Review | The Haunting of Hill House

Around the time of Halloween I devoured The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. It was probably the first and only time I had even been completely enraptured by a horror series. It is because of the Crain family that we chose this book as our "Book about a family," but this book is much different than the show that everyone and their dog was talking about just a few short months ago.

Title: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Date Published: October 16, 1959

Dates Read: February 14-20, 2019

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.87/5

Let me start by saying I love scary things. My friends and I spent a majority of our junior high and high school lives watching all of the Paranormal Activity movies (they're all terrible, but they don't start getting really bad until after the third movie). I started the Netflix version of Hill House because I had heard really good things, spoiled myself on a few key moments thanks to Buzzfeed, and I wanted to scare myself into not sleeping at night apparently. I don't think I realized until I was mostly done or completely done with the series that there was a book by the same name with some of the same characters.

To be honest this book has sat on my 'to read' list for at least a year, but when my co-worker and I decided to start this Reading Challenge we decided to list this one under the "family book" because we are hilarious and, if nothing else, what we knew about the show was that it revolved around a family. However, though we still meet Nell, Theo, and Luke in Jackson's version, they're not the siblings that Netflix watchers have come to love. Rather they are strangers brought together to Hill House as some kind of science experiment to test how haunted this house actually is.

There are definitely some parallels between the book and the movie. Not only do we meet Eleanor (Nell), Theodora, and Luke, but we also learn about Hill House's first owner Hugh Crain. Netflix viewers may recognize him as Nell, Theo, and Luke's dad. In the book Hugh is long dead and his house is haunted because of it.

However, I think the main similarity between the two stories, is how the audience is able to see Nell's slow descent into depression and madness. Whether driven by spirits or simply by a suffering mental health, Nell gradually shifts from a bright, head strong young woman who makes snide comments to Theo into a paranoid, scared little girl. The house torments her, writing her name on the wall, begging her to come home. Jackson does a great job at confusing both Nell and the readers. Is Nell really seeing these spectral figures or is it just her mind playing tricks on her? Are Luke and Theo really laughing at her behind her back or is she just overthinking the situation (which, same girl same)?

My thoughts: This book was short, but dense. It took me a little bit to unpack everything that was going on. Though Jackson actually drew up the design of the house in order to keep things straight I couldn't help but get the feeling that Hill Houses' design was constantly changing. Nothing felt real and the fact that both the characters and the readers had no idea who or what was haunting them was very disconcerting. Overall, the story was a pretty easy read, but it was trying to understand the character's motivations that was really tough.

Since this book was told mostly from the point of view of Nell, her unreliable narrative made the story feel like a nightmare right up to the point SPOILERS that she drives her car into a tree. Much like the Netflix show, the book version of Hill House stays with you long after you finish reading it. I really wish we had read this book in one of my English classes back in undergrad so I could have a deep discussion on the elements and themes in this book because being stuck in my own mind, like Nell, makes it hard to keep things straight. Don't worry I won't run screaming from my house or drive my car into a tree, but Hill House is definitely a story that stays with you no matter what media you use to consume it.

Long story short:

• Netflix makes some pretty great TV shows

• Don't stay in a haunted house if you can help it

• Some books haunt you in much the same way that ghosts do

My Rating: 4/5

Up Next: Roomies by Christina Lauren