“The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson
Reading Time: 5 minutes
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The Book Oversimplified
The Haunting of Hill House is an unsettling ghost story told from the point of view of Eleanor, who grows more and more paranoid while she gets to know her companions in the meanderings of the terrible Hill House.
Quotes
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality”
“Since the gate was so clearly locked—locked and double-locked and chained and barred; who, she wondered, wants so badly to get in?”
“Perhaps she was to be allowed to speak occasionally for all of them so that, quieting her, they quieted themselves and could leave the subject behind them; perhaps, vehicle for every kind of fear, she contained enough for all.”
A Review Through Takeaways
Exception made for Ernest Hemingway, I rarely read American literature from the middle of the last century, and it took me a while to get over Shirley Jackson’s style which—please don’t crucify me for this—felt a teensy bit outdated.
That said, I’m of the opinion that style shouldn’t get in the way of mastery, and it couldn’t be truer for this fantastic book.
Although Horror standards have changed massively since The Haunting of Hill House was first published, (the subject of what scares us always brings to mind this spectacular Simpson’s Halloween Special about Edgar Allan Poe) Shirley Jackson managed to make me feel uncomfortable on my own, pregnant-wife-approved sofa in many occasions without the need of any gore or graphic description.
The way she does it is closer to pure magic than a technique; but after months of reflection, I have been able to identify one obvious trick, easy to hide in plain sight.
Enjoy.
1. The Power of Peer Pressure
For the first half of the book, (and I’m not exaggerating here: I’m talking about 120 pages or so) nothing properly scary happens. Something moves behind the bushes at the brook on the first day of Eleanore and Theodora in the house, but it’s so vague it could as well have been a rabbit. And yet, when at night the House decides to reveal itself, the reader is not in a comfortable place and is ready to believe and gasp together with the characters.
How is that possible?
Shirley Jackson uses beautifully what I like to call peer pressure. In addition to revealing Eleanor’s feelings at all times, she uses the experiences and opinions of the other characters to build a comprehensive picture, which is hard to ignore.
Humans are social animals, and we all tend to believe what our social group believes. This is especially true for illogical beliefs, like conspiracy theories and supernatural events, and fictional people make absolutely no exception.
How do we know that someone is untrustworthy? We are told they’re untrustworthy. After that, we start noticing an odd smirk, or a statement that doesn’t add up, or a guilty way of moving their hands.
How do we know that a place is scary? We are told that it’s scary. After that, we start seeing shadows and spiders, we feel cold drafts and hear creaks in the walls.
Our brain is extremely gullible and, as writers, we have a moral obligation to exploit this feature in our readers.
Shirley Jackson does it marvellously in two ways:
Since the moment Eleanor steps into Hill House, the author makes it abundantly clear that she should leave as soon as possible, but then, because of what happens around her or what other characters say—especially Theodora—she doesn’t. This appeals so deeply to me because I know the feeling too well. I know how it feels to avoid exercising when I should. I know how it feels to stay in a dangerous situation just to save appearances in front of others. I know how Eleanor feels, and all I want to do is reassure her, tell her she can leave; it doesn’t matter what the others will think.
Shirley Jackson makes us feel we are in a haunted place by simply observing what the cast of characters does. When Dr Montague—a logical and intelligent man—adventures alone in the house and comes back convincing himself that he didn’t see anything and that it was all suggestion, we can’t help but wonder what he saw. When Theodora or Luke talk about how unnatural the furniture is, or when they hide how much they dread spending time alone during the night, we can’t help but believe them. When the weird stuff starts happening, we can only believe, because, in a sense, we were expecting to be the next in line for such an experience.
Conclusion
This is not a Stephen King’s book, and is very far from the—also great—Netflix show, but if you enjoy horror and can name 2 Horror authors not in this article, I would strongly suggest reading The Haunting of Hill House.
I guarantee it will make you look over your shoulder under the right conditions.
Alla prossima
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