Eleanor is afraid to go into the library. The next day, the four explore the house. Ultimately, the house went to the unmarried older sister, whose companion hung herself from the turret. Montague to tell them about the history of the house: The original owner, Hugh Crain, lost three wives while living in the house, and after his death, his two daughters fought bitterly over it. Montague greet them.Īfter dinner, they gather in the parlor, which becomes their “center of operations” (45), for Dr. When they return to the house, Luke Sanderson and Dr. They are vaguely frightened by movement in nearby trees. The two women explore the grounds, though Eleanor is worried about being out after dark. She is overjoyed when Theodora arrives and takes the room next door.

Dudley, all the while telling herself that she must leave Hill House at once. She is shown to her room by the passionless caretaker Mrs.

When she arrives, she is terrified, for the house seems “vile” and “diseased” (23). Also joining them is Luke Sanderson, a roguish relative of the house’s current owner.Įleanor is nervous but excited to go to Hill House, the first independent step she’s taken as an adult. Both women have a history of demonstrating psychic power. Accompanying him are Eleanor Vance, who at 32 has spent most of her adult life caring for her late mother, and Theodora, a free-spirited artist. John Montague rents Hill House, rumored to be haunted, for three months with the hopes of gathering enough information to write a book that will bolster the study of the supernatural as well as his reputation. Because the narrative never answers the question, Hill House remains unknowable even at the novel’s end.Īt great financial cost, Dr. The novel asks whether the heroine’s psychological traumas make her of special interest to the forces of the house or whether she is causing the supernatural events herself. The supernatural incidents inside Hill House are heavily symbolic and often say as much about the characters as they do about the house. While highly regarded as a masterful ghost story in its own right, the novel is also an exploration of how the past lingers in the present and of the forces within us that determine our destinies.

Like other Gothic novels, The Haunting of Hill House takes place in an old abandoned mansion and deals with dark family histories, latent desires, suspense, fear, and the supernatural. The protagonist is Eleanor Vance, a young woman with a troubled past who, along with two other guests, is invited to spend three months in a haunted house to take part in research gathered by Dr. Published in 1959, The Haunting of Hill House, a Gothic novel by Shirley Jackson, was a 1960 finalist for the National Book Award.

The haunting hill house book