I was really looking forward to this one and it just did not hit the mark for me. It took me forever to get through its very slow setting. I could not connect with any of the characters and there was no real build up. I almost did not finish, but i pushed through.

October has finally arrived, bringing along a fresh collection of horror novels. While I'm a horror enthusiast all year round, there's an undeniable allure to the genre during this month. There's something about the cool breeze wafting through open windows, a hefty mug of steaming coffee, and a spine-chilling read that I simply can't resist. Kicking off my month of eerie reads is a gift from my friends at Mulholland Books. A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand draws inspiration from Shirley Jackson's iconic The Haunting of Hill House. It not only expands upon the legacy of Jackson's classic but also transports its terror into the modern day.

Holly Sherwin, a struggling playwright, appears to have reconciled herself to her status as a washed-up has-been, spending her days as a teacher. Decades have passed since she last experienced the fulfillment of meaningful work, and even her most successful play was borrowed from another's story. However, a glimmer of inspiration emerges within Holly when she stumbles upon the text of an ancient play dating back centuries that captures her imagination. Although the archaic writing is unsuitable for modern times, the themes of witchcraft and hauntings that saturate its pages resonate with her creative spirit. Fueled by a newfound passion she hasn't felt in years, Holly embarks on a mission to resurrect this age-old play and breathe fresh life into it.

Holly's efforts bear fruit when she secures a $10,000 grant to dedicate herself fully to her new project. During a trip upstate, she stumbles upon Hill House, an imposing and decrepit gothic mansion hidden away in a remote village. The mansion's grandeur and eerie ambiance captivate Holly instantly, and the sheer size of the building makes it the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play. Despite her own reservations, Holly persuades her girlfriend, Nisa, to join her in renting the house for a month. Soon, a troupe of actors, each bearing their own ghosts and baggage, arrives to participate. As they settle into the mansion, its peculiarities begin to manifest. Strange creatures stalk the grounds, unsettling sounds reverberate through the halls, and time itself appears to warp and shift. Before long, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds with each other and in a strange and eerie battle against the house itself.

I haven't had the opportunity to read Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, so I can't provide a direct comparison with this new interpretation. Nevertheless, as an ardent horror reader, I can offer my perspective on the novel as a standalone work. Elizabeth Hand skillfully establishes the atmosphere for her terrifying tale, immersing the initial passages in an unsettling ambiance that conveys a palpable sense of impending dread. There's a meta aspect to the narrative as the protagonist endeavors to modernize a classic play, mirroring the author's attempt to provide a fresh perspective on a renowned novel. By anchoring the novel's foundation in a classic legend, even one of fiction, Hand imbues the story with a historical backdrop that heightens the impact of the chilling events that unfold.

I found it somewhat challenging to connect with the characters, particularly because none of them came across as particularly virtuous. Each character seemed driven by their own self-serving motives. Despite this, the titular hauntings that intensified as the story progressed provided a compelling driver, keeping me eagerly turning the pages. All told A Haunting on the Hill marks a chilling initiation to what promises to be a delightfully terrifying month of reading.

I enjoyed the familiar aspects as well as the modern components worked into this one. The story respected the art of the original when it comes to Hill House itself, but is still its own original story. I did find the playwrite/ theater aspect to be tedious as it's a big element of the story and I am not very into that, so I felt my attention wane at those moments and the story fell a bit flat of my expectations. It wasn't bad at all, just not spectacular either.

The writing style reminds me a little of T Kingfisher. It's a bit silly at times, but has some creepy descriptions. I think it lacked the dark haunting atmosphere that Shirley Jackson did so well, but I recognize it's hard to replicate that.

If you're a fan of the original, and looking for a haunted house book this spooky season this is worth a try and see how it works for you!

This was the perfect kind of horror read for me! I love anything haunted house-like and what better place to revisit than Hill House itself?!

Holly comes across Hill House by accident and is more than intrigued by it. What better place to write the play she has been working on, one that will really put her on the map? She rents the house for a few weeks, against the warning of the owner, and brings her girlfriend and a couple of others, all parts in her play, believing this to be the perfect place to rehearse and really get into the mindset of the play, a haunting tale itself.

What I really loved about this was that we know the reputation of Hill House, but they don’t. The owner does and so does the rest of the town, including one woman who persistently warns them away from the old house… but Holly and her friends become so embroiled in what the house is doing to them that they refuse to leave.

You get these four very different people, all with their own baggage, so of course their mental states, individually and collectively begin to deteriorate. Lines are crossed, and madness is just on the edge. I found this to be such an intriguing story, perfect for haunting type horror fans and fans of that classic horror feel.

