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The Haunting of Hill House Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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Now a hit Netflix miniseries directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, and Timothy Hutton

Past the rusted gates and untrimmed hedges, Hill House broods and waits.

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 lighthearted 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.

This classic horror novel has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror.

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  1. Listening Length
    7 hours and 27 minutes
  2. Author
    Shirley Jackson
  3. Narrator
    Bernadette Dunne
  4. Audible release date
    October 4, 2010
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  7. ASIN
    B0045XRA1K
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 7 hours and 27 minutes
Author Shirley Jackson
Narrator Bernadette Dunne
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date October 04, 2010
Publisher Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0045XRA1K
Best Sellers Rank #3,687 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#82 in Classic Literature
#132 in Horror Fiction
#304 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
24,775 global ratings

Customers say

Customers appreciate the writing style and content, describing it as delicious and absorbing. They also appreciate the craftsmanship, saying it looks like new. However, some find the book boring, difficult to believe, and oppressive. Opinions are mixed on the scary plot, with some finding it chilling and descriptive, while others say it's not scary or suspenseful. Readers also have mixed feelings about the pacing, with others saying it'll be fast-paced. They have mixed opinions on the characters, with those finding them well-developed and others finding them to be the problem.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Writing styleCraftsmanshipContentScary plotCharactersPacingPlotEntertainment value
264 customers mention "Writing style"189 positive75 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style and the unusually character-driven nature of the story. They say the language does not distract the reader, rather it invites them into something more. They also say the font is well sized and readable, the book is beautifully written, and the dialogue is curiously modern. Customers also mention that the book has a quick read and is loaded with subtext. They find the sarcastic play between the characters delicious and absorbing.

"...Beyond that, Jackson’s writing is just incredible. The story is not only well-written but so atmospheric as well...." Read more

"After many years I finally got around to reading this one. It was well-written. It is a classic haunted house story...." Read more

"...It's the unreliable way she narrates, how she attaches herself to a favorite person, the way she talks...." Read more

"...Nevertheless, the book is so beautifully, even soulfully written, that it really didn’t need anything further...." Read more

56 customers mention "Craftsmanship"46 positive10 negative

Customers like the craftsmanship of the book. They mention it's a good quality production, and it finishes on a satisfying note. They also appreciate the cover being in mint condition, with no marks or tears. Customers also say the author is a true master of her craft, and the book never gets old or stale.

"...It never gets old, it never gets stale. Every time I read it I take something new away...." Read more

"Book was ok, and good quality production" Read more

"...The cover art is clever and the manufacturing is high quality. The blackened page edges are as delicious as fresh black licorice. Mmmmmmm!!!!..." Read more

"...The house itself is very well realized and very intentionally feels like a 5th character...." Read more

24 customers mention "Content"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the book filled with insights into Hill House and Shirley's life. They appreciate the development and say the author keeps them guessing. Readers also say the motivations of the characters are clearer.

"...be read after you read the book of Hill House, it's filled with insights into the book and into Shirley's life...." Read more

"...a wonderful job of creating an eerie atmosphere, and provides lots of food for thought, which is really the most unusual and rewarding aspect of the..." Read more

"...Fascinating and overall a fun-house of twists, turns, and psychological mind f*, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE has definitely earned it's right as a..." Read more

"...It is so much more detailed and meaningful. It is much more scary...." Read more

428 customers mention "Scary plot"253 positive175 negative

Customers are mixed about the scary plot. Some mention it's a chilling tale, with cool rooms, hammering sounds for no reason. They say the prose does a wonderful job of creating an eerie atmosphere. However, others say it wasn't scary or suspenseful, there seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the haunting, and the ending was very predictable. They also say the story is difficult to follow.

"...Beyond that, Jackson’s writing is just incredible. The story is not only well-written but so atmospheric as well...." Read more

"...I like how the story progressed and the ending. I felt like there wasn't enough horror and that some of the history of the house could have been..." Read more

"...I am glad I finally took the time to read it. It was deliciously creepy." Read more

"...quite beautiful, and although it is about a haunting, it’s really not horrifying at all." Read more

113 customers mention "Characters"72 positive41 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the characters in the book. Some find them well developed and thought provoking, while others find them the problem.

