#a haunting on the hill

[ethanmaldridge]

Familiar.

I recently read and loved the unsettling new novel A HAUNTING ON THE HILL by Elizabeth Hand.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Finished A Haunting On the Hill. Assorted thoughts without spoilers:

At first I wondered why Hill House was focusing on all of them equally instead of picking a single victim from the beginning the way it did with Eleanor. Then I realized that bringing it a bunch of traumatized queer theater people is basically like presenting someone with a Golden Corral buffet

My babygirl (32) is all grown up (dead for 60 years) and haunting the narrative (Hill House, only appearing as anything like a distinct figure for like 5 seconds near the end while the story focuses more on a random Merricatcore teen boy OC, in terms of past victims)

This felt like a...different take on HH, I guess? More focused on the house as an unequivocally evil entity whereas in the original, I sympathized with it a bit. HOWEVER. I recognize that the original has one POV and it's that of a woman slowly falling under the house's spell. So I don't hold the altered perspective against it- and there's something of Eleanor's mindset in the house's chosen tribute this time around, as the story unfolds

I thought Eleanor feeling at home there was as much a product of her own independent IssuesTM and outlook on the world as manipulation by the house. However, the way it was presented in the story as purely the latter, this time around, worked for me because that attitude was explored.

I don't prefer the interpretation that it's just one of Hill House's tricks myself- shocker to anyone who knows me -but I can accept it as a valid reading. If that makes sense

This is definitely a more Modern Horror take on the house, which I did not enjoy when it became jarring. No actual body horror/gore, but it leaned way more in that direction a few times than I liked

My biggest complaint: too much showing; not enough leaving things up to the reader's feverish imagination

That was one of the original's biggest strengths and what makes it, still, ranked among the scariest novels of all time. This go-around, you see EVERYTHING the characters see, and they are always within sightline of the Weirdness. No mysterious noises from the other side of a door. Nobody glancing back and shrieking at someone to not do the same. Just "there was an apparition/object moving/sound without a source and the character was in the same room and here's what it was."

Hill House bby who filled you with modern trash furniture. I will kill them and not in a fun, subsume-y way. It's realistic but Thanks I Hate It regardless (not a writing criticism)

I DO adore the genre of "the present looking back on a historical fiction story or a work that has since become historical fiction" so that aspect was fun. Reddit threads about Hill House- I bet they're legendary

Overall: A fun, fast read. Did not reach into my brain and heart and Pull Levers the way Haunting of Hill House did, but I generally enjoyed it

We all get something different out of Hill House- or it gets something different out of us

[mask131]

There's yet a haunt on the hill...

Here and here I tried to sort out the intricated chain tying up Shirley Jackson' The Haunting of Hill House with the various works inspired by it, confused with it or indirectly linked to it (Hell House, The Turn of the Screw, Rose Red, and more...). But I have one more chain that truly turns this labyrinthine construction into a true web.

As you remember, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House was released in 1959...

But there is another piece of horror about a haunted house that got released in 1959. And it has such a similar name to Jackson's novel, it is often confused with it. It is the movie "House on Haunted Hill".

House on Haunted Hill has nothing to do with Jackson's novel beyond being a haunted house horror movie where a group of people are reunited to experience ghostly activities. And yet, despite not being very well remembered, this movie played a small part in the history of cinema - because upon seeing it, Alfred Hitchock decided to do his own horror movie... And the result was Psycho.

The coincidences pile up, however, when you realize that "House on Haunted Hill" got a remake in 1999... The same year the remake of "The Haunting" got released.

Another coincidence: in 2023, a novel was published to serve as a sequel to the movie. It is Gary J. Rose's "House on Haunted Hill: Resurrection".

Which is NOT to be confused with the 2007 movie sequel of the 1999 movie, "Return to House on Haunted Hill".

But why do I say coincidence? Because in 2023, "The Haunting of Hill House" also got a novel sequel! Well it is rather an official work set in the same universe as Jackson' novel but a long time after the original story, so not a direct sequel... But is still exists: Elizabeth Hand's "A Haunting on the Hill".

