My last 5 books: Ghost stories

1. The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. I've seen four or five screen adaptations for this book without ever reading the book until now. I love gothic horror and haunted houses and this book brilliantly fits both criteria. I like how the story builds it up as the house being haunted, but as time goes on it starts to hint that maybe there's something else going on, only to leave it entirely up in the air whether the house is doing it or one of them is severely slipping mentally. Arthur is embodies toxic masculinity. Dr Montague is old-fashioned af behind is jovial manner (probably due to the times, but ffs having a wife just to take care of you? Grow up, dude). Theodora is a fake bitch. Mrs Montague is exhausting. Eleanor is a mouse. The only person I actually liked in this story was Luke. I'm very happy it didn't turn out the way the 1999 movie adaptation did, even though that movie is a favourite of mine. Favourite scene from the book is when Eleanor is clutching to a hand out of fear for the things that go bump in the night at Hill House, thinking it's Theodora, only to discover it isn't. Chills!

2. The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. I've seen two screen adaptations of this book and each time I've expected more than I've been given. The same goes for this book. I expected more. I knew the outline of the story before I started to read, thanks to The Innocents and Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor. Possessed children should be creepy and yet it failed spectacularly at being creepy. The main character was incredibly vapid, stupid even, and kept trying to ignore things hoping that they'd go away on their own instead of trying to do something until it was basically too late. She gave way too much freedom to Miles just because he was male (wtf he's still a child), which probably is just a sign of the time it was written. It is over a century old after all. Close to 130 years old :0 When I finished the book I was simultaneously disappointed that it was over, and also glad it was done. It was a bit of a drag. But just as in The Innocents it leaves off at a cliffhanger that I remember I appreciated in the movie, but which I'm not entirely sure I appreciate in the novel. 

3. The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill. I've seen the 2012 movie so I had a general idea of the plot of this book, yet it proved to have a very different feel from the movie. It wasn't scary or chilling, but it was all the right kinds of sad and creepy. After the confusion of the first chapter where the author goes through the entire timeline of Arthur Kipps post everything that happened in Eel Marsh House and how he came to the decision to tell his story, the book became very engaging almost immediately and I found it very hard to put down. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out in what time the story was set, but I was inclined on 1920s. If it was any further into the 20th century then Arthur wouldn't refer to the Woman's dress and bonnet as "not modern" but straight up historical. Yet he makes a reference to Victorian times so clearly we're in the 20th century. But they have both cars (referred to as motor cars) and carriage drivers (pony and trap), but the trains are iron and steam and coal. Arthur has a wrist watch, which places it post-pocket watches. And all the farmers are wearing tweed and corduroy. Google can't make up its mind either. Most accounts I've found says it's Edwardian (so max 1910), but some sources even said 1860s which just seems blatantly wrong... Unless they meant that the time period in which the Woman lived then Arthur keeps referring to that as sixty years ago, which places the main story in the 1920s... Aaaaaanyway, I loved the story. Couldn't put it down. The writing drew me in, the story was engaging and just the right amount of sad and creepy. I'd read this again.

4. Dark Matter, by Michelle Paver. This is a ghost story that takes place in the 30s during an Arctic expedition and I read this in the dead of night during the quiet hours of working the night shift, while it was snowing outside and I hadn't seen daylight for five days due to working nights and I sleep during the six hours of daylight we do get this time of year. It hit different. Even from the very start there's a clear hint that something's very wrong. It proceeds to build tension throughout the whole book and the tension doesn't really let go until the last few pages. It's brilliantly chilling and creepy. "Something opened the doghouse door. It can open doors. It can get in." I enjoyed the friendship dynamic between the guys at the camp, and the way the main character tried to justify his own actions and decision to himself felt very real. Dogs are a gift and the main character gets to understand this on his own terms. I like how the class differences are all but obliterated when faced with nothing but snow and ice and darkness and survival. The tale of what happened to the lonely trapper leaves a lot unsaid, but says so much without the use of words about the cruelty of man when he knows he won't get caught. It's sad and horrifying and creepy and chilling. 

5. Gösta Berlings Saga, av Selma Lagerlöf. Att den här boken existerar har väl ingen undgått att lägga märke till. Min mamma rekommenderade den som rolig efter att jag beklagade mig över att svensk klassisk litteratur alltid var så himla präktig. Och visst är den kul, men den är också så extremt dramatisk och överdriven att jag inte orkar. Halvvägs igenom hade alla berömt Gösta som en himmelsk man men samtidigt var han så otroligt lynnig att han förälskade sig i tre kvinnor på en månad och kastade bort deras kärlek på småsaker den ena efter den andra. Alla förälskelser kom från ingenstans och ledde ingenvart och allt är sååååå dramatiskt och jag orkar inte. Allt intressant som hände i boken involverade antingen Sintram eller majorskan och dessa dök upp väldigt sällan. Det tog mig fem timmar att läsa hundra sidor istället för de vanliga en till två beroende på typsnitt och teckenstorlek. Halvvägs igenom gav jag upp. Dramatiken, teatralismen, de oändliga kärlekshistorierna, och alla ologiska karaktärshandlingarna gav upphov till så mycket suckande och stönande från mitt håll att jag bara inte kan med den mer. Sorry, Selma.