Haunting of Hill house

While most readers see Eleanor as the protagonist of the story, The Haunting of Hill House, when I was reading it I felt as if the house itself could also be seen as such. The house is a catalyst of sorts, and acts as not only the setting of the action but the instigator of much of it. From the start of the novel, the house is described as an eerie character that nobody in the town speaks about and of which little is known. This mysterious nature contributes significantly to the way the story unfolds because the reader can never be sure whether the unnatural and scary occurrences such as the writing on the wall are as a result of the house being haunted or are manifestations of Eleanor’s imagination. 

The way I interpreted it, the house itself is personified as an undeveloped character in order to augment this fantastic narrative. It does so by casting doubt in the minds of the people in the novel who visit the house, and consequently the reader, as to whether the visitors and their imaginations are the driving forces behind the strange occurrences in the house or vice versa—whether the house itself is indeed haunted and targeting and terrorizing everyone who steps foot in the door.