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- Jul 16, 2001
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More from Randy: a personal favourite of mine, too!
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality;
Eleanor accepts an invitation to Hill House from Doctor Montague, an amateur psychic investigator has also invited Theodora who, like Eleanor, in the past has displayed sensitivity to psychic phenomena. Joining the Doctor, Eleanor and Theodora is Luke, the son of the house’s owner, acting as the family’s representative as the Doctor Montague examines the famously haunted house.
even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.
Since her mother’s death, Eleanor has had to move in with her sister and her sister’s husband. Eleanor had yearned for freedom, but so far is unsure what to do with it; she has no plans for her future. The invitation seems like a chance to do something, to break from her past, and so she takes her sister’s car without permission and drives to Hill House.
Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.
From Theodora to Luke to the Doctor, Eleanor tries to make a connection. All are amiable but Eleanor’s need is great …
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 the longer she stays, the more appealing Eleanor finds Hill House.
and whatever walked there, walked alone. (first paragraph)
The Haunting of Hill House has stood for over fifty years as arguably the finest novel of the supernatural produced in the English language in the 20th century. Jackson, building on the template of Henry James’ short novel, Turn of the Screw, does not discount the supernatural, but focuses tightly on Eleanor’s psychology, on her motivation and the behaviors it leads to. Jackson doesn’t skimp on the other characters, either, each of whom has secrets and quirks that make them human and alienate them from Eleanor and from each other.
The Haunting of Hill House has been filmed twice. I strongly urge avoiding the 1999 version. The first filming, released in 1963, was directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still; West Side Story) who had learned from Orson Welles (Wise editing Citizen Kane) and Val Lewton for whom Wise directed his first movie, The Body Snatchers, an adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson short story. Wise’s movie stays close to the novel until near the end, and then only veers away slightly and reasonably in dealing with the character of the Professor’s wife. The 1963 film is well-cast and includes a fine performance by Julie Harris as Eleanor.
Besides The Haunting of Hill House, Jackson wrote many short stories, some of which fall in the realm of horror. The best known, of course, is “The Lottery,” which was unexpectedly successful and controversial (see Jackson’s article on this, “Biography of a Story”) but she also wrote “The Summer People,” “The Bus,” “The Demon Lover” and “One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts,” among others, all of which I’d strongly recommend.
Other haunted buildings of interest: “The Tearing of Greymare House” by Michael Reeves (House Shudders & Haunted Houses: The Greatest Stories ed. Martin Greenberg), “The Haunters and the Haunted“ by Sir Edward Bulwar-Lytton (Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural ed. Herbert Wise & Phyllis Cerf; The Mammoth Book of Haunted Houses ed. Peter Haining; The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce ed. Michael Newton); “The Wall of Clouds” by Sarah Monette (The Bone Key); “The Hungry House” by Robert Bloch (The Early Fears; The Weird ed. Jeff & Ann Vandermeer)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality;
Eleanor accepts an invitation to Hill House from Doctor Montague, an amateur psychic investigator has also invited Theodora who, like Eleanor, in the past has displayed sensitivity to psychic phenomena. Joining the Doctor, Eleanor and Theodora is Luke, the son of the house’s owner, acting as the family’s representative as the Doctor Montague examines the famously haunted house.
even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.
Since her mother’s death, Eleanor has had to move in with her sister and her sister’s husband. Eleanor had yearned for freedom, but so far is unsure what to do with it; she has no plans for her future. The invitation seems like a chance to do something, to break from her past, and so she takes her sister’s car without permission and drives to Hill House.
Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.
From Theodora to Luke to the Doctor, Eleanor tries to make a connection. All are amiable but Eleanor’s need is great …
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 the longer she stays, the more appealing Eleanor finds Hill House.
and whatever walked there, walked alone. (first paragraph)
The Haunting of Hill House has stood for over fifty years as arguably the finest novel of the supernatural produced in the English language in the 20th century. Jackson, building on the template of Henry James’ short novel, Turn of the Screw, does not discount the supernatural, but focuses tightly on Eleanor’s psychology, on her motivation and the behaviors it leads to. Jackson doesn’t skimp on the other characters, either, each of whom has secrets and quirks that make them human and alienate them from Eleanor and from each other.
The Haunting of Hill House has been filmed twice. I strongly urge avoiding the 1999 version. The first filming, released in 1963, was directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still; West Side Story) who had learned from Orson Welles (Wise editing Citizen Kane) and Val Lewton for whom Wise directed his first movie, The Body Snatchers, an adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson short story. Wise’s movie stays close to the novel until near the end, and then only veers away slightly and reasonably in dealing with the character of the Professor’s wife. The 1963 film is well-cast and includes a fine performance by Julie Harris as Eleanor.
Besides The Haunting of Hill House, Jackson wrote many short stories, some of which fall in the realm of horror. The best known, of course, is “The Lottery,” which was unexpectedly successful and controversial (see Jackson’s article on this, “Biography of a Story”) but she also wrote “The Summer People,” “The Bus,” “The Demon Lover” and “One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts,” among others, all of which I’d strongly recommend.
Other haunted buildings of interest: “The Tearing of Greymare House” by Michael Reeves (House Shudders & Haunted Houses: The Greatest Stories ed. Martin Greenberg), “The Haunters and the Haunted“ by Sir Edward Bulwar-Lytton (Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural ed. Herbert Wise & Phyllis Cerf; The Mammoth Book of Haunted Houses ed. Peter Haining; The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce ed. Michael Newton); “The Wall of Clouds” by Sarah Monette (The Bone Key); “The Hungry House” by Robert Bloch (The Early Fears; The Weird ed. Jeff & Ann Vandermeer)
