First Skellie’s Boo-k Club Discussion: The Haunting of Hill House

Was I being haunted by The Haunting of Hill House? Felt like it.

To say the first official Skellie’s Boo-k Club discussion meeting didn’t go well would be an understatement. Hiccups? Galore. It was a disaster.

Bad Timing

It all started when I noticed I’d put the wrong time in the event –which I noticed about an hour before it was due to start. It showed for 7 pm PST instead of the intended 7 pm CST.

I thought I had double checked that before publishing in the first place, but clearly I didn’t.

I adjusted it and left a comment about the goof, but I knew I’d be lucky if anyone showed up even if I’d put the right time.

Because then there was the matter of it being Election Night. Did not think that one through when I picked the first Tuesday in November for discussion night.

{insert forehead slap here}

Facebook Live Blunder

And then there was my ineptitude using Facebook Live in the group event.

I started rolling, then realized maybe it was on my personal Facebook page. I stopped, letting anyone know who may be watching what I was trying to do (make sure I was going live in the right place), and started again.

I felt I had it right, so away I went. No one showed up. I wasn’t sure anyone would anyway, but just in case I kept talking.

I talked for about 30-40 minutes. I tried to stall in case anyone might pop in. But eventually I ran out of things to say. I said goodbye, thought I hit publish, but where was the video? Nothing showed up, except for something about 7 minutes long.

The first video I started wasn’t seven minutes. Was it? No. So which video was this?

I was so confused. I finally watched it and realized, “OMG! That was the discussion one, but where are the other 20 to 30 minutes?”

It’s probably better none of it was recorded. It was a lot of rambling and “ums.”

Still…dang it!

Like I’m fond of saying, “My nickname isn’t Whoopsie for nothing. I come by it honestly.”

Discussion Recap

This was my second time reading The Haunting of Hill House. I read it the first time back in the late 1990s.

I had read Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” in high school and liked it. That was a chilling story.

In my 20s, when I first set about becoming a fiction writer, The Haunting of Hill House always came up as a classic of horror fiction. When I saw that my idol Stephen King praised it, I made sure to read it.

I remember not liking it then. It didn’t scare me. I remember it irritated me. Not the story. The story was okay. It irritated me that I didn’t see whatever genius everyone else did to praise it so highly.

I had always been curious to reread it. Maybe it was the frame of mind I was in back then that didn’t allow me to experience it like so many others? Don’t know.

And with Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House adaptation being released, it seemed like a good time to give it another go.

I still didn’t like it.

I mean, I didn’t dislike it. But to me it’s just so so.

I just don’t get what all the fuss was about.

It wasn’t scary. The writing was annoying. (Lots of repetition and drawing things out, like the good-bys at the end.) I didn’t find the characters believable, or even particularly likable. Worse, I felt no sympathy or particular affection for the main character, Eleanor.

What I’d Like to Know

The first time around reading it I wanted a haunted house story. But it’s not that at all, is it? It’s a haunted person story.

At its heart, it’s about mental illness and the decay of a haunted brain.

I got that this time around. Even knowing that, I still didn’t like the book.

And what I’m desperate to know and still haven’t found an answer to is what did the color blue symbolize? Red was pretty easy to figure out. But blue…that one is stumping me.

If you know, please leave a comment explaining it.

Also, let me know your thoughts. I would’ve loved to have others who liked the book show up to say why. I’d like to try and see it through those eyes. So if you liked it, be sure to leave a comment.

Next Pick

Want to join the Boo-k Club? It’s easy!

All you have to do is join Skellie’s Boo-k Club Facebook group.

Our next discussion will happen sometime in December. I need to consult the calendar to make sure I don’t pick any bad days. (Obviously not December 24th, 25th, or 31st.)

I also put a poll out asking for book recommendations. But I’m about to put another poll out because I found a few more books to suggest. And as always, other book suggestions are welcome. (In fact, one of the books on the new poll was from a Boo-k Club member’s suggestion.)

Whichever one has the most votes is what we’ll go with. Here’s the ones I’m throwing out for consideration:

Hope to see you in December!