Book Review: A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

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“You mortals are never far from evil — tell a lie and I guarantee you, the Devil hears it. Whatever hand you play, he bets against it. The house always wins.”

📚

A Haunting on the Hill is the first officially authorized return to Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. The novel follows struggling playwright Holly Sherwin as she receives a grant to develop her current work, Witching Night. Believing this is her opportunity to finally make it after a prior tragedy derailed her hopes, Holly comes upon Hill House while traveling and is immediately mesmerized by the imposing mansion, a remote relic perfect for rehearsing and finalizing her play.

After local real estate agent and Hill House owner Ainsley Rowan gives Holly and her girlfriend, singer/songwriter Nisa Macari, a tour, Holly rents the property for two weeks despite a menacing encounter with a neighbor and a foreboding rental agreement. Joining them are Amanda Greer, an aging actress with a dark past, and Stevie Liddell, a fellow thespian rife with personal issues. Can the group overcome their harrowing histories, individual shortcomings, and personal entanglements to come together, prioritize the play, and rekindle their careers? And what of the strange and inexplicable sights, sounds, and experiences within and around the mansion? Is the house as demented and menacing as its own appalling history suggests?

Few, if any, can hope to approach Shirley Jackson’s inimitable skill and style, and a sequel to one of the most lauded haunted house stories of all time is a tall order, to say the least. I remember feeling physically ill after I finished The Haunting of Hill House. The setting made me feel dizzy and nauseous, while the storyline and character backstories and interactions gave me an intense and sickening sense of anxiety and dread that has lingered in my mind ever since. This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, yet I did not approach it expecting a direct continuation of the previous plot line, nor a copycat style, and overall I enjoyed it — particularly the wonderful and numerous gothic elements.

However, I found myself feeling more curious about the historical tragedies and mysteries than the contemporary narrative, which felt a bit forced and ambiguous at times. And though I also found the short chapters to be a bit too short and numerous and I didn’t feel particularly attached to or invested in any of the characters, I never had a problem staying engaged or turning pages. And while I didn’t get the same sense of psychological horror as with the original, nor did I experience as intense a visceral reaction, A Haunting on the Hill was nonetheless a creepy, suspenseful, claustrophobic, and terrifying tale of isolation, desire, evil, and fallibility with some wonderful callbacks to its predecessor. 

I’m curious as to how a re-read of the first before embarking on the second would have affected my experience, as well.

❤Amanda

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