Ambrose
7/27/2023
This is what I wanted "The Haunting of Hill House" to be. It was creepy, pretty graphic, and very fast-paced. The plotline was about some 20-something-year-olds who used to be in a friend group and are now staying in a haunted mansion in Japan to host the wedding of two people in the friend group.
I was surprised to see so many negative reviews of this when I was checking them out before I wrote this review, I thought the pros were witty, and the friends bickering was the reason the horror worked. These were people that should have moved on from each other long ago, I think that's the point. They drove each other to the climax of the book, and you can say that the house was the cause of it, but I think it just kindled a fire that was already built up and ready to burn. I like that the fact that the plot was supernatural but psychological at the same time.
I liked the main character to the contrary of a lot of other people, I think she was maybe a little too intuitive to be realistic, but some of the things she thinks are really fascinating. They made me think about the way I interact with people and why, and to get that from a horror novella was pleasantly surprising.
Everyone is raving about other books by Khaw and if I liked this one a lot I don't see why I won't like her other works more so I have that to look forward to.