Mysterious houses, blood-curdling stories that have forever marked abandoned buildings – perhaps in every city, there is a place that is considered haunted. It is it, with its mysticism and hidden mystery, that attracts bold people, invites them to its interior…
Dr. Montague, an expert in occultism, is looking for evidence of paranormal phenomena. To this end, he decides to spend the summer together with three other people in a house on a hill, which is famous for its infamous appearance. A group consisting of a doctor, two women and a young heir to the residence enters into madness. At first it seems that nothing but strange noises will happen, but the house does not have a good reputation for good reason. He is waiting, and for those who decide to discover his secret, he has prepared his own plan.
Fear (…) is an abandonment of logic, a voluntary abandonment of rational role models. Either we give in, or we fight it. It is not possible to take an intermediate position.
“A haunted house on a hill” is a classic of the genre. Undoubtedly, it is a novel built on the basis of mystery and a harsh climate. Anxiety comes from the reading sheets and the reader, together with the characters, explores the secrets hidden within the walls of the dark house. Shirley Jackson has created a work with an overwhelming and gloomy atmosphere and the title house is one of the main characters. He opens his door, spreads out his strong arms, his natural deformations are able to plunge into madness and suppress his senses.
The main axis of the novel focuses on Eleanor, a somewhat infantile woman whose life so far has not always been in her mind. It is her who tells the whole story, draws the reader into her twisted mind, which, through her lability, can lead the viewer into considerable confusion. The reader becomes a witness of how the presence in an abnormal house affects the heroine. How it perceives the surrounding reality and its companions. Unfortunately, this character, as well as the other characters, may be irritated by their rudeness and simple behavior. Psychological portraits are therefore not entirely well outlined, although it is worth noting that this procedure may be purposeful in view of the fact that it is the eyes and mind of Eleanor that guide us.
The plot is not captivating. The characters spend more time on chess than on exploring the mystery of a mysterious home. In this place, the fantastic idea got blurred somewhere, and therefore, most of the stories do not happen anything special. Minor details crept in, which actually did not lead to anything. The book is signed as a novel of horror, but I believe that the name is missing because even the elements that were supposed to cause the goose skin were not well worked out or explained. Something was going on, but it wasn’t entirely clear what, why and how. It is worth noting, however, that the author leaves a lot of room for interpretation, because despite all the above-mentioned shortcomings, the book is not obvious – is what is happening at home due to supernatural powers or to the simple imagination of the characters?
It is worth noting that “A haunted house on a hill” was written in the middle of the last century. I am aware of the fact that the works were built in a slightly different way at the time, that the world around us was seen in a slightly different way, but this book is not a full-blooded horror. I would try harder to assign her the name of a psychological novel in which one can discover a kind of case study of a person falling into madness. The sense of loneliness, lack of understanding, inability to find oneself and one’s own place in the world are often destructive.
Going beyond the genre of Shirley Jackson, reading “A haunted house on a hill” can be a relaxing activity. Naturalistic descriptions, dark house and peculiar climate are the greatest advantages of reading. It may not be a book through which the eye cannot squint, but a good analysis of the tangled mind.
A simple and uncomplicated novel. It does not impress with the creation of characters or plot, however, it is distinguished by naturalistic descriptions and a peculiar atmosphere. Factory 4