Happy Atheist Forum

For October, I'd like to do something special and run 5 horror novels for this month only.

Come Closer, by Sara Gran.  A truly creepy tale of modern demonic possession.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson.  The great-grandfather of split-personality stories.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker.  A story that needs no introduction.

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.  Also needs no introduction, tho I've always considered this a story of bad parenting rather than straight-forward horror.

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson.  Psychological horror from a master.

Quote from: Sandra Craft on September 19, 2019, 08:14:17 AM

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson.  Psychological horror from a master.

The other night my wife and I saw the movie "We Have Always Lived in the Castle", taken from the Shirley Jackson.  It was creepy, and showed how easily the human mind can go astray, followed by bizarre human behavior. 

Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on September 19, 2019, 07:09:58 PM

Quote from: Sandra Craft on September 19, 2019, 08:14:17 AM

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson.  Psychological horror from a master.

The other night my wife and I saw the movie "We Have Always Lived in the Castle", taken from the Shirley Jackson.  It was creepy, and showed how easily the human mind can go astray, followed by bizarre human behavior.

I didn't know they'd made a movie of that one!  I've always felt it was her masterpiece.

Since I chose all the books for this month, I think it only fair that someone else break the tie. 

So the next person to post can choose October's book:  Come Closer, or The Haunting of Hill House?

I voted for both, but since I'm the next person, I'm leaning towards The Haunting of Hill House.

I'm leaning towards haunting of hill house to

The Haunting of Hill House it is, and an excellent choice.

I finished the book yesterday. I think it was a good read. Normally, I don't like the way books were written back then, but the author wrote very well despite the style. There were a few times that got to me. I don't want to spoil any of those because I think you have to walk into them on your own for them to work.

All throughout the book, there was an effective shift behind how the characters talked, that helped keep the mood of the story. And there was a bit of bouncing back and forth in how Theo and Luke treated Eleanor between nice/friendly and very cruel. And it's done in a way that makes sense in the world.

Anyway, I think it's a great book. I also liked the Netflix series.

If you want something that is truly terrifying, try a compilation of trump's tweets. (https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.stardock.net%2Fimages%2Fsmiles%2Fthemes%2Fdigicons%2FThumbs%2520Up.png&hash=e8ea77880ad2978fd09f5791a5436d85008666d2)

Quote from: No one on October 16, 2019, 09:27:34 PM
If you want something that is truly terrifying, try a compilation of trump's tweets. (https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.stardock.net%2Fimages%2Fsmiles%2Fthemes%2Fdigicons%2FThumbs%2520Up.png&hash=e8ea77880ad2978fd09f5791a5436d85008666d2)

Brain melting.

Quote from: Davin on October 16, 2019, 08:18:57 PM
Anyway, I think it's a great book. I also liked the Netflix series.

I'm glad you enjoyed it -- it's my second favorite of her finished work, and a very close second too.  I've had a lot of discussions with other readers about what The Haunting of Hill House was all about and nobody agrees, tho some of us come close.  There are those that think the whole thing is a delusion of Eleanor's, who's clapped up in an asylum some place (probably called Hill House Sanitarium). 

I think that takes too much of the fun out of the book tho, and prefer to read it "straight", altho Jackson does sometimes make that difficult.  She had a writing trick that I've always had a love-hate relationship with, of leaving certain details out of the story so that I end up feeling a little off balance.  When I first started reading her novels I would think there were pages missing, or that I'd accidentally skipped a chapter, until I realized that was just her style.  As exasperating as it is, I have to admit it's very effective for making me, as a reader, able to get into her main character's unsettled frame of mind.  There was no one like Shirley Jackson for depicting a personality in the process of unraveling.

Still, I would like to know what Theo saw that was so frightening when Eleanor only saw a happy family picnic, and what exactly was supposed to have happened between Eleanor and Luke, if anything at all?

