The Haunting of Hill House

            This was a truly fascinating novel by Shirley Jackson.  When you first meet the main character, Eleanor, she appears to be a seemingly normal, sane person.  However soon you begin to wonder if she is actually mentally sound.  You learn that for several years Eleanor had to take care of her ill mother without any human interaction.  She does this without complain thought due for her need to belong and be loved.  This drive to belong s what drove her to enter Hill House, where she begins to completely unravel. 

            From the time Eleanor entered the house her fate was sealed.  Her spiral down into complete insanity and constant need to be loved is what makes this story so thrilling.  There are multiple instances where you question if the house is really haunted or if it is all in Eleanor’s head.  Ultimately I believe that Hill House was simply an old house that creaks and groans like old houses do.  It was Eleanor’s need to have someone, or in this case something love to her, that brought the house alive so vividly.  What is more terrifying than the story about “The Haunting of Hill House” is that it could easily happen to any person where they are left alone for long periods of time and love is withheld from them.