The Haunting of Hill House Study Guide Literature Guide
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During a night of physical and auditory phenomena, Doctor Montague, Theodora, Luke, and Eleanor all huddle together in the doctor’s room for strength, but at the height of the disturbance, Eleanor willingly gives herself over to the house. She wakes up in the morning with a renewed sense of joy and a strange ability to hear what is happening all over the house. Eleanor confronts Theodora about the tension between them and asks if she can come live with Theodora once the experiment is over.
By Shirley Jackson
This theme is further explored through characters like Dr. Montague and Eleanor, who struggle with familial relationships while in the home. Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel, 'The Haunting of Hill House', is regarded as one of the greatest ghost stories ever written. The novel follows the story of four people who investigate the mysterious and terrifying events that occur in the titular Hill House. The book has been adapted to film twice, in 1963 and again in 1999, both times under the title The Haunting.
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The man who built it, Hugh Crain, purposefully designed the house to be labyrinthine and disorienting, and after his wife’s death in the house’s driveway, a series of strange occurrences took hold of the place. All four of the inhabitants begin to experience strange events while in the house, including unseen noises and ghosts roaming the halls at night, strange writing on the walls, and other unexplained events. At the same time, Eleanor may be losing touch with reality, and it is implied that at least some of what Eleanor witnesses may be products of her imagination. Another implied possibility is that Eleanor possesses a subconscious telekinetic ability that is itself the cause of many of the disturbances experienced by her and the others, which might indicate there is no ghost in the house at all.
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Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House,’ is considered not only one of the finest horror novels of the 20th century, but also the definitive haunted house story. It was a finalist for the National Book Award upon its publication in 1959, and as recently as this summer, three writers named it as the scariest book of fiction they have ever read in an article for the Times. After two film adaptations (in 1963 and 1999) under the title “The Haunting,” Netflix is next in line with a full-fledged TV series, set to air on Oct. 12. In preparation for the premiere, here are 13 chilling novels centered around haunted houses.
Complete Guide To “The Haunting of Hill House” By Shirley Jackson
The architecture is extremely confusing, making it very easy to lose one’s way as one tries to find a specific room. The home is also filled with doors that open and close by themselves, symbolizing the character’s access to information about the home and their ability to capture the supernatural phenomena occurring within. The style of ‘The Haunting of Hill House‘ is characterized by its lack of exposition. Rather than explicitly spelling out the details of the plot and the events that occur in Hill House, Jackson instead relies on slow reveals and subtle hints about what is really going on in Hill House. This enhances the mystery of the novel and allows the reader to piece together the events of the story from their own imagination.
Shirley Jackson
This possibility is suggested especially by references early in the novel to Eleanor's childhood memories about episodes of a poltergeist-like entity that seemed to target her home. The Terror is a historical period horror series that uses some real events in the backbone of the narrative, which just like Them changes the timeline of the show from season to season. The second run of episodes switches from icy haunted wastelands to America in WWII, using the Pacific Invasion as the backdrop for the show.
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In this version, the industrialist Hugh Crain financed the construction of Hill House in the 1860’s. The house was a beautiful but forbidding mansion where Crain hoped to house a wife and children. Our work is created by a team of talented literature experts, to provide an in-depth look into books, like no other. The two men arrive next, and Dr. Montague seems less than excited to reveal the reality of the house they’re staying in. He knows they will feel even worse about the time they’ve committed to staying there, and he doesn’t want them bailing out of his experiment. Originally the show would air on UK TV on Channel 4, before achieving worldwide recognition when Netflix would step in and take control of the property.
What is the genre of The Haunting of Hill House?
The group fears Eleanor’s presence in the house while also fearing for her safety. They urge her to leave the house, but she doesn’t want to; with her mother dead, she has no one to go to and no other home. In a brief epilogue, it is revealed that Doctor Montague published his article about Hill House to great contempt from his colleagues, and was all but forced to retire from academia. The presence which has always haunted Hill House remains there, walking its halls alone. The others eventually come to believe Eleanor is the cause of the disturbances. Montague and Luke force her into her car; she bids them farewell and drives off, but before leaving the grounds of Hill House, she propels the car into a large oak tree to her implied death.
