The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (4/5)

A house is simply an object found in daily life, serving its purpose of providing hospitality to people, until it begins to feed on the emotions and minds of humans that walk its hallways. “The Haunting of Hill House” is a novel written by Shirley Jackson telling the story of a not-so-homely house. To summarize, a man named Dr. Montague wanted to test the idea of supernatural existence. He decides to hold his experiment in an old, eerie mansion known as Hill House. He sent letters to a few people to spend the summer in Hill House with him to observe any supernatural occurrences. Eleanor and Theodora are the only ones to respond. The owner of Hill House sent her nephew, Luke, to participate as well. Eleanor Vance stole the car she had been sharing with her sister and headed to Hill House. She continued to grow more uncertain and regretful of this visit as she continued to drive. Eleanor arrived at the house and soon met Theodora who cheered her up as they became close friends almost instantly. The girls later meet Luke and Dr. Montague and everyone gets along nicely. Dr. Montague tells his guests the stories of hill house including suicide and an awful case of pneumonia. Soon, the house begins to show off its sinister side. Doors are slammed shut throughout the night with banging all across the hallways, at one point blood is smeared around the house. It is that Eleanor's lack of human bonds leads her to grow a strong connection with Hill House, but at a cost. “The Haunting of Hill House” was a great read for horror fans and included a lot of psychological components. The ending should have been stretched out and talked about more instead of a major event occurring and then the book ending a page later. “The Haunting of Hill House” includes a nerve-wracking plot, fascinating character relationships, and major suspenseful moments and is most definitely a book to recommend to others.