Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

Zachary Perdieu (University of Georgia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1959

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Since its publication in 1959,

The Haunting of Hill House

has become akin to horror royalty. Excepting only the widely anthologized short story “The Lottery”,

Hill House

remains Shirley Jackson’s most read and studied work and is considered one of the definitive haunted house stories in American fiction. It has received significant critical attention for its gothic, horror, and feminist themes. The novel’s persistent popularity with readers has led to a number of film and television adaptions, which have, in turn, resulted in new editions of the book and new readers.

Hill House

Hill House

While the novel traces the exploits of four primary characters, its true center is the titular Hill House. The book opens and closes with a “not sane” Hill House, described in an opening

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4476 words

Citation: Perdieu, Zachary. "The Haunting of Hill House". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=650, accessed 25 November 2024.]