Book Review: "A Haunting on the Hill" by Elizabeth Hand

So, we have returned to the world of The Haunting of Hill House and it's only May. I will make it my business to read the horror books, especially these that are quite rare in which they pay homage to another story. I am not going to lie, I went to the library and basically raided the horror section picking up anything that sort of looked good. I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but there was something so intense about this cover that I almost missed the subtitle in which it talks about returning to the world of Shirley Jackson. So, let's dive in...

Holly is the protagonist of this text and though she is a struggling playwright, she doesn't really want to give up on what she's doing. She secures a grant to make her play - she chooses a secluded spot to do it: Hill House. She becomes drawn to the setting which has the same aura as we experience in Shirley Jackson's novel. I actually loved the beginning of this novel because as it opens, we get this constant taste of the atmosphere. We get this odd introductory paragraph which unsettles us; this is the same as what we get in Shirley Jackson's novel. It is a promising beginning.

Her play is called "Witching Night" and she has a bunch of people (who are quite interesting personalities) to work on it with her. We have her girlfriend Nisa, a sound designer called Stevie and an actress named Amanda - amongst a couple of interspersed characters. They are largely unaware of the dangers of the house and so, for those of us who were terrified by The Haunting of Hill House when we were pre-teens (yes, I am talking about myself) we have an excellent sense of dramatic irony seeping through the narrative.

It's not long before we get to meet Hill House in all its glory. Shifting moods and temperatures, unsettling presences, unexplained noises, and other oddities pervade through the narrative and frighten its inhabitants, putting the characters on edge all the time. Reality begins to slip for some of them, similar to what happened to Eleanor in the original story, but also we get those strange dynamics that happen between the original characters happening in this book as well. Honestly, the atmosphere is very reflective and Elizabeth Hand has done a really good job of presenting Shirley Jackson's Hill House in a new light.

"Witching Night", the play within the novel, is inspired by "The Witch of Edmonton", a Jacobean drama (Note: I actually remember reading this play at university, I'm sure it's the one with the dog correct me if I'm wrong). Holly's adaptation explores themes of witchcraft and societal persecution, mirroring the group's experiences in Hill House. I liked this idea because it reminds me of the story in The Haunting of Hill House that they tell one night. They all sort of live along the same sort of themes. If someone did this to me whilst I was staying in a house that was slowly driving me insane, I would never return. You would never see me again.

As the group's stay extends, the psychological strain intensifies. Characters experience hallucinations, memory lapses, and a sense of time distortion. Holly confronts her past, including accusations of plagiarism from a previous play inspired by a woman's claim of bearing a ghost's child. I know right, it sounds as awesome as it reads. Elizabeth Hand really intensifies the psychological side of Hill House, rather than turning it into the run-of-the-mill ghost story. There is a definite attempt (and a very good one at that) to present the insanity of the original story.

The novel builds to a crescendo as the characters confront the house's true nature. Supernatural occurrences escalate, leading to a breaking point where the group's unity dissolves. Each member faces personal reckonings, forced to confront their deepest fears and regrets. As they turn against each other, accusatory glances flickering and becoming more persistent - Nisa especially seems to take on the idea that the others are conspiring against her. The way in which the climax and the ending unfold are absolutely brilliant and definitely have us thinking about the ending to the first novel. They are not the same, actually they are not even similar - but there are little mirrors dotted everywhere to reflect certain things.

All in all, I can definitely say that I loved this book. It was haunting and weird, creepy and atmospheric. If you loved The Haunting of Hill House then there is no doubt that you will love this one.