"...I think Eleanor is a really interesting character. Beyond that, Jackson’s writing is just incredible...." Read more

"...Some of the "abilities" some of the characters possessed were not used...." Read more

"...word gave a softer sense of sweetness, sorrow, and deepest empathy for our main character, Eleanor...." Read more

"...I enjoyed the character development—although some were definitely more layered than others—as well as the vivid, spooky atmosphere...." Read more

70 customers mention "Pacing"33 positive37 negative

Customers are mixed about the pacing of the book. Some mention it's a slow-paced classic, while others say it'll captivate them.

"It takes long to really engage, but just like Hill House itself the last third of this intriguing novella doesn't let you leave... I finished it one..." Read more

"...Very glad I didn't. It's a short, quick, tense read with an ending that makes you go, "oh heck"...." Read more

"...There are things introduced with no payoff. It took a long time to get to the house, which is supposed to be the big element of the story...." Read more

"...The Haunting of Hill House is a very fast read that will keep you flipping the pages wondering through its haunted halls waiting for the ghosts to..." Read more

50 customers mention "Plot"24 positive26 negative

Customers find the plot haunting, bizarre, and spooky. They also describe the book as odd, page-turning, and addicting. However, some customers feel the pacing of conversation makes the book feel disjointed, hokey, and predictable.

"...It was an odd, undeveloped book that had a few effective pieces that should have been used in a better story." Read more

"...It's mysterious and creepy.I enjoy Shirley Jackson's writing and in comparison to many authors she is a literary gem...." Read more

"...book and I tried again and again to get into it and the initial pages seem redundant and that old school style writing that takes me out of the book..." Read more

"...But when the action does occur, it is addicting, page-turning, and Jackson brings the reader right into the room the whole time...." Read more

190 customers mention "Entertainment value"10 positive180 negative

Customers find the book boring, stilted, incomplete, and unsatisfying. They also say the second half feels like an excerpt and the ending feels lazy. Readers also mention that the book is undeveloped and annoying.

"...of the characters (except for the narrator Eleanor) is pretty much pastiche, something you would expect to see in a B-horror movie, where the best..." Read more

"...It was an odd, undeveloped book that had a few effective pieces that should have been used in a better story." Read more

"...first, though the four agree that the house is wretchedly ugly and oppressive...." Read more

"...and the interactions between the characters was frequently difficult to believe...." Read more

Classic.
4 out of 5 stars
Classic.
While I adore the adapted version, the 1999 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦, and grew up watching it on repeat! I found this book to be just splended!{I also have seen The Haunting Of Bly Manor, and I found this book to be very similar to The Haunting (𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓈!)}I loved the sarcastic play between the characters. I found Eleanor to be just as whimsical with curiosity in this, and that was pleasant!And 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘦 I’ve seen the movie a million times- I enjoyed the back ground thoughts in between conversations.This 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 have a lot of conversation and psychological moments- rather than hauntings- but I didn’t mind! This is a slow pace book, but such a classic!
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Top reviews from the United States

MirandaL
5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book of all time!
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021
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I first read Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House in October a few years ago, and I instantly knew it would be an all time favorite book of mine. I have been meaning to reread it again, so it was only fitting that I reread it in October. This might be a new fall tradition of mine because I honestly love it so much.

The Haunting of Hill House follows a group of four people as they stay at Hill House, which is supposedly haunted. Dr. Montague is hoping to find evidence of and write about a real haunting. He invites people to be a part of this experience, and two of the people who accept his invitation are Eleanor and Theodora. Luke, the heir to Hill House, also joins their stay at the house. It does not take long for unexplained and scary events to occur: knocking, laughing, cold spots, writing on walls. Everything eventually goes awry, and one of the guests is pushed too far.

I absolutely love Eleanor’s character and seeing how she interacts with Theodora. I think Eleanor is a really interesting character. Beyond that, Jackson’s writing is just incredible. The story is not only well-written but so atmospheric as well. I appreciated the time that was spent on developing the setting and the house. Some of my favorite parts were the ones where characters were haunted by the house, and for Eleanor, by her mind and life outside the house.