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His aunt is very aware of this and wants him to stay busy, watching over the house and making sure that Dr. Montague, Eleanor, and Theodora don’t do anything in the home she wouldn’t approve of. His two companions are Eleanor Vance, a young woman scarred by an experience she had with a poltergeist when she was a child, and Theodora, another woman who supposedly has psychic abilities. 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson is a must-read horror novel about four people who decide to investigate the many reports of ghosts in Hill House.
Hill House serves as a physical representation of the psychological trauma that the characters experience throughout their stay. For example, Hill House’s windows are described as “eyes” that watch the characters, which conveys a sense of dread and danger. In addition, the house itself is described as alive and growing, a sign of the psychological hold it has on the characters. Listed in a The New York Times poll in 2018 as “the scariest book of fiction” by participants, the novel is a must read for all the fans of horror and mystery genres.
The sense of dread is further enhanced by Jackson’s use of foreshadowing, which often hints at the sinister events to come. In the course of their investigation, they slowly discover the dark secrets of Hill House and its history of violence and terror. Through her masterful use of suspense, horror, and psychological terror, Jackson has crafted a truly unforgettable story that’s only grown in popularity in recent years.
In 2015, Anthony Neilson prepared a new stage adaptation for Sonia Friedman and Hammer for production at the Liverpool Playhouse. Dr. Montague hopes to find scientific evidence of the existence of the supernatural. He rents Hill House for a summer and invites as his guests several people whom he has chosen because of their past experience with paranormal events. She finally agrees to leave after being convinced that the house is damaging her mind. But, even as she leaves, she realizes that there is nothing she can do to get away from the house. Eleanor suddenly accelerates into an oak tree, feeling as though she’s totally lost control of her actions.
Eleanor Vance steals the car she co-owns with her sister Carrie and her brother-in-law and drives over a hundred miles to Hill House, excited to finally have an adventure of her own. As she arrives at the house and meets the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, she realizes she is the first one there—and she senses a deeply malevolent energy coming from the house. Nevertheless, Eleanor is hungry for an adventure, and she decides to stay rather than turn tail and head for home. She soon meets Theodora and the two young women bond quickly—Eleanor is dazzled by Theodora’s beauty and wit. Doctor Montague and Luke Sanderson soon arrive, and Doctor Montague explains that Hill House has been the site of a haunting for as long as eighty years.
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Later in their stay, the doctor's wife, the haughty Mrs. Montague, and her companion Arthur Parker, the headmaster of a boys' school, arrive to spend a weekend at Hill House and help investigate it. They, too, are interested in the supernatural, including séances and spirit writing. Unlike the other four characters, they do not experience anything supernatural, although some of Mrs. Montague's alleged spirit writings seem to communicate with Eleanor. At the same time, they begin to experience increasing paranormal phenomena that results in a tragic loss and the family fleeing from the house. Twenty-six years later, the Crain siblings and their estranged father reunite after tragedy strikes again, and they are all forced to confront how their time in Hill House had affected each of them.
It was a finalist for the National Book Award and has been made into two feature films and a play, and is the basis of a Netflix series. Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, the title alone will have the hairs on the back of the necks of horror fans everywhere standing up. For decades, horror fans have been fascinated by the lore of controversial writer HP Lovecraft, and there have been various attempts to bring his work to the screen over the years, with varying degrees of success. Eleanor herself worries that something is going on in the house that she can’t control and that she may be tapping into some of the house’s darkest elements without meaning to. She even hears her mother’s voice at one point and tries to find its source.
It’s hard not to talk about modern anthological horror without mentioning the work of Mike Flanagan, the showrunner behind some of the most terrifying and nuanced horror shows ever made. Jackson also employs an array of literary techniques to create a dream-like atmosphere. For instance, she often uses symbolism to convey a sense of mysteriousness and otherworldly horror. Additionally, Jackson often juxtaposes beauty and innocence with terror and violence. In the short, final paragraph that follows, the reader is left uncertain whether Eleanor was simply an emotionally disturbed woman who committed suicide, or whether her death at Hill House has a supernatural significance. Towards the end of the novel, it is becoming clear to the characters that the house is beginning to possess Eleanor.
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