Shirley Jackson - Blog Posts

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“Mrs. Walpole closed her eyes, suddenly feeling the harsh hands pulling her down, the sharp points closing down on her throat.”

-Shirley Jackson, The Renegade

merricat by angie hoffmeister / merricat by william teason

“I like writing fiction better than anything, because just being a writer of fiction gives you an absolutely unassailable protection against reality; nothing is ever seen clearly or starkly, but always through a thin veil of words.” -Shirley Jackson

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by SHIRLEY JACKSON (REVIEW)

quickly: a young woman is consumed by an old haunted house awakened by a professor studying the paranormal (a thirty-something going through the emotional crises of thirty-somethings / an eccentric outcast college professor / dank old mansions hidden in the woods / stoic caretakers who are almost as old as hill house / open doors closing, closed doors opening / the mind wandering to dark and strange places).

this is a short and quick gothic horror tale with a 60’s emotional sensibility. that said, it had the feeling that what shirley jackson really wanted to write about hill house had been censored or underwritten so as to not offend ‘the general public’. maybe it is almost 30 years of horror movie watching under my belt, but i just couldn’t find the thrill and suspense in this novel. i could see this being a nice sunday after church mystery read. but… i don’t go to church, and i was intrigued but not thrilled.

★ ★ ★

more thoughts: SPOILERS!

Some personal context… I just finished The Vanishing Half, a drama about a set of twins. As always, I was eager to get back into the mystery/thriller/horror genre. I’m venturing out, looking for new writers who can write with the heart and soul that real horror requires. So far, Andy Davidson’s The Boatman’s Daughter has been my favorite horror-thriller writer I’ve read this year. The Hollow Kind was good as well.

Shirley Jackson was on several ‘must read’ horror lists. This was my first Shirley Jackson book, and I’ve wanted to read it ever since seeing The Haunting of Hill House series produced by Netflix. Now… I had prepared myself for the book to be different from the movie… but sheesh! It is two pages and a plot twist away from being night and day.

The story begins with Eleanor, and she is the spotlight we follow through the dark tale of Hill House. We meet her as she is having some kind of ‘life moment’… stealing a car half owned by her sister and running off to participate in some supernatural experiment in a secluded house by an unknown doctor. She is desperate to get away and be a part of somewhere other than where she has been.

Eleanor arrives first at the multi-leveled, multi-roomed,  multi-gardened Hill House, greeted by the old caretakers, The Dudleys, who make it clear that they go nowhere near the house after sundown. The other members of this adventurous gang arrive shortly after: Dr. Montague, the paranormal expert; Theodore, who like Eleanor, was selected because of their past history of psychic/supernatural occurrences; and Luke, heir to Hill House.

Everyone is affected by Hill House’s impressively dark aura, and the disturbances begin immediately. Doors acting in their own accordance, strange nightmares and daydreams, and doors knocking at night. Eleanor is the most affected by Hill House, sometimes seeming to be totally entranced. 

Amidst the nightly disturbances, a strange love triangle develops between Eleanor, Theo, and Luke. Eleanor is whom we have the most background information about, and it is clear that her subconscious, Hill House, or whatever other dark force, is playing on the years worth of guilt and trauma of taking care of a dying mother. Any home away from home, including Hill House, will do.

The disturbances increase after Dr. Montegue’s wife, Mrs. Montegue, arrives with her sidekick Arthur. Their 19th-century style calls to the spirit realm, result in messages from the beyond, seemingly directed toward Eleanor, sending her psyche further into the depths of Hill House’s shadows.

After Eleanor sleepwalks up the rickety railing of the library in the tower, putting herself in danger, Dr. Montague sends Eleanor home. But… as foreshadowed at the beginning of the story, Hill House never lets its prey leave. In a state, not herself at the time, Elanore puts the pedal to the metal and floors it into a tree on her way off the property. It’s only at the last moment that she realizes she had not been herself at that something else had been acting for her.

I hoped to like this story much more than I did. I’ve heard so much about her writing, and seen so many of my other favorite horror writers cite her. It’s also obvious to see how Shirley Jackson’s story of Hill House has created many tropes that we see in horror today. I don't even have to list them... (though Rose Red is one that comes to mind immediately).

I understand the time period and style of writing, and that wasn’t what I disliked. I think it was just a level of detail and poetry that I had expected and did not receive. The writing has the feeling that Kid’s Bop has to regular music. Still catchy, and has a groove, but the voice is for a general audience, and the true spirit of the lyrics have been censored.

I CRIED watching The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. I wish I had received even a quarter of that much emotion from this book. I’ll have to do some research on Shirley Jackson. I want to know more about the context of her work and its cultural impact. After, I also have “We Have Always Lived In The Castle”, which I am going to read soon.

A three for me for now, but I appreciate what it’s done for the culture of horror. I’m open to changing my mind on this one later though.