Ugh, DNF. This book should have been perfect for me…after all, I love The Haunting of Hill House and Shirley Jackson. Unfortunately I hated all the characters and the writing. I even hated the plot, surprisingly. It just didn’t do it for me, unfortunately, and I stopped at 20% in.

I received an advanced copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

Holly takes a leap of faith and rents an abandoned manor for her up and coming play. Her friends and an aging stage star come to stay at the house on the hill and all seems to be going well...at first.

It's not long before small things go wrong and the actors begin to fear for their lives. The first licensed retelling of the very famous Hill House story, this is a great gothic tale.

#Mulhollandbooks #AHauntingonthehill #ElizabethHand

AHHHHH! This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 because any media concerning Shirley Jackson's excellent Hill House has to be devoured and digested. I am so thankful to Libro.Fm and Hachette Audio for the chance to listen to the wonderfully produced and performed audiobook and Mulholland, Netgalley, Novel Suspects, and Elizabeth Hand for digital access before October 3, 2023.

Holly Sherwin has been struggling to produce the perfect play for years now, and it's only until she comes across Hill House and its splendor that redirects her desire to push through for this play. Renting the house for the duration of their production, Holly, her songwriter GF, and the rest of their crew lodge in Hill House for a stay like no other.

It's not long before Holly and her team experience weird happenings, like memory loss, strange voices and sounds, and even dangerous plights as they're tunneled into the mysterious labyrinth that is Hill House, and let's not forget about the treacherous snowstorm that is keeping them from fleeing.

It pains me to say that this book was not for me. It was a bit too slow for my liking and had a lot of inner dialogue going on. But, the writing itself and the inspiration it took from Shirley Jackson' novel was incredible. She captured that feeling and atmosphere to perfection. I've always loved the original story overall, just not the book and writing style so don't let this make you go astray simply because I didn't like this one. This writer has extreme talent and I highly recommend this to any fan of the original The Haunting of Hill House. Four Stars since just because I wasn't a fan, does not mean this writer didn't do an amazing job.

Thank you Netgalley and Mulholland Books for this ARC.

It’s been decades since I read Haunting of Hill House and upon reading the first section of A Haunting on the HIll, it all came flooding back: the evocative nature of Hand’s writing brings the touch, the smell, the sounds of rural Maine back to the fore (aside: I live in northern New Hampshire on the border of Vermont and spent a childhood in rural Maine), with the memories of the original book peeking into the crevices of the fallen trees, the shadows, the hills.

Haunting on the HIll is eerie, deliciously written, masterfully designed. This is not only the true heir to the original book, but a masterpiece in itself. This spans the gap between horror and literature — readers in several genres will be drawn to this book, should read this book. This will catapult Elizabeth Hand to her rightful place among the luminaries of literature, which is frankly where she’s belonged for a long time.

A Haunting on the Hill does a great job of paying homage to the original The Haunting of Hill House without going over the line into copy and pasting territory. This book pulls and is inspired by Shirley Jackson but also adds its own twists and turns, and I loved it.

While the original work follows a group of people involved in conducting an experiment on supernatural phenomena, Hand’s book features the cast of an upcoming production choosing Hill House to practice in. The location and atmosphere seems perfect to Holly, the playwright, and she recruits three more people to help her vision come to life in the house: her girlfriend, Nisa–the songwriter and singer for the play, Stevie–talented sound designer and actor, and Amanda–a slightly-washed up actress.

Hand perfectly captures the menace of the original Hill House and the ways in which haunted houses are so insidious and swallow those who dare come to them. There are also allusions to various plays like “Medea” and “Macbeth,” and it all adds to the atmosphere and thematic layers. Hand doesn't waste the reader's time or get pretentious like others might but weaves these other plays in the ways actors and writers who consume works find their lives shaped by them. I really admire that kind of restraint. Not to mention that the original play in this book is also fascinating.

The characters are ambitious, unlikable, and fascinating. In their own ways, they're haunted and each of them feel so alone in this house of supposed friends and comrades. They each see different things and when they turn to the others, they're ignored. Instead of being in a singular character's perspective, Hand puts us in all of their perspectives, which was done really well. It increases the dread since we know the house is infecting them all in different ways. Even when they agree that there's something wrong with the house, they stay because of their ambitions.

As more things go askew and the house begins increasing its attacks on its guests, secrets are revealed and the tension increases. Unfortunately, the last 20% of this book is like a balloon popping. In that respect, it doesn’t nail that incredible ending that The Haunting of Hill House has.

Overall, The Haunting on the Hill is a worthy successor to an iconic work. I don’t think fans of Shirley Jackson will be disappointed with this book and I think that it stands up as someone who has read the original work and for those who’ve never read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This review has been scheduled to be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and my blog on September 19, 2023.

