The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a classic gothic ghost story. The book, which has been the subject of several films and television series has achieved a high level of fame in modern popular culture. I thought that this book was both spooky, atmospheric and fun. It was first published in 1959.

The premise of the story centers upon the house of the title, which is located somewhere in the rural America. Dr. John Montague is a professor who attempts to conduct a research project at the house. Most of the people he tries to recruit to stay at the house, as part of the project, refuse. Only two women, Eleanor Vance and Theodora agree. Luke Sanderson, an heir to the house, sent by the property owners to keep an eye on the doings, also joins the group. Later on, Dr. Montague’s wife as well as Arthur, a family friend, join the group. 

Eleanor is the protagonist of the book. Early on we learn that she has spent the last decade in isolation and increasing misery taking care of her invalid mother. Since her mother’s death, she has been living in the shadow of her repressive sister and brother -in - law. Eleanor’s low self - esteem is a factor throughout the novel. Eleanor sees her foray to Hill House as an escape.

Theodora is young, attractive, bohemian person who is a little self – centered, fun and humorous. Both women have been chosen by Montague because they have previously displayed psychic abilities. Luke is a likable rogue who is not above petty theft to feed a gambling habit. 

Later, the group is joined by the Dr. John Montague’s silly and pretentious wife as well as the self - serious but equally pretentious friend Arthur. All the characters, who aside from Eleanor, are not very complex, but are fun to read about. 

As the days go by, all sorts of eerie things begin to happen. Something bangs on the walls at night, strange voices are heard. Some of the former, long decreased residents are seen having a picnic.

All this time, Eleanor is psychologically drawn closer and closer to the force that pervades the house. The story plays out as the old tale of a repressed person waking up and finding themselves in a better place. However, since it is the sinister Hill House is the source of Eleanor’s escape, the old story gets twisted. It is the first time the Eleanor is away from her repressive relatives. She enjoys her freedom and the adventure that she has embarked upon. She initially likes and gets along with the other guests especially Theodora. She observes,

It is my second morning in Hill House, and I am unbelievably happy. Journeys end in lovers meeting; I have spent an all but sleepless night, I have told lies and made a fool of myself, and the very air tastes like wine. I have been frightened half out of my foolish wits, but I have somehow earned this joy; I have been waiting for it for so long. Abandoning a lifelong belief that to name happiness is to dissipate it, she smiled at herself in the mirror and told herself silently, You are happy, Eleanor, you have finally been given a part of your measure of happiness. Looking away from her own face in the mirror, she thought blindly, Journeys end in lovers meeting, lovers meeting. 

The Shakespeare line from Twelfth Night, Journeys end in lovers meeting is often repeated by Eleanor. This line intertwines itself with the book’s plot and theme.

As time goes by Eleanor begins to experience hallucinations. She also begins to have paranoid feelings about the other characters making fun of her or treating her like an outcast. The portrait of Eleanor’s mental deterioration is strong as Jackson portrays her chaotic thoughts and feelings. At times Eleanor is resentful of the other characters, at other times she has warm feelings and is clingy towards them. I think that this is reflective of a person who is experiencing a degree of mental instability. She is a very interesting character to read about. 

In addition to lively characters, Jackson’s description of scary scenes is near brilliant. At one point Eleanor and most of the main characters are trapped in a room when the knocking becomes a massive pounding that seems to be bringing the entire house down.

in the churning darkness where she fell endlessly nothing was real except her own hands white around the bedpost. She could see them, very small, and see them tighten when the bed rocked and the wall leaned forward and the door turned sideways far away. Somewhere there was a great, shaking crash as some huge thing came headlong; it must be the tower, Eleanor thought, and I supposed it would stand for years; we are lost, lost; the house is destroying itself. She heard the laughter over all, coming thin and lunatic, rising in its little crazy tune, and thought, 

I love the above quotation. It seems to me that Jackson has captured the feeling that the house may really be collapsing. This all ties in with Eleanor’s melding in with the house and her mental degeneration. Shortly after the above occurs she thinks, 

No; it is over for me. It is too much, she thought, I will relinquish my possession of this self of mine, abdicate, give over willingly what I never wanted at all; whatever it wants of me it can have.

This story has been filmed several times. I think that I have seen all of the versions. I thought that the 1963 film version was excellent. I also liked the recent Netflix television series. However, that version greatly deviated from the book. There was also a 1999 film that I thought was not up to the other versions

I thought that is this novel was enjoyable. It has characters that are fun to read about. Eleanor’s development was also very well done. It is spooky, and delves into psychology in interesting ways. I have read limited amount of horror in my life. This was one of the best works in the genre that I have read.  This novel has a reputation of being a classic ghost story. I think that it warrants its reputation.

Thomas Ligotti - Sect of the Idiot

This post is part of the RIP or Readers Imbibing Peril seasonal reading event.

