CBR15 BINGO: Dwelling. Hill House is not only integral to the story but also a character in itself.
Like many American high school students, I read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in ninth grade and then proceeded to ignore Jackson for the majority of my book-consuming life. First published in The New Yorker in 1948, “The Lottery” was shocking for its twist and has been banned or challenged in school districts for being, among other things, anti-family. Given the influence Jackson had on American literature, I’m uncertain why I never thought to pursue any of her other work, except perhaps because horror has gotten a bad rap for not being “serious” reading. The Haunting of Hill House defies those expectations.
The plot is simple: Dr. John Montague, a philosopher who studies the paranormal, rents the mysterious Hill House for a summer, hoping to bring scientific rigor to the study of the supernatural. He seeks out individuals who have had paranormal experiences to join him as his assistants. Of the dozen or so invitations he sends, two people accept: Eleanor Vance, a shy and insecure young woman who has spent most of her life caring for her mother and who had a strange experience as a child when rocks inexplicably fell up on her house for three days until she and her sister were removed; and Theodora, bold and outgoing and whose history we know less about, except that she once demonstrated exceptional psychic ability on an ESP test à la Ghostbusters. Also accompanying them is Luke Sanderson, who doesn’t have any weird paranormal experiences, but he’s heir to the home and his aunt wants to get him out of the way and keep him out of trouble for a bit.
The story unfolds with all the creepiness one would expect from a tale about a haunted house: the local townspeople are suspicious of the house and don’t wish to acknowledge it; the husband-and-wife caretaker act odd, say little, and refuse to spend the night there; the house itself has a dark history that includes a suicide. The mood is so expertly drawn that, at the half-way mark, I was completely absorbed, even though the only strange occurrence at that point had been a cool breeze.
What elevates this novel beyond a simple ghost story is that the characters are not puppets to the plot but are well-defined individuals. Eleanor emerges as a central figure, the one most attuned to the house. In spite of her initial fear, she finds herself, on the second morning, unbelievably happy. “I have spent an all but sleepless night, I have told lies and made a fool of myself, and the very air tastes like wine. I have been frightened half out of my wits, but I have somehow earned this joy.” While we know less about Theodora, we get to know her as a free-spirit who likes attention and can be rather a bully toward Eleanor at times. Luke is kind of a standard rake-about-town, but Montague’s character gets some depth when his overbearing wife comes to stay for a few days, making us wonder what that home life must be like.
And of course, the house is the most interesting character of all. “No Human eye can isolate the unhappy coincidence of line and place which suggests evil in the face of a house, and yet somehow a maniac juxtaposition, a badly turned angle, some chance meeting of roof and sky, turned Hill House into a place of despair, more frightening because the face of Hill House seemed awake, with a watchfulness from the blank windows and a touch of glee in the eyebrow of a cornice.” Yikes, that is one intimidating, yet seductive, face.
I love how this novel gradually brings the reader along on Eleanor’s mental journey. While she initially comes off as a bit unstable, it’s hard to pinpoint when Eleanor begins to behave really irrationally. And can you blame someone for being on edge when they are staying in a weird house with crooked doors that don’t stay open and rooms within rooms (applause to Jackson for the shout-out to the Winchester Mystery House)? Is Theodora being a total pill to Eleanor (whom she familiarly nicknames Nell), or is it her imagination? Can Eleanor really. . . hear things?
The Haunting of Hill House is a horror tale that focuses on human emotion, insecurity, and doubt. You don’t have to be a horror fan to appreciate it, but if you are, it’s also fun to see the influence Jackson had on modern writers like Stephen King. And if you didn’t read the “The Lottery” in high school, go do that right now.