This was a cool take on the haunting of hill house it’s one of my favorite stories bu Shirley Jackson. Very unique and fun !

I adore Shirley Jackson's iconic work, like everyone else, so I had high (but skeptical) hopes going into this. It...did not quite live up to my expectations. I didn't gel with the writing, and I didn't feel like it fit with Jackson's tone/style. Some of the plot flourishes were engaging enough, but in the end this book was a bit disappointing and wasn't particularly memorable.

This is the first book approved by Shirley Jackson’s estate, and while it is not as scary as the original, it is definitely an eerie creepy read.

A group of people dedicated to putting on a brand new play rent out Hill House for two weeks. While they are there, the play really seems to come alive, but meanwhile mysterious and frightening events are happening in the house around them. Refusing to leave, the group finds themselves trapped in a psychological nightmare full of huge black hares, disappearing carvings, and secret doors, culminating in a truly terrifying event none of them saw coming.

This was a well done spooky season read, full of truly frightening moments and an overall sense of dread. The characters are complex and really interesting, as are their relationships to each other. The play within the story is particularly interesting as well. Definitely read the original book, but pick this one up as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. I am not being compensated for this review.

I unfortunately had to cease my reading of this at 32% in. I liked the LGBTQ+ inclusion and felt it stayed true to its source content—in good ways and bad (for me personally). I enjoyed the little spooky moments like with the territorial neighbor and the hare and the loss of time stuff, but just as I did with Jackson's Hill House, I found I didn't come to care for any of the characters at all. This is despite all the backstory up to the point I stopped reading. I understand that may be the point, but coupled with a very sloggy, info dump of the beginning almost-half, it just didn't click with me as other books with unlikable characters I've read have.

There’s nothing that tickles my spooky self more than a good haunted house horror. Elizabeth Hand boldly ventures into the almost untouchable territory of Shirley Jackson’s horror classic, The Haunting of Hill House in this return to the world of Hill House in A Haunting on the Hill.

Struggling playwright Holly Sherwin convinces a few of her friends to join her on a small getaway to Hill House (an oversized gothic mansion she randomly stumbled upon while vacationing with her girlfriend). Holly hopes the retreat into isolation with her fellow contributors will push her to finally finish her latest play. It has a very Mary Shelley and friends summer at Polidori vibe to it. Despite warnings from others to stay away from the cursed mansion, Holly and her friends go through with the rental. As with Jackson’s original story, things soon take a trippy turn as each guest falls prey to the eerie whims of the mansion.

Hand truly honors Jackson’s work as the feel of this book aligns seamlessly with the original. This is a true gothic horror with a purposefully slow and suspenseful build, a strong dose of the “weird,” paranormal hauntings, a dilapidated old mansion, foreboding weather and characters descending into madness. A Haunting on the Hill is less about the gore and guts of horror and more about the suspense and dread. In true horror fashion, readers can assume going into this reading this book that things won’t end well for the characters—especially if you are familiar with the OG. This makes the reading experience even more nail-biting as you know things are slowly progressing to some kind of tragedy.

I want to note that part of the reason I loved this book so much was the audio. Carol Monda nailed the narration with her raspy and haunting voice and she perfectly embodied each of the characters. I absolutely loved how the audio was produced in a way to reflect the old radio shows that would air—with sound effects of doors shutting, the wind rustling trees and other such effects. It was such an experience and one of my favorite audiobooks I’ve recently read.

A Haunting on the Hill is the perfect spooky season read especially for fans of gothic horror and haunted house settings. Eerie and suspenseful, this is a classic example of the less is sometimes more type writing, as it frightened me more than some of the slasher horrors I’ve recently read.

When I got approved to read an e-ARC of the *first-ever authorized novel to return to Hill House,* I was STOKED. I loved the show adaptations on Netflix and enjoyed reading the original book last year, so I went into this with the excitement of a true fangirl.

This story takes place in present day, decades after the original, but Hill House, of course, has been unchanged and patiently waiting for its newest guests. Playwright Holly and her girlfriend, best friend, and castmate rent Hill House for an extended stay as a gothic backdrop to develop and rehearse for their upcoming play.

I’m always skeptical of how writers will orchestrate reviving an older story in modern times; will they lazily carbon copy the original plot (cough The Force Awakens cough), or will it be so modern that it cheapens the original? I’m happy to report that this book doesn’t fall into either of those categories. It’s fresh and with the times but also honors the original spirit of Hill House. Hand aptly portrayed the sense of terror and despair from the OG, and I felt so much unease at some points that I had to stop reading at night 👀

I may have loved this purely because of my enduring love for the Hill House universe, or because gothic thrillers with creepy mansions as a sort of character are my *jam,* but regardless, I highly recommend picking this up this season!