Having recently read Thomas Ligotti’s The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror and finding his thinking to be interesting but flawed, I decided to delve into the author’s fiction. Ligotti is primarily a short story writer. Some of his stories can be classified as falling within the realm of horror, but some can be better described by what Ligotti himself terms to as “Weird Tales.” I have now read a fair sampling of his stories pulled from various collections found at my local library. I attempted to read the stories that his fans and critics have identified as his best works as well as those which have intriguing descriptions or titles.

Ligotti’s prose paints an extremely moody and menacing atmosphere. He is, as he admits, very influenced by the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft in tone, plot and themes.  I noticed that the tales written later in the author’s career deviate from the Lovecraft influence, at least in plot, as compared to the earlier works.  While some of the stories have a very cohesive and logical plot, others are dreamlike and involve events that do not really fit together.

The author’s view of the universe is grim indeed. Though not a proponent of his worldview, see my commentary here, this dark, pernicious outlook helps to generate terrific and dark yarns. While the endpoint of the author’s belief system is almost laughably pessimistic, he raises some thought provoking issues and themes in regard to the meaning of existence. Furthermore, if one does not take the over the top gloominess of the fiction too seriously, this gloominess can be ironically entertaining and even fun in a creepy sort of way. These tales, at times, can be disturbing.  Though Ligotti rarely describes actual terrible events, he often implies that terrible things have, or will, occur.

 Almost without exception, various facets of the author’s worldview as expressed in The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror are conveyed in his fiction. This philosophy, either symbolically through the philosophical musings of various characters, or through downright descriptions of the universe, is constantly on display. Again and again we are reminded of humanity’s insignificance, that our perception of ourselves is completely wrong and that we are much less than we think we are. Ligotti has expressed in his essays a deterministic view of human behavior. He believes that free will and the concept of “self” are illusions.   He sees people as being “puppets” of nature. Thus puppets, dolls, mannequins, etc. often reoccur in his tales.  Most importantly, his stories take place in a universe that is itself malevolent. Dark forces are always lurking underneath the visible world. He writes few stories that can be described as “good versus evil.” Instead, he pits hapless and helpless people against a pernicious cosmos.

"The Sect of the Idiot" is a striking and imaginative tale that illustrates much of Ligotti’s thinking.  The unnamed narrator is the inhabitant of an unnamed phantasmagoric city. The protagonist initially dreams of a group of strange, hideously inhuman, robed figures who hold power in the city. Eventually, evidence is discovered, revealing that the group is real and that it exerts godlike powers over the fate of all humanity.

The narrator expresses the trivial nature of himself, and by implication of humanity, in comparison to these beings,

“I was no more than an irrelevant parcel of living tissue caught in a place I should not be, threatened with being snared in some great dredging net of doom, an incidental shred of flesh pulled out of its element of light and into an icy blackness. In the dream nothing supported my existence, which I felt at any moment might be horribly altered or simply. . .ended. In the profoundest meaning of the expression, my life was of no matter.”

Later, our narrator comes to realize that there is a higher force than these grotesque beings.  It turns out that, just like humanity, these creatures are in denial as to the truth behind creation. The truth is that there is chaos and meaningless underlying it all, chaos and meaningless that Ligotti equates with idiocy,

“these hooded freaks who were themselves among the hypnotized. For there was a power superseding theirs, a power which they served and from which they merely emanated, something which was beyond the universal hypothesis by virtue of its very mindlessness, its awesome idiocy.”

Ultimately, the Universe is a dark and pointless place that is very bad for people. Personal insanity is almost a logical endpoint to it all. The narrator eventually concludes,

“Life is the nightmare that leaves its mark upon you in order to prove that it is, in fact, real. And to suffer a solitary madness seems the joy of paradise when compared to the extraordinary condition in which one’s own madness mealy echoes that of the world outside. I have been lured away by dreams, all is nonsense now.”

Gnostic influence can be found all over Ligotti’s works. He makes several direct mentions to Gnosticism in both his fiction and his non–fiction essays. The Gnostic belief that the creator of our Universe was some kind of imposter who did something very wrong is reflected here. These beings are cold and maleficent deities.  They exhibit the attributes of an imposter God, as portrayed by their subordinate position to the greater force.  Most Gnostic thought systems, however, acknowledge a positive spiritual power that takes precedence over reality. Here, the spiritual force is mindless and vile. This story takes place in a creation that is very, very wrong.

A perusal of online opinions indicates that many folks find Ligotti to be depressing. As I alluded to earlier, I do not concur. Paradoxically, the imaginary nasty universe that the author creates, for me, is at times an amusing and intellectually stimulating counterpoint to reality. In addition, even if one does not buy completely into the negativity, these tales are thought provoking.   I find if one likes dark and odd stories, set in dark and odd universe, these stories are highly recommended.

Just a note about one story, “The Frolic,” where Ligotti goes way beyond his usual level of “bad stuff going on.”  This one is in no way fun and it is very disturbing. As it is the first story in some collections, I warn the faint at heart to consider staying away and others from judging the author on this tale alone. Though it still implies rather then describes what actually happens, in terms in intensity and ugliness, it is really not like most of the author’s other works.