Review: The Haunting of Hill House

Author: Shirley Jackson
Started reading: November 2nd 2018
Finished the book: November 16th 2018
Pages: 182
Genres: Horror, Classics
Published: October 16th 1959
Source: Kindle 
Goodreads score: 3.88
My score:

Synopsis
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

My thoughts

Thanks to Arjen for taking me on this trip through Hill House. Everybody was raving about the series and since there is a Dutch actor in the series, I've heard everything about it. I saw the trailer and it was SO creepy... But to be honest; The series is just based on the house and the story is nothing like it. There was 1 creepy part in this book and that was it, for me.

Pros

• Creepy part: The creepy part in this book was very creepy. After that, I was scared to read the book before going to bed or to even read it IN bed. I was kinda disappointed, because I feel that it was just one little scary chapter and nothing more. I would've loved for the creepy part to be build out and make the story bigger and I would've loved to read more of it.
• Fast paced: It's a short book with a lot going on and I love how fast paced it is. The conversations are fast paced and the days in this house are flying by. I could've easily read another 100 pages in this book without being bored.
• Beautifully described: I love how I can totally picture Hill House and its surroundings right now. The author did a really good job in describing every part of this house, including the sounds, the smells and the temperature!

Cons

• Characters: I did not like any of the characters. They were mean or flat or just didn't have enough personality for me. You might feel awful for people that they have to stay in a Haunted House, but now I didn't mind, because I didn't like them.
• Short: Like I just said; I could easily read another 100 pages in this book without being bored. The story was interesting and I would've liked the story to be longer.
• Wanted more: After that one creepy part I was SO READY for more scary things and after that the story just fell flat for me. It felt rushed after that one scary night and I felt that it didn't really get to a GREAT ending. I wasn't scared anymore and I would've loved to end the story in a scary setting.

Overall

I don't know if it's very wise to read this book if you're a fan of the series. If you're able to step into this book blanco and not be biased by the series, you'll be fine. The little scary chapter in this book is GREAT and had me longing for more. Besides that, I liked the way the author described every little part of the house, but I was also a bit disappointed...

Memorable quotes from this book

"All I could think of when I got a look at the place from the outside was what fun it would be to stand out there and watch it burn down."

Thanks for reading!

I'd love to talk books, so let me know what you think about this book/review.