A Haunting on the Hill

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand, published by Little Brown in October 2024, is a 336-page novel that explores themes of isolation and longing within a gothic setting. This story marks the first-ever authorized return to the world of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, presenting a new narrative centered on Holly Sherwin, a struggling playwright who discovers the eerie Hill House during a weekend getaway. With the opportunity to develop her play, Witching Night, Holly rents the mansion with her girlfriend, Nisa, and soon invites a troupe of actors, each carrying their own burdens.
As the group settles into Hill House, they encounter unsettling phenomena, including strange creatures and disquieting sounds that disrupt their creative process. The house reveals its peculiarities, leading to tensions among the characters and a growing sense of dread. Readers will find a blend of psychological suspense and gothic elements as the story unfolds, immersing them in a chilling atmosphere that reflects both the legacy of Jackson’s work and Hand’s contemporary style.
Official synopsis Publisher
From award-winning author Elizabeth Hand comes the first-ever novel authorized to return to the world of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House—an “eerily beautiful, strangely seductive, and genuinely upsetting” (Alix E. Harrow) new story of isolation and longing perfect for our present time.
**Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Harper’s Bazaar**
Open the door . . . .
Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play Witching Night, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie–the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.
Despite her own hesitations, Holly’s girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house’s peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds, disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, and time itself seems to shift. All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, but with the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and it no longer intends to walk alone . . .
“A fitting–and frightening–homage.” —New York Times Book Review
“It’s thrilling to find this is a true hybrid of these two ingenious women’s work–a novel with all the chills of Jackson that also highlights the contemporary flavor and evocative writing of Hand.” —Washington Post
“Only the brilliant Elizabeth Hand could so expertly honor Jackson’s rage, wit, and vision.” –Paul Tremblay
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