spoOOoky halloween book report time
a love letter to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson has a history of unsettling storytelling. When her infamous short story “The Lottery” was published in 1948, The New Yorker received more letters than it ever had about a piece of fiction. Some readers were completely baffled, while others were so offended they canceled their subscriptions.
The Haunting of Hill House, Jackson’s best known novel released over a decade later, is one of my favorite books of all time and the scariest book I have ever read. I first read this book on my phone’s Kindle app during a flight from Seattle to Paris. I was not expecting to be sucked in from the first page, disassociating completely from the cramped window seat as I wove my way through Jackson’s tale of terrors. I now re-read this perfect gothic novel every October.
Without spoiling anything, please (please 🙏) allow me to use Halloween to sing the praises of this absolute treasure of a book.
first, the first paragraph
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.
Like…what? Is that not the creepiest thing you have ever read in your entire life?
then, the plot
What follows that stunner of an opener is a classic gothic tale: 4 complete strangers meet up to spend the summer in a haunted house, where things stop being polite, and people start getting real. There is Dr. Montague, who invited the party to Hill House as part of his paranormal research; Luke Sanderson, whose family owns Hill House (but does not live there); Theodora, or Theo, a queer-coded pick me gal who lives in the big city with a “roommate”; and Eleanor Vance, a 32 year old introvert who spent the last 11 years caring for her crotchety mother, now deceased. Jackson’s narrator speaks from a close third perspective, and the reader spends most of the story in Eleanor’s interior world, coming to know her intimately - but is she reliable?
Jackson trusts her readers to fill in the blanks
And leaves much to the imagination - which I LOVE, because what is scarier than my own mind? There is so much the characters can’t see; only hear, or feel. This story engages all five senses in a way that floors me each time.
the constant sense of unbalance
Seemingly every character in Hill House plays bizarre exaggerated versions of themselves, made evident in their weird interactions. It adds to the sense of uneasiness, unbalance, as you don’t know what is real and what is not. But this also feels grounded in reality - sometimes when separated from our ordinary lives, we begin to act differently. Perhaps trying on different personalities, perhaps revealing one’s true self. Perhaps both. The foursome “yes, and” themselves through the horrors of Hill House, but no one is having fun.
comic relief when you least expect it
Mrs. Montague and her bumbling assistant arrive at Hill House just as things get real spooky, their fervent belief in communicating with the spirits laughable. But their ridiculousness serves as a vehicle for one of the creepiest moments of the story; a part makes my skin crawl even on a re-read.
an ending that is unexpected but feels inevitable once it happens
I hate horror movies. I love this book. I love Shirley Jackson. RIP.
good things on the internet
Supernuclear, a substack for people like me who constantly try to convince their friends & siblings to buy land and live communally (but, like, not in a culty way), with case studies & governance structure examples 🏘️
Lia Schifitto on the importance of Third Places made me miss urban theory classes 🏙️
currently reading
the best things I have read on Palestine & Israel
Raz Segal in Jewish Currents on why what is happening in Gaza is a textbook case of genocide
Masha Gessen on The Tangled Grief of Israel’s Anti-Occupation Activists
Sarah Aziza’s doomsday diaries as a Palestinian-American with a Jewish partner
If you are only going to read one, read this - Dr. Hala Alyan asks why Palestianians must “audition for your empathy”
this week’s jam
photo of my cats
My mom buys our cats costumes every year. This year Kerouac was a troll(?) and Muir was an elephant. We make them dress up for a photo shoot as retribution for waking us up nearly every morning at 4 AM. I truly am incapable of choosing just one, so this week you get photoS of my cats.
