Greetings, bookish friends! And welcome to the return of #readwithLLM (I promise last month’s post is still coming - it’s just…delayed. As is the Daisy Jones and the Six* post…but I promise they’re coming!). This month’s read, in hopes of keeping up with the Halloween vibes of October was The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. And gosh, did it live up to the eerie hype. This is my first Jackson read, but I’m sure it won’t be my last. I am SO excited to have a conversation with you about this masterclass in horror.
Here's what I envision with these posts. I've come up with a few questions that I would love your thoughts on, but I also want to open up the comments for any questions or thoughts you have. I do reserve the right to remove any comments that are offensive or hateful, because my goal is to foster a community of readers here, where folks are encouraged to share their thoughts and literary experiences.
So, without further ado, here are my questions and curiosities:
There appear to be queer undertones throughout the novel. What do these allusions symbolize? How does that affect your reading? (Check out the article by Graley Herren below for some thoughts on the LGBTQ+ themes in Jackson’s writings.)
Oft repeated throughout the novel - “journeys end in lovers meeting” - seems to shift from something wistful or ethereal to something quite sinister. What does this quote mean? And does its meaning shift as the novel progresses?
Towards the end of the novel, Eleanor is listening to Luke and Theodora and they do not mention her at all, though they are discussing the other inhabitants of the house. What does this symbolize? Has she already become a part of the house, and therefore detached from those who are simply visitors to the house?
There are multiple screen adaptations of this novel. Have you watched any of them? If yes, what are your thoughts? How do they hold up to the novel itself? If not, having now read the book, will you watch any of them? If so, which one(s)?
Did you like this novel? What was working? What wasn’t? Will you read the other works of Jackson?
Sources to Consider:
Flood, Alison. “‘Textbook Terror’: How the Haunting of Hill House Rewrote Horror’s Rules.”
The Guardian, 12 Oct. 2018,
www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/11/textbook-terror-how-the-haunting-of-hill-
house-rewrote-horrors-rules.
Herren, Graley, "Shades of Shakespeare in the Queering of Hill House" (2020). Faculty
Scholarship. 592. https://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/english_faculty/592
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