This was spooky and atmospheric! I loved the nod to The Haunting of Hill House. The bunnies totally creeped me out! This is perfect for spooky season.

Not one of the characters is interesting nor likable, the house is the showpiece and the book takes far too long to make the house a point of action/a character in its own right. Short chapters, in a bad way like way too short why would anyone do this, lead to a story I wasn’t dying to learn the end of.

It’s poorly written with a fantastic cover

Thank you to Novel Suspects Insiders Club for this e-arc. My opinions are entirely my own.
Reading in the dark with this book adds to the creepiness of this book. I don’t normally read horror books but this one wasn’t that bad. The atmosphere and location of the book just adds something to the book.

Holly Sherwin thinks she has found the perfect place to bring her new play closer to reality. She drives through Hillsdale in upstate New York, and stumbles upon Hill House. It is very old and very empty and a large creepy gothic mansion. It calls out to her and she is sure that with the help of her girlfriend Nisa,Stevie, and Amanda, this is the place for her play to grow wings and fly. She rents it for two weeks and convinces the three of them to join her and make her dreams come true.
Besides the creepy layout of the house, and the fact that the cook and housekeeper insist on leaving before dark, Holly’s vision starts to come to life. That is when the rooms don’t mysteriously expand and contract, or strange voices aren’t heard, or the house doesn’t seem to have a life of its own.
A solid, scary story that kept me flipping pages. If I compare Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, that is still my favorite. But as a jumping off point to a different spooky tale, A Haunting On The Hill has plenty of creepy moments of its own.

I adore Elizabeth Hand and Shirley Jackson, but this was a disappointment. While the Haunting of Hill House and Near Zennor are creepy, subtle, and ambiguous this was a much more straightforward horror novel, with not much substance for me. It was compelling though, I tore through it.

A Haunting On A Hill sounded like the perfect book for me. A book set in the infamous Hill House, sign me up. Unfortunately this book fell flat for me.

I’m going to start off by saying I did enjoy the house it’s self. The little moments of Hill House doing what Hill House does best were the best parts of the book for me.

What really made this book not enjoyable for me where the characters. I couldn’t stand a single one of them. I’m a character driven reader so if I can’t connect with at least one character then I know the book isn’t going to be for me. The other thing I had a hard time with was the pacing. This book felt extremely slow and would honestly be better as a novella in my opinion. I understand what the author was trying to do but it just didn’t work for me.

Overall I can understand why people will enjoy this book. It just wasn’t for me at all. I wanted more spooky moments. I wanted more of Hill House.
1/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve actually never read Shirley Jackson’s original, The Haunting of Hill House, BUT I did watch the series a few years back on Netflix! 😅 Regardless, I was excited to get to visit this notorious haunted house in a more modern day story.

I really enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the physical building as well as the grounds surrounding Hill House. The author did a fantastic job building up the sense that something wasn’t quite right, and I loved all the small details that led to this overarching feeling of dread, misery, and general horror.

This was a well put together haunted house story filled with witches, ghosts, and demons- definitely a must read for Spooky Season or for horror / thriller lovers in general!

Thank you to @novelsuspects and @netgalley for me e-copy to read and honestly review.

With grant money in hand Holly gets the break she has been looking for. The only thing missing is a rental where she and the actors can develop the play and she thinks she finds it in the Hill House. Personalities aside it will take some doing for all of them to feel comfortable in the spooky remote mansion. Soon all of them feel the pull of the house and they begin confronting personal demons. This is the only authorized continuation of Shirley Jackson's classic. All the elements are there - the gothic house with a myriad of secrets, the skeptical housekeepers who won't stay after dark, the townspeople who want them gone, a storm brewing and a group of people whose emotions are running wild. You will slowly sink into the madness with them and you will never look at a rabbit the same way again. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

I think I say this often - I don't really deviate from my tiny range of books that I like to read (working on that....). HOWEVER! With autumn approaching and my goal for this year to read some varied books, I was excited to get the chance to read this one.
Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play Witching Night, she may finally be close to her big break. So when she finds Hill House, she thinks it's the perfect place. Nisa, her girlfriend hesitantly joins her and then the spooky things begin spooky-ing.

I think I enjoyed this read because it reminded me of the Haunting of Hill House a bit. I liked that the chapters weren't too long and drawn out, and that the characters were likable so you wanted to keep reading. I'd read another book by this author again,

Thank you for the gifted copy of this book. I don't read a whole lot of Horror Gothic Books so this was a bit of a change for me. I thought it was a pretty good and unique story with the house starts doing weird things with all the different characters. You can picture this book as you read it and how it might look inside and everything going on.. Def a good read for the fall.