"There's definitely something strange about Hill House."
That line, uttered by a character named Stevie soon after a black hare inexplicably falls down a chimney and runs out of the lit fireplace, perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of Elizabeth Hand's A Haunting on the Hill. The first novel to be granted permission to return to the universe of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Hand's novel is not a retelling or reimagining of Jackson's brilliant classic; it is an entirely new, modern narrative that takes place inside Hill House and reckons with the supernatural mayhem that has made the place a horror fiction staple since 1959.
Holly Sherwin works as a teacher while struggling to get her career as a playwright off the ground. Now, she has received a grant to develop her play Witching Night. Holly knows the play, which is a feminist retelling of an old play in which a woman was accused of being a witch and consequently murdered for it, has a lot of potential. Nisa, Holly's girlfriend, is a fantastic singer-songwriter and has been adapting classic murder ballads for the play. With the help of their friend Stevie, a talented sound designer, and Amanda Wingfield, an actress trying to reclaim her glory after a devastating accident, Holly thinks Witching Night is her ticket to stardom. All she needs is the perfect place to put it all together and rehearse.
Holly and Nisa are on a weekend getaway when Holly accidentally discovers Hill House and almost immediately becomes obsessed with it. The place is exactly what she needs. Holly uses the money from her grant to rent Hill House from its owner, a woman who works locally as a realtor. A few weeks later, Holly, Nisa, Amanda, and Stevie move into Hill House to work on the play, and they soon learn the place is unlike anything they've ever experienced.
Hill House is "not sane," as Jackson stated in the opening paragraph of The Haunting of Hill House, one of the best opening paragraphs in literature and one Hand honors and echoes in her short, poetic prologue. Holly and company soon learn just how "not sane" the house is. Hill House, a main character here, has been active in the decades since Eleanor Vance walked its creepy hallways. Hand hints at some of the things it has done and the people it has pushed away. Now, Holly and her friends experience all of it. Strange voices can be heard at night. Black hares show up everywhere, some of them sporting bloody smiles. The house squeezes the group like a fist. The woman who cleans the place and her husband, who cooks for the group, refuse to come to Hill House at night. There is an overprotective local living nearby and trying to keep people away. Holly sees the face of someone from her past. There's someone looking at the house from the edge of the woods. Strange drafts of cold air appear out of nowhere. The curtains move even in the absence of a breeze and with the windows closed. A mysterious little green door hides something. Alone, these inexplicable things can be disregarded, but together they say something about Hill House that its new temporary residents can't ignore and struggle to comprehend: "Maybe Hill House really is haunted."
A Haunting on the Hill is a class in atmosphere. Unlike haunted house narratives that introduce readers to a new place, this novel presented Hand with a unique challenge: delivering creepy, surprising scenes to readers who had high expectations and most of which were familiar with what Hill House could do. Luckily, she delivers. The unsettling atmosphere in this novel builds from the start and never disappoints. Hand deftly layers the history of the house with the past of each character and the things that haunt them, especially Holly and Amanda. Hill House is a spooky place, and Hand delves deep into its darkness and allows it to flourish in almost every chapter.
There are small echoes of Jackson's novel here, but A Haunting on the Hill is its own thing even if it constantly pays homage to its celebrated predecessor. It's also a novel that brilliantly picks up on some of the things Jackson played around with and pushes them to center stage. For example, this one is a tad gorier and the visions are firmly planted in contemporary horror. Also, Holly and Nisa, a lesbian couple, finally celebrate the queerness that was always at the heart of Jackson's novel.
A Haunting on the Hill is a love letter to Hill House and a very impressive tribute to Shirley Jackson. It is also a tremendous addition to Hand's already outstanding, multi-genre oeuvre. The thing inside Hill House is still there, but as long as Holly and her friends stay inside it, it won't have to walk alone.
Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias.
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