Serves you right, fools

The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson

I always wonder to myself: If I had the opportunity to spend a night in a "haunted" house, would I go? I say so in theory, but would I really? Somehow, I think I'd chicken out. Visiting is one thing, but spending the night? Isn't that just asking for trouble? And when you tempt fate, don't be surprised when you get bitten in the ass. So, to the characters of Shirley Jackson's novella The Haunting of Hill House, I say serves you right.

The novella begins as Dr. Montague seeks people to assist him in studying Hill House. He wants to document evidence of supernatural phenomena, and he seeks those with some history of involvement with the paranormal. Despite the dozens of invitations he sends, only two assistants arrive at the door to Hill House: Eleanor, a shy and lonely woman who has recently been freed from servitude by the death of her mother, and Theo, a sophisticated lady who can pick up on the emotions and thoughts of others. Along with them is Luke, the nephew of the owner, there to keep an eye on things. The four of them plan to spend the summer in Hill House and see if the rumors are true.

And what, exactly, are the rumors? It’s true the house has a checkered past – lots of “accidental” deaths and even a suicide or two – but nothing that clearly proves the house is evil. Of course, there’s the unfortunate connection between “Hill” and “hell,” but that isn’t proof of the supernatural. And just because no one will go there after dark might be just out of respect. At any rate, the house is huge and impressive, and the rooms within rooms adds to the claustrophobic effect by making it difficult to find one’s way around. The house consumes its inhabitants.

okay, maybe I'd take a little evil if it meant living here

Despite the overwhelming sense of claustrophobia, nothing much happens at first. Doors close that were left open, but perhaps that’s just due to the odd geometry of the house. As the doctor explains, every angle in the house is wrong, creating a “large distortion” in the house. Soon enough, however, more sinister occurrences happen, and it becomes increasingly difficult to explain these events as purely innocent, especially as the suffocating nature of the house causes cracks in the psyche of each inhabitant.

However, it soon becomes clear that Eleanor is targeted in a different way than the others. This isn’t totally unforeseen, since she has from the beginning of the book repeated a line of poetry to herself over and over: Journeys end in lovers meeting. Perhaps that’s not the best sentiment one can feel upon meeting what is commonly assumed to be an evil place.

Eleanor is certainly affected differently than the others, and no wonder: she is all alone in the world, and it is her loneliness and need to belong that mark her as more susceptible to Hill House than the others. She becomes enmeshed in a world of illusions, and at times the reader finds it difficult to separate what is actually happening from what Eleanor is imagining. Are the others turning against her? Or is the house infiltrating her mind? And what will become of her -- can she withstand the onslaught of Hill House?

In a nutshell: An excellent psychological ghost story; it's a must for fans of Jackson or for anyone who enjoys a good, unnerving tale.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars