid that the others are talking about her.
What she actually hears is almost nothing about herself, reinforcing the sad realities of Eleanor's life. Even as the focus of a malevolent house, nobody really cares about her. Jackson is excellent at inhabiting the bodies and minds of the strange and unusual. Although I prefer We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the similarities of style are clear and a lot of crazy fun.
Whether the house sees Eleanor as a weak link, or whether all of the characters are experiencing a similar splitting of reality is never explained. All the reader has is Eleanor's steady decline, as she holds conversations with people who aren't there and starts to listen at doors, paranoid that the others are talking about her.
What she actually hears is almost nothing about herself, reinforcing the sad realities of Eleanor's life. Even as the focus of a malevolent house, nobody really cares about her. Jackson is excellent at inhabiting the bodies and minds of the strange and unusual. Although I prefer We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the similarities of style are clear and a lot of crazy fun.
Substance ☆☆☆★★
The tale of Hill House is fairly cut and dry. However, the reader learns very little about what happens to the house or its inhabitants after the life of the novel, and no explanation is offered as to why Eleanor was chosen or how much of the events of the novel happened entirely in her own head. This generates some curiosity about the workings of Hill House, but it's not a novel that will leave you puzzling long after the book is put down.
The Verdict ☆☆★★★
While Hill House should almost certainly be visited as a classic of the horror genre, the story itself will be old hat to the 21st century genre fan. A great deal of pleasure can be got from Jackson's style of writing, her unique narration of a weak-willed woman's descent into madness, but this is certainly the highlight in an otherwise by-the-numbers story.
Comments
Post a Comment