78 pages • 2 hours read
The Haunting Of Hill House
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1959
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
The Haunting of Hill House
- Genre: Fiction; Gothic horror/suspense
- Originally Published: 1959
- Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
- Structure/Length: 9 chapters; approx. 208 pages; approx. 7 hours, 27 minutes on audio
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: Thirty-two-year-old Eleanor Vance, occult expert Dr. Montague, and two other acquaintances experience supernatural phenomena and personal reckonings with the past at Hill House, an abandoned, foreboding property.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Suicide; mental illness
Shirley Jackson, Author
- Bio: 1916-1965; born in San Francisco, CA; attended Syracuse University; later moved permanently to Vermont; pursued writing while raising four children; novelist, memoirist, and short story writer; horror stories and settings known for their atmospheric suspense and psychological depth
- Other Works: The Bird’s Nest (1954); We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962); Dark Tales (short story collection; 2017)
- Awards: National Book Award (finalist; 1960)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- The Futility of Human Nature
- The Fragility of Identity
- Imagination and the Dangers of the Human Mind
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Develop an understanding of the characteristics of Gothic literature; analyze the ways setting and plot in The Haunting of Hill House exemplify a Gothic story.
- Read/study short, paired texts and other resources to deepen understanding of themes related to Human Nature, Identity, and Dangers of the Human Mind.
