Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House 

By: Shirley Jackson

Synopsis From Goodreads:

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, the 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.

Goodreads | Amazon

My Review:

Rating:
★★★★

“Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” 

Up until a year ago I had never heard of Hill House; never read a Shirley Jackson book, but then Netflix aired a show based on this book titled: The Haunting of Hill House and suddenly I was intrigued. I have always been a fan of horror/suspenseful thrillers so of course I went ahead and pressed play. The show had me hooked from the very beginning, a haunting tale to keep you up at night. 

Now I know its unwise to watch a tv/movie adaptation before ever reading the book but I just couldn't help myself. The trailer looked oh so good! 

So its been a few months since I have finished the show and was able to find myself a copy of the book at Walmart this past weekend. The moment I saw it sitting on the shelf I knew I just had to bring it home with me, it was time to compare. 

The Haunting of Hill House had me enthralled from the very beginning. Shirley Jackson brought Hill House to life in such a terrifyingly chilling way, I was on the edge of my seat. Turning page after page, needing to know how it would end. 

The Netflix show did make some pretty major changes to the story of Hill House. For one thing, the show centers around a family and their experiences while living at Hill House, where as the book focuses on Dr. Montague and his assistants; Luke, Eleanor and Theodora. The doctor brings together this small group of strangers in hopes of discovering and studying the psychic phenomenon at Hill House. 

Many strange and unexplainable things occur during their stay at Hill House. An eerie cold that finds you in the night. And let's not forget the dusty old nursery, with a spooky presence. Something in the house is calling out to them... will Hill House claim it's victim? Will it bring them "home?"

I must say the book had its spooky elements sprinkled throughout and kept me captivated from the very beginning. I enjoyed comparing both TV show and book, seeing the similarities and differences. While the book was great and I truly did enjoy the story, I found the show a bit more appealing....but then that may simply be because I started there first. 

While there were many changes to the story for the TV adaptation I agree with the route they took and understand the changes they made. The book had so many avenues that could have been explored but keeping to those four central characters stuck in Hill House I feel the material may have ended up lacking. 

That being said, I did still enjoy the book very much. It gave a different spin on a show that I throughly enjoyed and could watch over and over again. It's definitely a book I would recommend, especially if you are looking for something a bit spooky. 

Published by: K