Rashmi bookmarks “The Haunting of Hill House”

Created by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House marks my foray into the genre of horror! It is about the experiences and relationships of four characters with some past experience in the paranormal; Dr. John Montague, who studies the science of the supernatural, Eleanor Vance, who is led by a freedom from oppressive filial responsibilities, Theodora, who is continuing on her flamboyant way through life and Luke Sanderson, who is attempting to fulfill the obligation of a host. They come to stay at Hill House, an 80-year-old mansion with its own history of suicide and violent deaths.

The first and most lasting impression this book made on me is its atmosphere. From that “first genuinely shining day of summer” to that final night of horror and bleak morning of forced separations, it was the ambience that made it such an amazing read. As Eleanor drives from her sister’s apartment to Hill House, we pass cities and villages, oleander fairylands and country restaurants, tiny cottages, dirty houses and crooked streets, greasy diners and tasteless coffees, rocky roads and unattractive hills, dead leaves and thick tree branches, to reach a clearing by the gate of Hill House… and we are ensnared forever!

Hill House was “a place of despair… with a watchfulness… arrogant and hating… Hill House would stay as it was until it was destroyed”. When Eleanor first saw it, she felt, “Hill House is vile… get away from here at once”. Earlier I said this story is about four characters; actually it is about five! The fifth - and most intense one - is the house itself, with its bizarre structure, its eerie personality and the inexplicable ‘cold spot’ at its heart.

I also liked the way character sketches are created: no trait is mentioned; personalities are conveyed just based on conversations. It is never said, Mrs. Dudley followed a strict routine - her monotonous repetitions of, “I set the dinner on the dining-room sideboard at six sharp… I have breakfast ready for you at nine” suffice to relay that character trait. It is never mentioned, Mrs. Montague was a strong lady with no time for social niceties. When she arrives at Hill House and her husband hurries out with a “How nice that you got here”, her response of “Did you ever know me not to come when I said I would?” conveys that personality!

Some recurring imageries in the story also add to this weird world - most notably, two lions guarding a house, and the blue cup of stars!

Set in this sinister world, the story is chiefly about Eleanor’s desire to create an identity for herself, her gradual descent to madness and her final identification with the House. I won’t tell you how it ends, but in any case, this book is not just about the ending; it is about a journey, and every moment and every experience of that journey.

I am not a fan of using gore to create horror. It is easy to shock the senses. Anyone can talk of putrefying limbs or slimy intestines. But if one can describe a cold dark day, in a way that the darkness creeps in slowly till the thick blackness suffocates the reader, and the cold enters every pore of his skin and touches the core of his bones… Ah! Now that’s an art! And that’s why this book was such a good read! Journeys end in lovers meeting…