Review: The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, is one of the classics of the horror genre. Whereas some writers rely on explicit blood, gore, and violence to get across their message, Shirley Jackson evokes horror and supernatural suspense exactly by not being explicit. She creates terrifying moods and images without being hamhanded about the descriptions.

The story centers around a particular house, Hill House, that has a reputation for being haunted. A professor of paranormal psychology wants to conduct an experiment there, and so invites three other people to spend some time there with him so they can record their experiences. Though they all seem to experience strange events that cannot really be explained, one of the party, Eleanor, seems to attract the supernatural manifestations more than the others, eventually leading to a horrible disaster.