I've never seen the Netflix series, but did see both movies made of it.  Tho filled with minor inaccuracies, I thought the 1963 version with Julie Harris caught the over-all story very well, and that Claire Bloom was splendid as Theodora.  I don't know why they even bothered with the 1999 remake, it was hardly even the same story and cartoonish rather than frightening.

Well, I'm off to re-read Robert Frost's "The Witch of Coos" next.

Quote from: Sandra Craft on October 17, 2019, 10:44:27 PM

Quote from: No one on October 16, 2019, 09:27:34 PM
If you want something that is truly terrifying, try a compilation of trump's tweets. (https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.stardock.net%2Fimages%2Fsmiles%2Fthemes%2Fdigicons%2FThumbs%2520Up.png&hash=e8ea77880ad2978fd09f5791a5436d85008666d2)

Brain melting.

We can do better than that.
the poetry of Donald Trump (https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/sep/01/he-gets-verse-the-poetry-of-donald-trump)

(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0ce8a14e9813e6d397d92ff4dff9a2a0f66b19a0/1409_203_1809_1086/master/1809.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=4c207b94bdb1f47db3df4cd7e3a717d2)

Quote from: Sandra Craft on October 17, 2019, 11:17:54 PM

Quote from: Davin on October 16, 2019, 08:18:57 PM
Anyway, I think it's a great book. I also liked the Netflix series.

I'm glad you enjoyed it -- it's my second favorite of her finished work, and a very close second too.  I've had a lot of discussions with other readers about what The Haunting of Hill House was all about and nobody agrees, tho some of us come close.  There are those that think the whole thing is a delusion of Eleanor's, who's clapped up in an asylum some place (probably called Hill House Sanitarium). 

I think that takes too much of the fun out of the book tho, and prefer to read it "straight", altho Jackson does sometimes make that difficult.  She had a writing trick that I've always had a love-hate relationship with, of leaving certain details out of the story so that I end up feeling a little off balance.  When I first started reading her novels I would think there were pages missing, or that I'd accidentally skipped a chapter, until I realized that was just her style.  As exasperating as it is, I have to admit it's very effective for making me, as a reader, able to get into her main character's unsettled frame of mind.  There was no one like Shirley Jackson for depicting a personality in the process of unraveling.

Still, I would like to know what Theo saw that was so frightening when Eleanor only saw a happy family picnic, and what exactly was supposed to have happened between Eleanor and Luke, if anything at all?

I've never seen the Netflix series, but did see both movies made of it.  Tho filled with minor inaccuracies, I thought the 1963 version with Julie Harris caught the over-all story very well, and that Claire Bloom was splendid as Theodora.  I don't know why they even bothered with the 1999 remake, it was hardly even the same story and cartoonish rather than frightening.

Well, I'm off to re-read Robert Frost's "The Witch of Coos" next.

The NetFlix series is much less like a remake and more like a different group of people (a family) are subjected to the horrors of Hill house.

Quote from: Bad Penny II on October 18, 2019, 08:17:53 AM

We can do better than that.
the poetry of Donald Trump (https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/sep/01/he-gets-verse-the-poetry-of-donald-trump)

:twitch: :sshocked:

Quote from: Davin on October 18, 2019, 04:51:24 PM

The NetFlix series is much less like a remake and more like a different group of people (a family) are subjected to the horrors of Hill house.

I looked it up -- it looks like the original Crain family who built the place.  At least, the names suggest that.

Quote from: Sandra Craft on October 18, 2019, 07:44:55 PM

Quote from: Davin on October 18, 2019, 04:51:24 PM

The NetFlix series is much less like a remake and more like a different group of people (a family) are subjected to the horrors of Hill house.

I looked it up -- it looks like the original Crain family who built the place.  At least, the names suggest that.

It starts with a family buying the place and moving in to renovate to resell and then scary stuff starts to happen. It takes place in two time periods, when the kids are kids, and then when they're grown up.