J is for Jackson | Blogging from A to Z

The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson

Art by M. S. Corley

I'm ashamed to say I hadn't even heard of Shirley Jackson until 2013. Thankfully one of the friends I made on my MA course introduced me to her work, and last Easter I read The Haunting of Hill House.

Horror isn't a genre I read a lot of, and I'm not a particularly big watcher of horror films, either. I like horror films that also have a story (even if I do end up not being able to sleep for a few days after watching them) but watching a film just to see a group of teenagers getting tortured or chopped off or whatever else directors feel like doing to them isn't a fun past time of mine. 

When it comes to horror books, the only ones I'd ever read before reading this one were a few Victorian Gothic classics, which were certainly considered to be horror when they were published, and Stephen King's Misery. (Unfortunately I'm not a Stephen King fan; Misery is the only book of his I've actually been able to get through, there's something about his writing style I just don't like).

I wasn't sure what I was going to make of The Haunting of Hill House, because it's so easy for haunted house stories to be rubbish, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only did I enjoy Jackson's writing style, but this book also gave me the heebie jeebies; Jackson doesn't need to rely on gore to frighten you, she just reaches her fingers into your mind and subverts everything you thought you knew to be true. Her skill isn't in what she writes, but in what she chooses not to write.

Jess Suggests | Halloween Reads!

Halloween is on its way, so it's time to crack open the spooky and creepy reads on our shelves. Here are just five books I recommend reading at this time of the year!

Carmilla

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Living a lonely existence in a remote schloss in Styria, on the border of Austria and Hungary, Laura and her father play host to an unexpected guest, the beautiful young Carmilla. Her arrival is closely followed by an outbreak of unexplained deaths in the area, while the young women's growing friendship coincides with a series of nightmares and mysterious nocturnal visitations, and a gradual downward spiral in Laura's health. A chilling tale of the un-dead, Carmilla is a beautifully written example of the gothic genre. Believed to be the inspiration for Bram Stoker's gothic masterpiece 'Dracula', written over twenty years later, Carmilla stands out as an all-time horror classic.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson

'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil'

Published as a shilling shocker, Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with damnable young man Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.

The Silence of the Lambs

by Thomas Harris

A serial murderer known only by a grotesquely apt nickname-Buffalo Bill-is stalking women. He has a purpose, but no one can fathom it, for the bodies are discovered in different states. Clarice Starling, a young trainee at the FBI Academy, is surprised to be summoned by Jack Crawford, chief of the Bureau's Behavioral Science section. Her assignment: to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter-Hannibal the Cannibal-who is kept under close watch in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist with a grisly history, unusual tastes, and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of The Silence of the Lambs-and ingenious, masterfully written book and an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.

Affinity

by Sarah Waters

"Now you know why you are drawn to me – why your flesh comes creeping to mine, and what it comes for. Let it creep."

From the dark heart of a Victorian prison, disgraced spiritualist Selina Dawes weaves an enigmatic spell. Is she a fraud, or a prodigy? By the time it all begins to matter, you'll find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic.

Set in and around the women’'s prison at Milbank in the 1870s, Affinity is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates – the imprisoned spiritualist – Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

The Haunting of Hill House

by Shirley Jackson

Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and light-hearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable noises and self-closing doors, but Hill House is gathering its powers and will soon choose one of them to make its own...

What are you reading this month?

Stories & Songs #2

Last month I wrote a post in which I shared some songs with you that remind me of some of the books I've read, and you can find that post here. I had a lot of fun with it, so today I'm back with a second installment! Just like last time, you can find all the songs I mention below in this playlist.

The Haunting of Hill House

by Shirley Jackson

"Katrinah Josephina"

Universal Hall Pass

Katrinah Josephina is no longer so they say

She disappeared one year ago and not a trace remains

All the theories are just heresay as to why she disappeared

Some say she was abducted and some say she drowned in fear

And what a joy it is to be the only one who knows

Katrinah Josephina journeys ninety leagues below

She's singing the praises of angels and sages

Oh when the pills wear off, the symptoms will return

You may have found relief, the cause has still yet to be learned

Dark Triumph

by Robin LaFevers

"Iron"

Within Temptation

Raised in this madness

You're on your own

It makes you fearless

Nothing to lose

Dreams are a joke here

They get in your way

That's what you need

To fight day by day

Oh damn, the war is coming

Oh damn, you feel you want it

Oh damn, just bring it on today

You can't live without the fire

It's the heat that makes you strong

'Cause you're born to live and fight it all away

You can't hide what lies inside you

It's the only thing you've known

You'll embrace it and never walk away

Don't walk away

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Brontë

"Better Dig Two"

The Band Perry

So if the ties that bind ever do come loose

Tie 'em in a knot like a handman's noose,

'Cause I'll go to Heaven or I'll go to Hell

Before I see you with someone else

Put me in the ground,

Put me six foot down,

And let the stone say:

"Here lies a girl whose only crutch

Was loving one man just a little too much."

If you go before I do

I'm gonna tell the gravedigger that he better dig two

Cress

by Marissa Meyer

"Strange and Beautiful"

Aqualung

I've been watching your world from afar

I've been trying to be where you are

And I've been secretly falling apart

Unseen

To me, you're strange and you're beautiful

You'd be so perfect with me

But you just can't see

You turn every head but you don't see me

I'll put a spell on you

You'll fall asleep

When I put a spell on you

And when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see

And you'll realise that you love me

Deadline

by Mira Grant

"Sail"

AWOLNATION

This is how I show my love

I made it in my mind because

I blame it on my A.D.D. baby

This is how an angel dies

I blame it on my own supply

Blame it on my A.D.D. baby

Sail!

Sail!

Sail!

Sail!

Sail!

Maybe I should cry for help

Maybe I should kill myself

Blame it on my A.D.D. baby

Maybe I'm a different breed

Maybe I'm not listening

So blame it on my A.D.D. baby

Christmas!

Hello, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and if it's not something you celebrate I hope the 25th of December was a fantastic day for you anyway!

Shockingly, I received some new books for Christmas:

That's right, marvel at my photography skills! (But if I'm honest I don't think it's too bad a shot considering I took it on my phone...)

So that they're easier to make out, the books I was given, from top to bottom, are:

1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
2. Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle
3. Burn Mark by Laura Powell
4. Burned by Ellen Hopkins
5. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII by Karen Lindsey
6. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I'm really looking forward to reading all of them! I've been meaning to read something by Shirley Jackson and Ellen Hopkins for a long time, and the other four just sound cool. I've left links to each of them so you can go ahead and check them out if you're not already familiar with them - maybe you'll see something you fancy reading, too!

I'd love to hear which books (or anything else, for that matter) Father Christmas left for you this year, so feel free to let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! J.