The first time I read this book was for an American Literature class in college. I read it in a matter of days and really loved being able to talk about it in class. I even chose to write about it for my midterm essay. I focused a lot on how Jackson handled sexuality and identity. I wrote about how she possibly juxtaposed Eleanor and Theodora to reflect the changing role of women in families and to challenge their traditional roles. I really enjoyed seeing what else stood out from the text this time that further supported my argument, but it made me think about a lot of new things this time too. For instance, the possible portrayal of mental illness was even more prevalent on a reread. Since I knew what was going to happen, I could analyze what led to do those events. It was really interesting to see how Eleanor handled her grief after losing her mother and how this haunts her and maybe pushes her too far.

Shirley Jackson was an incredible writer. I have read Hill House multiple times now but have also enjoyed some of her short stories and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Since reading this book for first time, I have gradually collected Jackson’s other works. I honestly cannot wait to pick them up because I know I will love them.

*Content warning: mental illness, suicide, parental death*
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Marianne
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Haunted House
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2024
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After many years I finally got around to reading this one. It was well-written. It is a classic haunted house story. I am glad I finally took the time to read it. It was deliciously creepy.
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Robert J. Plumer
5.0 out of 5 stars The horror story everything else is compared too
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2019
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“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut: silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

After watching the Netflix series last year by the same name last year it inspired me to put this classic book on my reading list. I had first been aware of the book for many years as it was mentioned by Stephen King as a major influence on his writing and lauded the book as one of the best of the horror genre. After reading the book I can see why and agree with King it's one of the best.

The story begins as Dr. Montague is doing research into the supernatural and wanted to use Hill House as a setting due to its reputation as a haunted house and it’s somewhat sad history. We learn that on top of the somewhat tragic history of its original residents/builders the more recent residents who tried to live there seem to leave only after a short stay and without much explanation as to their quick departure. The house itself is a character all its own with its Gothic foreboding style and its unique floor plan is compared to in the book to the real-life Winchester House in San Jose, California which also had eccentric owners and history.

In the beginning the story is mostly centered around the four main characters of Dr. Montague, Eleanor Vance, Theodora, and Luke Sanderson. Aside from the very beginning and end the story is told through the perspective of Eleanor (aka: Nell) which we find out was a recluse who took care of elderly demanding mother until recently and was brow beaten by her two siblings from whom she took the family car to stay at Hill House. It was noted in her childhood her sister and her experienced the phenomenon of stones raining on their house as children, which was one of the reasons Dr. Montague invited her to the house. Stephen King fans might recognize this as an event that happened in his debut novel Carrie whose main character’s(Carrie White) house was also pelted with stones and had a domineering mother. Her main companion in the book is Theodora, no last name given, is described as living a bohemian lifestyle and perhaps is receptive to ESP. Luke Sanderson is a distant family heir to the house. He was mainly their as part of the agreement to stay at the house for their time there. He’s a bit of a playboy who never stayed at the house before.

The other characters are Mr. & Mrs. Dudley who are the caretakers of the house. Both are adamant about not staying at the house after dark. Mr Dudley is cantankerous and abrupt when meeting the visitors. Mrs. Dudley is quite rigid and humorless in her duties, so much so that in turn the guests make her the object of some light humor. No backstory is given to their relation to the house and how they became caretakers.

Dr. Montague’s wife and driver Authur Parker, who is the headmaster at a small boys school. In contrast to her spouse she has no qualms about expressing herself and taking control. Likewise Mr. Parker presents himself in an alpha male quality and even brandishes a gun for emergencies. He implies that Luke is a lightweight in his manliness on one occasion. Mrs. Montague acts as a woman on a mission to communicate with the supernatural. She tries a form of spirit writing using a planchette which seems to be channeling Eleanor.

Other happenings include doors closing by themselves, Luke and Dr. Montague chasing a mysterious dog, banging of the door to Eleanor and Theodora’s room, Theodora’s room/clothing covered in blood and writing in blood on the walls of the hallway which seems to be addressing Eleanor.

As time goes by the Hill House and Eleanor seem to be bonding together. It culminates one evening when she wakes up feeling energetic and carefree. She runs around knocking on doors waking the others as she runs and dances throughout the house. The others get up to see what is going on puzzled by this behavior. Eleanor makes her way to the library climbing a rickety iron spiral staircase that is barely staying vertical. The others that found her there are alarmed by this and beg her to stop. She seems either unaware or puzzled at why they are so frantic as she looks down upon them. Luke reluctantly climbs the staircase to implore her to come down which she reluctantly does. She is still seemingly unaware of the danger she put herself in by remarking she was just getting a book after Luke was able to coax her down.

