The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The often light tone of Eleanor belies a whole can of worms.

I expected and received a rather fine ghost story in a haunted house, of course, but I was actually more interested in how Eleanor was always so unhappy in the beginning and how everything changed for the better when she moved into the house. How all her priorities and her descent into crazyville was directly linked to the tragic house, about how she wanted to be afraid, changed this rather simple tale into one that actually applies nicely to all us horror fans just begging to be scared.

What? The crazy girl is just like all of us? No way! :)

But what about the ghost? The ghost investigation? All the automatic writing and spooky stories?

It's great. :)

It's not over the top like what we usually get with our modern sensibilities, but he psychological side of this makes up for the simple story by actually managing to be profound. Nice work. :) 1959 and hardly dated at all! Color me impressed. And spooked! :)

Happy Halloween!

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