"Journeys end in lovers meeting." This is a refrain oft repeated by Eleanor Vance in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, a story rich in psychological insight to say nothing of disturbing occurrences in what has to be one of the best haunted house stories that I've come across yet. Be forewarned, however, if what you're after is a tale of horror with a generous helping of blood and gore you might want to take a pass on this one. Shirley Jackson's story is far subtler than that. There are all sorts of repressed emotions swimming below the surface in this story and evil lurks behind closed doors just waiting for the right visitor to come along and stir things up.
Hill House is chosen by Dr. John Montague, an anthropologist who dabbles in the paranormal, as a potential sight ripe for ghostly and other supernatural happenings to occur, which he plans to make a study of. To help things along he sends out invitations to individuals with psychic abilities that he's culled from trade journals. He hopes they'll act as a sort of lightening rod to channel the house's energy, though he isn't quite so explicit in his letters.
He receives only two replies. Theodora sees this little summer escape as a way to distance herself from her roommate with whom she's quarreled. Theodora is an interior designer, very modern and self assured. Eleanor Vance is her opposite. She comes to Hill House with the idea that her life, at age 32, is finally about to begin. Sensitive and introverted Eleanor has spent the last decade caring for her sickly mother who showed little appreciation for her efforts. They're joined by Luke Sanderson, the nephew of the house's owner. Ostensibly there to guard the family silver and other possessions, in reality it's to keep him out of trouble. A playboy who's usually up to no good, he acts as a sort of balance between reality and the otherwordly.
Eleanor is the first to arrive at Hill House, a suitably sinister choice to tap into the ghostly realm. Her first thought is to simply turn around and drive away, but she's ready for adventure and talks herself into staying. "But this is what I came so far to find, she told herself; I can't go back." Looking at the house she thinks only how vile it seems.
"No human eye can isolate the unhappy coincidence of line and place which suggests evil in the face of a house, and yet somehow a maniac juxtaposition, a badly turned angle, some chance meeting of roof and sky, turned Hill House into a place of despair, more frightening because the face of Hill House seemed awake, with watchfulness from the blank windows and a touch of glee in the eyebrow of a cornice. Almost any house, caught unexpectedly or at an angle, can turn a deeply humorous look on a watching person; even a mischievous little chimney or a dormer like a dimple, can catch up a beholder with a sense of fellowship; but a house arrogant and hating, never off guard, can only be evil. This house, which seemed somehow to have formed itself, flying together into its own powerful pattern under the hands of its builders, fitting itself into its own construction of lines and angles, reared its great head back against the sky without concession to humanity. It was a house without kindness, never meant to be lived in, not a fit place for people of for love or for hope. Exorcism cannot alter the countenance of a house; Hill House would stay as it was until it was destroyed."
The house has a history of unhappiness, not surprising considering the number of tragedies to befall the owners including mysterious deaths and suicides. It's an odd construction, almost like the builders hurriedly finished it so they could get away. Doors won't stay open, floors are uneven and no room is a perfect dimension. It's a freakish oddity. Hill House wastes no time making itself heard and felt. There are strange whisperings and laughter, something pressing on the walls and doors trying to get in, and even more eerily a ghostly dog racing through the hallways.
"Journeys end in lovers meeting." The house takes a particular liking to Eleanor. For so long her emotions have been repressed, she's lived in her own fantasy world and the house responds to her and fills some void in her life. HELP ELEANOR COME HOME appears written on the wall and Theodora's room is splashed in blood. Is Eleanor the author of these strange happenings or is she the house's innocent victim. It's hard to know whether she is willing these things to happen or simply being drawn in and engulfed.
I think to really appreciate Shirley Jackson's genius this is a story that deserves to be read more than once. There's a wonderful ambiguity to the story and a complexity to the characters both internally and how they relate to each other. The story made me think of a prism--each way you turn it a new angle appears, a new way of thinking about it and seeing it. Last year I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and I would be hard pressed to say which I like better. At the moment I'm leaning towards Hill House. Shirley Jackson was a talented writer, whose work I want to explore still more.