It pains me to say this but I ended up DNFING this book at 35%. I was so disappointed because I was really looking forward to this book!😭 but I just couldn't get into it and I have too many hopefuls for my favorite month of the year to waste on a book I wasn't enjoying. I couldn't connect to the writing style or the characters (nisa in particular was annoying) and the beginning was so incredibly slow! I just didn't care at all about the play they were rehearsing. I was a bit intrigued by the rabbits (you will know what I mean if you read the book) and I almost pushed through for that reason, but I just can't afford a reading slump right now.

That being said, I do think it will work for other people even though it didn't work for me, so if you are interested in haunted house stories, and Haunting of Hill House in particular, I think you could potentially like this book. It had some fun nods to the original story.

"Most houses sleep, and nearly all of them dream . . . Hill House neither sleeps nor dreams. Hill House watches. Hill House waits."

An ode to 'The Haunting of Hill House.' Absolutely loved it. Hit the nail on the nose in so many ways. The slow pace was true to the nature of the beast--the strange and spooky house. And the way in which it was told offered a bit of "only you and I really know" between character and reader which added a unique and chilling element.

Excellent gothic atmospheric read for Halloween.

A fun return to hill house! The author does a great job in both keeping the mystery established by Shirley Jackson (the strangeness is part of the fun!) and also establishing their own voice. They could have attempted to write as she did, but it would not have been the same. The changing of perspectives was especially eerie and a change of pace. Fans of the original certainly give this a try, the Easter Eggs are great!

I’m not familiar with Shirley Jackson’s story so this was a little over my head. I didn’t connect a lot with the writing and I’m not a huge horror reader so keep that in mind when seeing my review. It was interesting and atmospheric, but I didn’t love it! I think it’s a great book for those that are well versed in the horror genre though!

WOW! What a book! Loved this one. Perfect for spooky season and for fans of haunted houses. Love the nostalgia and the ode to the original Haunting of Hill House.
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This one is set in present day, where a playwright, his girlfriend and two actors travel to Hill House so they can perfect their screenplay. Upon entering the house, strange things begin to happen. I was fascinated by this one from the beginning. Felt it was a slow burn but the pacing was perfect. Will definitely be recommending this one to everyone this Fall.
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Thank you Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Haunting on the Hill is already legendary and incredible because it is one of the only works that had full blessing from the estate of Shirley Jackson to be welcomed in The Haunting of Hill House lore so for that Elizabeth Hand must be applauded. I really wanted to like this more than I did but horror novels can be hugely hit/miss for me and I think this one leaned too far on the supernatural. I still enjoyed the opportunity to read this ARC just wasn't my favorite!

A HAUNTING ON THE HILL is an eerie and worthy continuing story of Shirley Jackson's notorious Hill House, bringing in new occupants and bringing in new building terrors to torment them with. I have a deep love for THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, and I felt that Elizabeth Hand did a really good job of capturing the original spirit while also exploring more themes that were perhaps hinted at in the original, but never really expanded upon for various reasons. I enjoyed some of the parallels between the original story and this one, and I really enjoyed the way that there were some subtle moments that harkened back to the original text without spending so much time that it felt like it was relying too much on it.

It's creepy but satisfying to be back in Hill House. The things that walk there still walk alone, and it's very gratifying to explore that all the more.

I went into this with zero expectations because to be totally honest, I didn't understand The Haunting of Hill House all that well. I was confused most of the time and I can't even blame it on reading it when I was younger--I read it last year! A Haunting on the Hill was almost too scary for me. I'm not usually a horror reader but I do love a haunted house story. I read this on my Kindle but if I had read it as a physical book, I might have pulled a Joey Tribbiani. I had to stop reading it at night and only read it in the mornings after it gave me nightmares. I have read another book by Elizabeth Hand though and her writing was very impressive. She did an amazing job and if you love a scary story, this is the perfect one to kick off the season.

Elizabeth Hand courted a difficult task: write a story set in Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. Not a retelling of The Haunting of Hill House, but a story set in the same literary universe, if you will. Jackson’s novel is notoriously ambiguous about the actual hauntings in Hill House, though the place most definitely has a malicious personality. Hand had to make some choices about what exactly is going on, and choices she made.

