Book Review

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

I always try to show the picture of the copy I have. I guess they did something with this on Netflix, but I really wouldn't know. I had this book on my wish list for a long time because it's old enough to be considered a classic and I'm always ready to entertain a classic. I was let down with this one.

I'm not scared by paranormal themed works because it plays to fears I no longer have, and with this being an older novel, I didn't expect it to be full of graphic descriptions of anything hideous anyway. In fact, it had the charm of an older ghost story leaving much to the imagination. The plot was promising - a group of random people come together to stay in and study a reputed haunted house. I liked the main character of Elenor. I think many women could identify with her personality; her suspicions, her fears, her desires. And there was some intense build up throughout about half the book.

But then it kind of nose dived. Nothing came of the tension being built and after the introduction of Dr. Montague's silly wife, it seemed to lose direction altogether. The story is basically about a woman who goes to stay in a haunted house, the house takes possession of her, and she kills herself without any conscious intent. The problem is that all of the characters noted that she was particularly vulnerable to the house's power, but none of them were smart enough to see what was happening to her until it was too late and then they did nothing to protect her. It made it all seem rather stupid and pointless. And it reinforces why I don't get scared or freaked out easily by this sort of thing. I guess it's supposed to produce "feels" in the reader more than a logical breakdown of the material, but this genre isn't where my "feels" lie I guess.

Book Review

In The Night Wood, by Dale Bailey
Not a bad little book. A "scary" story. I put scary in parentheses because haunted/supernatural stories play to fears I just don't have anymore. And also it's about a creepy wooded area, which is hard for someone who lives nearly surrounded by woods to be frightened of.
But it was enjoyable since the dark overtones are of a fairy tale nature. Like the old fairy tales that were gruesome and disturbing. A tale like that is the basis of the plot but it unfolds as more of a psychological thriller. A man moves himself and his strained marriage to England to research the origins of the author who had written the horrific fairy tale that had enchanted him as a child and intersected with different events throughout his life. He discovers that it's based more in real life events than he could've possibly imagined. And yet it's written in a way that leaves the reader wondering if it was real or just the haunted imagination of a man carrying a lot of guilt. Three sets of lives in the past and present are woven together against the backdrop of the morbid storybook and tied together nicely at the end.

It's a well constructed book and those who are into the genre will enjoy it a lot. I like it but I'd have to leave it at just "like" for me. Not because it's bad but because it's not my thing, so to speak. It didn't entrance me and the real-life crises that were unrelated to the spooky book were kind of a downer, although the end indicates that happiness will be found again.
Worth the time to read once.