I started this on Halloween and was less than spooked. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t a dark and stormy night. Maybe it’s because I kept thinking of The Little Stranger (also disappointing in its lack of scariness). Whatever it was, I was disappointed.
The Haunting of Hill House is supposed to be a psychological thriller. Our heroine (who isn’t much of a heroine) accepts an invitation to spend some time in a spooky old house, in the hope that her (and her fellow guests’) presence will incite the house into some sort of spooktacular activity. Minor mayhem ensues. Heroine goes a little psycho. The end.
Okay, granted you couldn’t pay me to go stay at Hill House, but I still thought the suspense wasn’t all that suspenseful. And why was the house so angry? Was it because its builder did it a great injustice by not building straight lines? Was it lonely and just looking for a little action love? Maybe it just needed Merricat to move in – wouldn’t they be the perfect couple?
And have I ever asked so many questions in a post?
So by now I’m sure you’ve guessed I was less than impressed. I’m afraid my expectations (I loved We Have Always Lived in the Castle) were too great and I just didn’t have the energy to psychoanalyze a house.
That’s disappointing. I have been hearing a lot about how creepy this one was. It might scare me though. I used to be such a fraidy cat when I was younger. Have been a little leer of figuring out whether I still am.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..This Just In! A Lot Of Books! =-.
I’m a bit giggly tonight, so the idea of psychoanalyzing a house sounds fun.
Having said this, I read this book in 1999 and wasn’t impressed. I still want to read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, though.
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror, by Chris Priestley =-.
I really enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle…the characters were more “off,” which made it more entertaining.
Hmm – seems to be the general consensus that We Have Always Lived in the Castle is better. I finished that one on Halloween, and it *was* a dark and stormy night…complete with a power outage!
I know many a house that could be angry at the architect who designed it.
On a side note: I just started reading Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. I’m interested to hear your thoughts as you go along.
.-= Trisha´s last blog ..Book Review: U and J =-.
I didn’t care for this book the first time I read it. I’ve read it three times total now and It has gotten better each time. It’s not scary at all and doesn’t even fall into the spooky category so I’m not sure why it’s considered such a “to do” in the horror genre but I did appreciate the writing after several reads.
.-= Ti´s last blog ..Friday Finds: The Island at the End of the World =-.
I think I was expecting to much in terms of creepiness. I’m impressed you keep returning to it, though!
Your post reminds me a lot of how I felt after finishing Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables. It was torturous to read and not scary or spooky.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Library Loot =-.
I’m sorry you didn’t like it– I thought it was quite fabulous, but I did read it on a dark and stormy night. Plus I am very easily spooked, so that could account for some of my love for it.
.-= She´s last blog ..Little Bee – Chris Cleave =-.
I found it atmospheric but agree that it is not as good as We Have Always Lived in the Castle. What I enjoyed where the psychological manifestations and the consequences of fear; I also admire Jackson’s ability to make the reader doubt what they have read/thought/understood and find it creepy in that respect.
.-= Claire (Paperback_Reader)´s last blog ..The Well and the Mine =-.
I hate when a beloved author lets me down. Sorry this didn’t work for you.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Review: Everything Sucks =-.
I have this on my wish list. Looks like I can let it stay there a while longer!
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Fave Film #22 – Bridget Jones’s Diary =-.
But lots of others bloggers loved it! Don’t let me stop you! (And it’s short, so you know, it’s not a total waste of time.
)
I wasn’t very impressed by this “classic” either. I wanted those questions answered because I believe if they were it would have been much better.
.-= Ladytink_534´s last blog ..It Won’t Let Them Go Easily =-.
I had high hopes when I saw this title. Oh well. At least you’ve saved me a read and I definitely appreciate that. I’d just started The Little Stranger on audio before I washed my pants last weekend without realizing my MP3 player was still in them… OOPS! I’m working on replacing my MP3 player to get back to that one. It doesn’t sound like you enjoyed that one much either, though.
Have a great weekend!
.-= Literate Housewife´s last blog ..Birthday Bash Winners (finally…) =-.
Oh no!! That’s a major oops…good luck in replacing it.
So many people loved this lately that I added it to my list. Might have to reconsider now!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Random Friday, again. =-.
Maybe the house was mad because it thought it might go into foreclosure, or because it knew its mortgage was subprime. Maybe it thought it deserved granite countertops. You just never know about houses! My house, for instance, is mad because it wants a cook and a maid. (besides me, that is)
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Review of “One Corpse Too Many” by Ellis Peters =-.
Sssssshhhh…we don’t mention granite countertops around here. My boyfriend the contractor thinks they’re a total scam.
I keep hearing that this book and movie are 1) really, really scary and 2) really, really campy.
So the house is angry for no reason? That makes me think of T.S. Eliot’s famous essay on Hamlet. He argued that Hamlet is a failure because its title character is already tormented and miserable from the very beginning, for no good reason at all. In other words, it has no real character development. But then again, I’m not sure if a house needs character development so maybe that’s a poor comparison.
.-= EL Fay´s last blog ..The History Genome Project =-.
No, it’s a good comparison. The house is definitely a characterm and I think it could’ve used a bit more development. Or a better developer.
Sorry to read you didn’t enjoy this one. I heard good things mostly about this book but not everyone can love the same things! Now I’m curious to see how I’ll react to it when I read it.
.-= Kay´s last blog ..Review : The Chosen One =-.
lol! I’d LOVE to see Merricat move in. I enjoyed this, but not as much as Castle.
LOL! It is tiresome to psychoanalyze a house, isn’t it? I did it with House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski, and I don’t know if I have the ummmphf to do it again.
.-= Andi´s last blog ..Mini Reviews: Elsewhere and Ex Libris =-.
I’m not a fan of spooky stories, so even though this book wasn’t very suspenseful for you, I’m sure it’s still too spooky for me.
.-= Alyce´s last blog ..The Sunday Salon – November 15 =-.
Oh and it looks so good too! I like a good spooky book!
.-= Sheila (Bookjourney)´s last blog ..2009 Holiday Reading Challenge!!! =-.
I read Ladytink’s review of this one recently, and as she said above in a comment, it sounded like she had many of the same questions. Do you think it is a book that is more fitting to its time? I mean, by way of the spooky factor? Regardless, it still sounds like there were enough missing pieces that left you unsatisfied. That’s too bad.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the time period, because there are plenty of people who love it. I think its the reader.
I also think it might have something to do with the order in which you read her books. I loved We Have Always Lived in the Castle, so I might have set myself up for disappointment.
I agree I did not find a hero or heroine in Hill House. However, I thought this was probably one of the most realistic haunted house stories because it seemed so suttle? It is a favorite of mine. Even though I really liked Castle it took me quite a while to get into that one. Not so with Hill House.
Where haunted houses are concerned I always think of when each person dies in that particular house or that said person is evil it adds to the evil of the house. Does that make sense? (Something similar that was said in Stephen King’s Rose Red. I think.)
It’s been a while since I’ve read the book (or watched Rose Red for that matter).
Sorry you were disappointed, but it seems you enjoy Shirley Jackson? Which is always a good thing.
.-= MillyMarie´s last blog ..Reviews Coming This Week. =-.
Maybe the house wanted fancier countertops or crown molding!
.-= Jenners´s last blog ..Review: Lit by Mary Karr =-.
I, too, wondered why the house was so angry. As the story went, Hugh Crain built it as a place for his family to live and be happy together, but I think the house was described as evil from the start, so where did that evil come from? It just didn’t make sense to me.
charley´s last [type] ..Shirley Jackson – The Haunting of Hill House