According to the Acknowledgements, author Elizabeth Hand was approached by Shirley Jackson’s estate and asked to write a novel that revisited Hill House. After reading A Haunting on the Hill, I have the urge to go back and re-read the source material. It’s been years since I read the original, but I’m sure the local library has a copy.
In this modern retelling, Holly Sherwin is a struggling playwright and she finally believes she’s gotten her big shot: a $10,000 grant to develop her latest work, Witching Night. It’s story of a witch, maligned by the townspeople, and the demon dog who helps her exact revenge. I’d probably buy a ticket. This is the opportunity she has been waiting for and on a weekend trip with her partner, Nisa, she finds the perfect inspiration, the perfect place to huddle with her friends and work on the play. A foreboding Victorian mansion on a hill.
The owner tries to warn her away. She tells her that Hill House is dangerous, that people tend to project their fears and weaknesses on the house, and that no one has managed to live there very long. Still, Holly is convinced that it has exactly the right atmosphere and she insists on leasing the place for two week in late fall. She brings Nisa, who has written hauntingly beautiful murder ballads for the play, and her best friend, Stevie. Stevie will be playing the part of Tomasin, the demon dog, and he is also working on the sound design for the production. Finally, Amanda Greer, an aging actress whose career has never quite taken off, joins them to play Elizabeth Sawyer, the witch.
Almost immediately, things are strange. There appear to be large black hares roaming the woods. The house is dark, no matter how many lights they turn on. The place seems to feed on their fears an insecurities – and these are people with all kinds of secrets. Doors don‘t stay closed and rooms are not always where you thought they were. Hallways sometimes have no exit. And there are voices.
I really enjoyed this. It is appropriately spooky, the characters do all the dumb things that people in horror stories do, but you really hope they are going to be able to save themselves.