I could stop here... But why not push a tiny bit more? "The House on Haunted Hill" was part of the forgotten-but-now cult era of 50s gimmick-horror-movies, born out of the mind of William Castle. For those of you who do not know, "gimmick movies" were so special because there were all sorts of gadgets, "immersive experiences" and other jumpscares INSIDE the theater, to make the audience "feel" the movie. This is what made the success of William Castle's movie... But also their quick outdating, since watching them outside of an equiped theater room robs you of half of the experience and truly lowers the movie's quality... Even though recently an attempt to recreate this experience was made. In 2012, Christopher R. Mihm released "House of Ghosts", a movie not only paying homage/heavily inspired by "House on Haunted Hill", but also using live-screening gimmcks similar to those of Castle's movie.

Of the various gimmick horror pieces of Castle, only two tend to be remembered. "House on Haunted Hill" ; and the 1960's "Thirteen Ghost" movie.

But the latter is only remembered because of its modern remake, much more well-known and talked about: 2001's Thir13en Ghosts.

AND, the production company behind this movie "Dark Castle Entertainment", was also the one behind 1999's House on Haunted Hill - in fact, both movies were supposed to be released together as a double-feature...

And if we push things even further, the same way Mike Flanagan's Haunting of Hill House actually bears a huge influence from another horror classic (The Shining), 1999's "House on Haunted Hill" also bears the strong influence and pays a heavy homage to a cult horror movie: 1990's Jacob's Ladder...

... While also reusing deleted elements from another horror movie released earlier: 1981's "Ghost Story"...

... adapted from the 1979's novel "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub...

... Itself heavily influenced by Henry James' ghost stories (remember, the author of The Turn of the Screw). In fact, Straub was called a "modern-day Henry James" due to this book.

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Quick Review: A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand Rating: 2/5

Okay, this gets points for being gay and for having an amazing audiobook production but there's really no point calling this a Haunting of Hill House sequel or companion or anything.

Literally the only shared feature is Hill House as a setting but Hand's version of Hill House is completely lacking. There's no sense of dread, there's no sense of camaraderie among the characters, and there's no aura of menace. It sucked. 

If you want to read this, don't go in expecting too many callbacks to the original and you might have a better time than I did. But if you're looking for a transformative work of Jackson's masterpiece, look elsewhere. 

[haveyoureadthishorrorbookpoll]

Have you read...

Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play, The Witch of Edmonton, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the ornate, if crumbling, gothic mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie—the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.   Despite her own hesitations, Holly’s girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house out for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house’s peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds,  disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, and time itself seems to shift.  All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, but with the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and it no longer intends to walk alone . .

submit a horror book!

[warblingandwriting]

Ugh gosh, A Haunting on the Hill. Not even a bad horror novel but I would have liked it SO MUCH MORE if it just hadn't connected itself to The Haunting of Hill House. Not only does that cause it to force an unflattering comparison, but it also doesn't even use most of the cool haunting stuff from the original book anyway.

More thoughts to come but it's a big boy because Hill House is one of my favourites.

[dramyhsturgis]

Join Me for A Haunting on the Hill

This year I've been delighted to join SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) online with Signum University. This week I'm wrapping up teaching my first module, which is on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It’s been so much fun!

Currently my March module candidate is up for vote for until 2/1. It's on A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand. I hope you'll join me!

More information on my offered modules is here.

[khelinski]

Betrayal twists love into blazing hatred, an evil that destroys even those helpless ones we love best.

Elizabeth Hand

[judgingbooksbycovers]

A Haunting on the Hill: A Novel

By Elizabeth Hand.

[dcvina-claires]

i am a tragedy enjoyer before i am human

[hangsawoman]

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

[horrorhodgepodge]

A Haunting on the Hill

“Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play, The Witch of Edmonton, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the ornate, if crumbling, gothic mansion, nearly hidden…

[marzipanandminutiae]

I do love that, in 2023, there is apparently a long waiver for prospective Hill House renters

also that it drains phone batteries and has terrible reception

(although as someone who has worked in 19th-century houses for a long time, that last one is pretty accurate- interior walls are often too thick to get a reliable signal deep in a house, unless you're near the router)

(factor in the geographical isolation of HH and it wouldn't even have to be a malevolent sentient building for service to be spotty)

(I wonder what a house museum professional would make of the place. before the place made an immediate tasty snack of them)

[classichorrorblog]

House On Haunted Hill (1959)

[sofy-tofy]

Playstation 2 Horror Games Advertising

[devilsskettle]

the haunting of hill house tv series: love is stronger than trauma! family is the most important thing, and together, we can overcome the literal and metaphorical ghosts of our past!

the haunting of hill house book: