The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Haunting of Hill House
Book Review: This book scared me more than any other.
Summary: 5 Stars
I grew up in a big old Victorian house a lot like Hill House, and one day when I was about 12 years old,and my folks were gone, I started reading The Haunting of Hill House.
let me tell you it scared me so bad I was frozen with fear.
I didn't go upstairs by myself for two weeks!
I suggest you read it in broad daylight with lots of people around.
...and if you must see the movie, make sure it is the 1963 version.
The latest remake is worthless.
That was forty years ago, and now I'm going to order a fresh copy of the book so I can scare myself all over again!
If you have friends who "like to be scared". give them a copy of this book as a gift, it will scare the HELL out of them....Bwahahahahahaha!!
Book Review: Haunting review of Hill House
Summary: 4 Stars
The story "Haunting of Hill House" has great examples of people changing just to fit in. Although the "Haunting of Hill House" fits this description perfectly with its eerie description of supernatural tales of the happenings of Hill House; there is more to it than hauntings. The story starts out with three guests being invited to the house to monitor any out of the ordinary occurrences in Hill House. Throughout the story the guests experience some ghostly moments. However during this, one of the guest named Eleanor changes her ways to fit in with the guests. One example would be when Eleanor told lies about herself and her past, and when Eleanor went around the house alone having no fear. Finally Eleanor became open and spoke out what was on her mind.
In the story Eleanor feels that she does not fit in with the group of people who are staying at Hill House. She is a person with a lack of confidence so she feels she has to lie to feel accepted. Theo came through the bathroom door into Eleanor's room, she is lovely, Eleanor thought, turning to look, I wish I were lovely." This quote shows the lack of confidence she has. One of Eleanor's lies was when she told the others she lived alone in an apartment. We all know this is to be untrue because she lives with her sister and husband in a house. The reason she told this lie was because Theo lived in an apartment with a friend so she felt Theo would not accept her. It was sad that there was such lack of self esteem in Eleanor, that she could not be her own person!
I though the story was more than just paranormal things, it was a story of a lost women finding herself!
Book Review: One Of The Best Ghost Stories Ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
There's nothing like a good ghost story! And this is a superb ghost story. It is so incredibly frightening because it is so subtle and believeable. It seems like it's almost possible that something like that could happen, although I personally don't feel that ghosts are evil.
The writer builds the atmosphere slowly and quietly. Step by step, the main character Nell is seduced/terrified by Hill House. This is one of the few books I refuse to read at night, or when I'm alone. It's that scary and I'm 49 years old!
Can't really say too much about the story because I don't want to give anything away, but this is the best haunted house book I've ever read!
And the fact that not one ghost is actually SEEN merely makes the book that much more terrifying. I believe the term for this kind of book is psychological terror, which is FAR superior to blood and gore fests!
Here's a little humor about scary books and movies. Apparently, the characters in these books and movies have never read a scary book or seen a scary movie because they inevitably break what my family and I refer to as the Scary Book/Movie Rules. They are:
1. When you get the letter from the stranger inviting you to a remote old mansion in the countryside, don't go!
2. When you get to the remote village and you tell the townspeople where you are going and they warn you that the place has a reputation, go home!
3. When you get to the house and it gives you a creepy feeling, go home!
4. When you are stupid enough to go into the house, and the housekeeper seems a little sinister, and/or warns you about the house, go home!
5. When the first small, scary thing happens, don't dismiss it, GO HOME! At this point in time you still have ample time to pack your belongings and your vehicle should be fully operational and controllable by you.
6. When the incidents get progressively scarier and are not dismissable anymore and you discuss the incidents with the other guests in the house and they all mention that have also had similiar incidents, everyone should calmly, but quickly, pack their stuff and get the heck out of Dodge! It is still perfectly possible at this point in the book or movie to do this! GO HOME!
7. If you're dumb enough to stay, NEVER and I mean NEVER, go off alone! Because we all know that when you're alone is when the really terrifying stuff happens.
8. After you've gone off alone and had the stuffing scared out of you, run to your room, stuff your things into your suitcase and LEAVE!
9. The next morning when you convince yourself that it was all in your imagination and you go into the village, GO HOME! Don't worry about your stuff, BECAUSE THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU'LL BE ABLE TO JUST LEAVE!
10. After you get back to the house and you and your housemates all tell each other that you're all just being silly, get ready for several things after dark that day. What you've got here is the calm before the storm! Serious injuries and/or death, an inability to leave the house without great difficulty, vehicles not operational are all in store for you! SO GO HOME! Even if your car won't start, you can always walk. It should still be possible to do that.
11. If you are enough of an idiot to still be there after dark, write your last will and testament and prepare for death!
Special Section On Vampire Movies:
1. When you're planning on going vampire hunting, never start for the vampire's lair in late evening.
2. When heading for the vampire's lair at sunset, make sure that you have several large crosses with you and a few sharp stakes. And of course, a mallet.
3. When you realize you don't have a cross with you, at least check your supply of wooden stakes.
4. When you realize you only have one weak stake, give up and come back the next day at noon!
5. Have fun opening the vamp's coffin at sunset as she/he awakens! They'll be happy to have breakfast come to them!
Book Review: A gem...
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw the 1963 classic first, which happens to be one of my most favourite ghost movies of all time! (what a major disappointment the remake was). So as soon as I could a got a copy of this. It was an awesome novellete. I read it in one sitting, couldn't put it down! I do have to say I enjoyed the movie better...but this is a great journey as well. Book Review: What I think of this book
Summary: 4 Stars
THIS book is what Stephen King based his Rose Red TV movie on.
I found this book a BIT frightening but more suspenseful. I really liked it and feel it is a book all Sci Fi and Horror loving people should read.
IF I find any faults in it at all it is only that the movie was better as the movie had an ending and the book just seemed to close without putting a finishing touch on itself!