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A review by graylodge_library
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
5.0
"The four of them stood, for the first time, in the wide, dark entrance hall of Hill House. Around them the house steadied and located them, above them the hills slept watchfully, small eddies of air and sound and movement stirred and waited and whispered, and the center of consciousness was somehow the small space where they stood, four separated people, and looked trustingly at one another."
Dr. Montague intends to investigate paranormal phenomena and prove they're real, and of the several people he invites to stay at Hill House for the summer, Theodora and Eleanor are the only ones to reply. Luke, the heir of the house, joins them because his presence is required by the owners.
They quickly discover that the house has a life of its own. It's almost a living breathing entity whose sole purpose is to confuse and consume them while making them feel isolated. When night descends, there are voices, sounds, shadows, and figures, but the way the house attaches itself to the psyche and spirit of one of the characters in particular is even more horrifying. The more their mind is splintered, the stronger the house becomes and the two become intertwined.
Although The Haunting of Hill House is in many ways a traditional haunted house story, it's Jackson's prose, her ability to bend the horror genre into subtle psychological terror, and the ambiguousness that make it special. The film adaptation The Haunting (1963) and the loose 2018 Netflix adaptation do it justice. Both are atmospheric, visually gorgeous, and are able to turn your blood into ice.