I read Hand’s Wylding Hall back in 2020 and enjoyed it well enough. Like that novel, A Haunting on the Hill involves performers. Hill House is rented by a Holly, a playwright, to rehearse her play The Witching Hour. She’s joined by her girlfriend Nisa (a singer), their friend Stevie (an actor and sound designer), and aging actress Amanda. All four of these characters provide grist for Hill House ad their personal hauntings reflect lack of confidence, jealousy, paranoia, and anxiety. Hand also focuses on more outward aspects of Hill House. It’s owners and protectors (and possibly victims as well) are a trio of women who may or may not be witches. A Haunting on the Hill has many Shirley Jackson Easter eggs, calling to mind other stories like “The Summer People” and The Sundial.

It’s all lovingly wrought. Elizabeth Hand is a good author. The story is compelling though it ultimately doesn’t quite pack the punch of Jackson’s original. Still, worthy reading material for your spooky season.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I really liked this addition to the Hill House world! It had a slow start (and overall pace) with us actually arriving to the house about 25% into the book, but I really enjoyed the journey once we were there. I didn't love the main characters at first (lots of character flaws, but I guess it's the same with real people!), but I grew to really like them as the story progressed, and therefor became much more interested in what happened to them as the house sunk it's teeth into them. I would have liked a slightly faster pace, as I found my mind wandering, but overall it was a really good read, that I will be recommending to readers that enjoyed the original. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

This book was not for me, and I ended up not finishing it around 60%.

I was initially very excited when I heard this was the first authorized novel to return to Shirley Jackson's Hill House because I was such a fan of the original. That excitement fell to disappointment because nothing happened. I almost quit around 30% for that very reason but decided to keep going.

At first, I was put off by the main character Holly because she just kind of ignored all the red flags of seeing a six-foot rabbit and losing time while at the house, but it wasn't addressed that she was ignoring it. I found it to just be odd.

I couldn't get a feel for any of the character's personalities, and I found them all to be unlikable.

I stopped reading at 60% when the absolute scariest thing to happen was a woodland creature falling out of the chimney and startling all the characters.

Overall, I would have liked to have seen more creepiness or scary things happening. It dragged on too long with nothing happening to hold my attention.

💥 Pub Date: 10/3/2023

⭐⭐.5/5

• supernatural fiction
• creepy house setting

First off, this cover is amazing! I also loved the idea of a nod to the Shirley Jackson classic. This just fell short for me. It was slow, the characters annoyed me, and I was very close to DNF'ing.

🗣️ Thank you to netgalley and Mulholland Books/Hachette for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Unfortunately, this fell a little short for me. I am a huge fan of the original Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and while this book did do a few things right, the characters really lost me. I felt that it was really difficult to be emotionally invested with the characters and overall they just came off annoying. I struggle with books where the main conflict is miscommunication and this book could have been solved if they just talked to each other. I did appreciate the overall atmosphere and vibe of this book and enjoyed being in the setting but the characters lost me.

So. I am a HUGE Shirley Jackson fan (year round but *especially* in spooky season) so the chance to return to Hill House for another round? YES PLEASE!!! *insert heart eyes emoji here*

Though, to be honest, I’m always hesitant to pick up sequels by different authors. So if this had been written by anyone other than Elizabeth Hand, I probably would’ve passed on it. But I’ve already read and loved her previously and know she does good work so I knew this would be in excellent hands! And it definitely did not disappoint!

I loved every second of this. I loved seeing this old house through modern eyes. This still had the ~vibes of Jackson but brought this story into a modern era, much like Flanagan’s wonderful miniseries. If you’re a fan of Hill House, this is a MUST read!!!

I also did this one on audio and the narrator was fantastic! But I definitely think I missed some of the scares (probably while it was fighting the GPS) so I’ll definitely be picking up a print copy and giving this a reread at some point in the future! I loved the audio but I think that will be an even better reading experience for me!

Though. Side note with the audio: while I appreciate what all the extra background noises were trying to do and the ~ambience they were trying to add, it REALLY didn't work while driving. A couple of them were so unexpected and scared me so bad I almost ran off the road?? (Plus one of those drives was at night so that was fun.) And some noises were so subtle, I didn't realize they were part of the audiobook and thought there was something wrong with the car. So, personally, I could've done without that. I get that it was trying to add creepy vibes to this story but for me, a person who only listens to audiobooks while driving, it was just too much.

Anyway. Overall, I LOVED this! So, so wonderful!!! If you’re looking for a little gothic number for spooky season, pick this up!!! You don’t have to have read Jackson’s original story to read this. It has just enough subtle nods to the original to catch you up to speed. All in all, this is INCREDIBLY well done! I’m so glad Hand had the opportunity to take us back to Hill House (and absolutely crushed it!)

Thank you so much to Novel Suspects, Mulholland Books, NetGalley & Libro.fm for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!