Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting Of Hill House is not just a haunted house novel, it is THE haunted house novel. It is also a novel I love deeply. So when I saw Netflix was making a series, I was thrilled. So when I found out that all the series owes to the novel is the title, a few character names and some minor references, I was seriously disappointed.
I watched it anyway.
It's a good story. Well written. Well acted. I enjoyed it a lot, and it deserves much of the praise it has received. But through the whole thing, there was nagging thought in my head that "This is not the Haunting of Hill House." Every time they made a reference to the novel, I found myself frowning. The voice over of the novel's opening was so clunky I almost turned it off.
It's a real shame they didn't feel confident in their story to have it stand on its own merits.
Series Held back by the title
Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting Of Hill House is not just a haunted house novel, it is THE haunted house novel. It is also a novel I love deeply. So when I saw Netflix was making a series, I was thrilled. So when I found out that all the series owes to the novel is the title, a few character names and some minor references, I was seriously disappointed.
I watched it anyway.
It's a good story. Well written. Well acted. I enjoyed it a lot, and it deserves much of the praise it has received. But through the whole thing, there was nagging thought in my head that "This is not the Haunting of Hill House." Every time they made a reference to the novel, I found myself frowning. The voice over of the novel's opening was so clunky I almost turned it off.
It's a real shame they didn't feel confident in their story to have it stand on its own merits.