The next morning the incident is unspoken but it is agreed at least between Dr. Montague, Theodora, Luke and the others that it is better if Eleanor leave Hill House for her own safety. Eleanor insists she does not want to leave and is very reluctant. Eleanor feels Hill House doesn't want her to leave and is sure she feels happy there. Her car is brought around already packed and being outnumbered and they were blocking the stairway to the front door. She still insists the house wants her to stay. Dr. Montague is insistent, firm although with some empathy as a parent might be with a child. After much back and forth about her leaving she finally says goodbye to everyone. As she drives away she feels a sudden rush of freedom but yet in a fleeting second just before hitting a tree and killing herself she asks herself what she is doing and why is no one stopping her.

In the end, Eleanor never really leaves Hill House taking her own life,or was it Hill House that killed her? I suppose we’ll never know. Dr. Montague goes on to write his paper to a cool reception. Theodore goes back her bohemian lifestyle. Luke is off Paris and his aunt, Mrs. Anderson, seems to be relieved that everyone had left.

After listening to this story it’s easy to see how many elements of the story have influenced the horror genre and pop culture. What would any ghost story be without it’s spooky Gothic style house? I can see it’s influence in classic TV series like The Addams Family, The Munsters and even the cartoon series Scooby Doo.

It was Stephen King that introduced me to this story decades ago. He even wrote about this story extensively in book about the horror genre. The story was a huge influence on his writing. The comparisons between Hill House’s “Eleanor” and the title character “Carrie” in King’s debut novel of the same name. Both young women with over powering mother’s. The key giveaway is the stones raining down on both girls houses when the were young. Even Hill House plays a part in other King books as we have the large foreboding “Marsten House” in ‘Salems Lot” that is home the stories vampires. In “The Shining” we have the Overlook Hotel that plays a huge part of that story.

The story itself has spawned two movies and a Netflix series based on the book(which influenced me to finally listen/read the story finally. The first movie done in 1963 in England called “The Haunting” follows the original fairly well but does change some details and omit other stuff. Another version was made in 1999, also titled “The Haunting”, that I have not seen so I can’t comment much on it. The 2018 Netflix series uses Hill House but instead a family there stays there over the summer renovating to then flip the house. Many of the original characters names are used and as the original story goes Eleanor again plays the central character.

One key element of the story is that even though title includes a haunting much of the story is about what is left unseen. Doors are shut when no one is looking. Aside from a mysterious family picnicking and a quick glimpse of a dog,at least that's what it’s presumed to be, but nothing else is seen. Blood is seen in Theodore's room and writing of Eleanor’s name in the hallways are as about as much as we see physically. We hear hear banging on the door and barely audible voices. It scares you more by what is unseen.

Aside from the very beginning and end the story is told through Eleanor’s point of view. She is a bit shy and has been somewhat sheltered because she had been taking care of her demanding invalid mother until she dies. As is implied at times she harbors some guilt over her mother’s death. How much this plays into what goes on in the house is hard to tell. It at least feels as an influence on Eleanor's character. As the story unfolds it can be hard to tell how much the house is coming over her. Even in her last moments it seems as if she had no idea she was about to drive into a tree.

It is a classic story of horror that uses what is unseen as the most terrifying feature. You will also see how this story has become a blueprint for so many other supernatural stories. Isn’t it often what is unknown or unseen that is most terrifying to us? It is still a mystery what it is exactly about Hill House that has this aura of horror and terror. Whatever it may be we do know it walks alone.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Fernando Antonio Vieira Lage
5.0 out of 5 stars Really scary!
Reviewed in Brazil on June 26, 2024
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Is it really a NOVEL? So good, so short and brief, but I loved it anyway; an aura of mistery permeates the story all along and when it comes the night, be it indoors or outdoors, things really get scary and oppressive; highly recommended.
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H. C.
5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFYING!
Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2023
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Bought for my niece, who is a big fan of scary books, films, & Hallowe'en. She hasn't read it yet (too busy at work), but I'VE read it, more than once, & it's honestly not just the most terrifying book I've ever devoured, it's simply one of the best, period! If you don't know Shirley Jackson, you need to make her acquaintance. Her mastery of character arcs, language, mood, pacing, plot development. . .of everything, really. . .is beyond impressive. It's magical! I've read all her memoirs, novels, & short stories, & she is my favourite female writer. I read voraciously, so that means something, trust me!

