The opening paragraph is amazing and super creepy. She’s clearly a great writer which is why it’s disappointing that her stuff doesn’t click with me. I agree, the movie is somehow much better even though the plot sticks very closely to the book.

Shirley Jackson. I want to like her stuff. I’ve read Haunting of Hill House twice, hoping I missed something the first time, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle and I just didn’t get them. I’m a huge horror fan and I respect what she’s done for the genre and for women in the genre, but other than The Lottery, her writing just doesn’t do anything for me.

Shirley Jackson. I want to like her stuff. I’ve read Haunting of Hill House twice, hoping I missed something the first time, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle and I just didn’t get them. I’m a huge horror fan and I respect what she’s done for the genre and for women in the genre, but other than The Lottery, her writing just doesn’t do anything for me.