“The Haunting of Hill House is a 1959 gothic horror novel by American author Shirley Jackson. A finalist for the National Book Award and considered one of the best literary ghost stories published during the 20th century, it has been made into two feature films and a play, and is the basis of a Netflix series. Jackson’s novel relies on terror rather than horror to elicit emotion in the reader, using complex relationships between the mysterious events in the house and the characters’ psyches.” – Wikipedia
Shirley Jackson was the breadwinner in a time when wives were supposed to be strictly homemakers. Jackson did her duty of raising the children, but she used her spare time to either write or think about writing. The very successful Haunting of Hill House was dedicated to Leonard Brown, her English teacher at Syracuse University. The supernatural horror novel was not only successful, but widely considered to be one of the best ghost stories ever written. Her notible works were The Lottery, Life Among the Savages, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House.
The Haunting of Hill house has been a TV Mini Series as well as a 1963 film known at The Haunting. Watch the official trailer on IMDB –
imdb.com/video/vi900007193/
Tagline from The Haunting – “An evil old house, the kind some people call haunted, is like an undiscovered country waiting to be explored. Hill House had stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
The atmosphere of Hill House was almost like an added weight encircling the body. It couldn’t be seen, but it could be felt. It’s that feeling of dread, and pressure that the cast of Lakewood Playhouse’s in-house version hopes to convey in their production of The Haunting of Hill House. The play runs from January 14th – February 6th. Tickets are available – tix6.centerstageticketing.com/sites/lakewoodplayhouse/