Read this soon. . .now. . .just not after dark!

(BTW, the 1963 film is FABULOUS! But don't watch it alone.)
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Elian López Reyes
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial
Reviewed in Mexico on February 1, 2023
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Llegó bien y la portada es increíble
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batkat
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning
Reviewed in Germany on November 29, 2023
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“No live organism can continue for long to exist under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.”

I’m obsessed, you don’t understand, that line IS SEARED into my brain, how am I supposed to be normal about this?? you write an opening sentence like that, and I would follow you to the ends of the earth!!!

The second I’d read that sentence I felt it in my bones that this novel would bag one of my rare 5-star ratings. It reads like poetry, it reads like magic, it reads like beauty on the outside, with danger lurking on the inside.

Long have I known about Shirley Jackson and the cult-like status she (rightly!) enjoys not only among horror fans, but in the English literary world in general. As such, the fact that this edition is blurbed by Stephen King – king of horror for obvious reasons – is a bit misleading, and unfair. Misleading because I expected the same kind of horror I’d expect from It or Pet Cemetary; unfair because Shirley Jackson did everything King does now, only decades earlier. If still alive, SHE should be blurbing his books.

And no, Shirley Jackson does not write horror like King, and if you hear “horror” and all you can think of is “clown” and “undead animals” and if you then go into a horror novel expecting exactly those things from it only to end up being disappointed and letting that disappointment influence your rating, then I’m sorry because it means the term has become so uniquely specific, it excludes almost everything else that makes horror horror. It also means you should read something that is NOT what you think horror is.

No, Shirley doesn’t do King’s horror; instead, she writes about a supposedly haunted house, a doctor curious enough to move there and investigate it, and two women and a man who are just bored, adventurous, and lonely enough to move in there with him. Taking course over just a week or two, the experiment of trying to find and explain the reason for the haunting of Hill House, the house and its characters are slowly coming undone, pulling readers into unknown depths of disbelief, deceit, and despair.

Mainly told from the first-person perspective of Eleanor Vance, who arrives at the house with a car stolen from her sister (it’s half hers!) and her mother freshly six feet under, we are thrust into a setting in which “the haunted house” becomes a character in its own terms, more substantial than any of the novel’s human characters and granted far more attention than any of them except Eleanor.

This short story packs such a punch, it’s almost unbelievable, given how little is neither confirmed nor denied and how much is left up to our imagination. And yet… and yet, Jackson knows exactly where to drop that little word, that sentence that is sure to let your thoughts run wild. It’s almost impossible to consume this story sitting still. Shuffling, walking, changing sitting positions, breathless laughter over a clever pun, it’ll all happen, guaranteed.

The switch between Eleanor arriving at the house, afraid and small but simultaneously hopeful and excited for her life to start turning into a ferocious, jealousy-ridden, giggling, angry woman happens both so quickly and slowly that when you blink, the entire character has changed within the span of a second, and you blink again, and you think it must have all been a figment of your imagination. Is this genuine horror? Is the house really alive or filled with ghostly entities? Or is this a psychological terror of the mind that has Eleanor’s (in Freudian terms) Id and Superego fighting a battle of wills? The juicy and uncomfortable truth: it is up to the reader to determine what is “really” going on, and if we believe that wherever these characters came from before they arrived at Hill House is indeed the real world.

This book is so clever, and the language is so smart and timeless, at times I could not believe Shirley wrote dialogues this sharply modern. I read what the characters were saying and what Eleanor was thinking, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that some of those lines are exact replicas of what some of us would say were we in the same situation. It’s cutting, and it’s absurd, and it’s EXACTLY RIGHT.

This novel will be re-read and re-read and re-read because it’s great, it’s smarter than me. Because I need to underline sentences and scribble in between the lines next time I read it because reading it is like staring at a rotten brain carefully preserved in formalin, because it’s disgustingly good and haunted and crooked.

🎬 If you enjoyed this you should watch that: The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
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Sara
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in India on August 11, 2023
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It's very different from the series in case someone's expecting it to be the same. Very well written, loved it ♥️
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Sara
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in India on August 11, 2023
It's very different from the series in case someone's expecting it to be the same. Very well written, loved it ♥️
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