In celebration of Halloween, our most esteemed Editor-In-Chief – and in-house horror hound – Jonathan Oliver is giving you lucky people a rundown of the greatest horror novels ever to have scared the pants of the general public.
This week, he’s starting with the haunted house, and an absolute classic from Shirley Jackson…
It really is a no brainer. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is one of the definitive haunted house novels, and one of the greatest novels in American literature, period. This was a really easy choice to make as Jackson’s chilling and incisive novel has stood the test of time.
It’s a genuinely terrifying read, but on a closer examination there may not be any ghosts in the story at all. All of the tension in the novel comes from the very human inhabitants of Hill House, with Eleanor at the centre of events. Really, the horror, the building sense of dread comes from Eleanor’s inner conflicts and her personality butting up against the other (living) residents of the house. It is a story about Eleanor trying to pull away from an abusive relationship with her domineering mother, about Eleanor refusing to come to terms with her sexuality (which makes the tension between her and Theo all the more spiky), and about Eleanor using Hill House as an excuse not to face any of these realities.
The best haunted house stories happen when a haunted person (or persons in this case) meets a haunted place, and Jackson absolutely understands that the human protagonists must be at the centre of any good haunted house story. As ever, Jackson’s characters are wonderfully portrayed and the dialogue is all about what is not being said, the meaning in the breath taken before the next line.
It’s very encouraging to see Jackson coming back into vogue with the reprints of many of her titles, as she really is one of the towering greats of both the modern horror novel and American literature. Hill House is a place I will revisit over and over, drawn there by Jackson’s seductive prose, her dysfunctional characters, and the promise that whatever walks there “walks alone.”
Honourable Mentions
Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan
The House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill
The Shining by Stephen King
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
The House on Nazareth Hill by Ramsey Campbell
From Abaddon and Solaris – don’t forget, there’s currently 50% off all horror in the Rebellion shop!
Deadfall Hotel by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Waking that Kills by Stephen Gregory
Tomes of the Dead: Stronghold by Paul Finch
Nyctophobia by Christopher Fowler
The Concrete Grove by Gary McMahon
