My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirly Jackson (Novel)

It's pretty much known that Jackson's novel about a haunted house is considered by many the best haunted house story in prose.  After reading it I was shocked to find out how much natural humor is embedded in the moody novel.  There are some incredible spooky atmospheric descriptions but it's not really a ghost story at all.  In many ways this is more a character study than a story.  Hell House is the character being studied and if there is a plot it's a love affair between the house and the lonely and fragile Eleanor Lance.  I almost stopped enjoying the novel toward the end because it seemed like she didn't know what to do in the final chapters but I was delighted in the last pages with a satisfying and creepy end.  Grade: A-    
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