Dreams – DaneCobain.com

Shirley Jackson – The Haunting of Hill House | Review

Title: The Haunting of Hill House

Author: Shirley Jackson

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 252

Rating: 4/5

Shirley Jackson – The Haunting of Hill House

I’ve been meaning to get to this book for a while now, but I just somehow haven’t found the time. Then the Netflix adaptation came out and everyone says it’s great, and I didn’t want to watch it without having read the book first. So here we are.

All in all, I thought this was great, reminiscent almost of a cross between The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Jackson is a cracking writer, as I already knew from picking up some of her short stories, and her words are powerful here. It’s the kind of book that sticks in your head and gives you an almost physical reaction. It makes your hands go clammy and gives you goosebumps.

I wouldn’t say that this is a book that absolutely everyone should read, but it’s definitely a decent idea if you’re into horror. Jackson was a big influence for Stephen King and after reading this book, I can see why. But you shouldn’t pick this up because King is a fan or because of the Netflix show, even though that’s what I did. You should pick it up because it’s a great book, a short read and a lot of fun. Just try not to let Hill House get inside your head too much. Oh, and sweet dreams.

Shirley Jackson

Click here to buy The Haunting of Hill House.

Julianne Pachico – The Lucky Ones | Review

Title: The Lucky Ones

Author: Julianne Pachico

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 264

Rating: 4*/5

Julianne Pachico – The Lucky Ones

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for free to review as part of my position on the Young Writer of the Year Award shadow panel. Click here to find out more about that.

This is the first of the five books that I’ve read so far from the Young Writer of the Year Award shortlist, and it sets a strong precedent that it’s going to be tricky for the others to live up to. What we have here is a collection of short stories that span several decades and take place in Latin America, and it’s interesting because it’s kind of interconnected and kind of not, with a few running themes like coca leaves that tie them all together.

Pachico’s writing is stunning, and just the way she strings sentences together was a joy to behold. Flicking in at random, I get: “They cast their bluish-white searchlights over the campsite, slowly illuminating one item at a time; the wooden picnic table, the hammocks, the tin cups, the black rubber boots with yellow bottoms, the packets of Frruitino strawberry juice powder, the Saltine cracker wrappers, the enormous blocks of unrefined panela sugar in plastic bags.” There’s just something about her writing style that I loved.

Overall, it was fun and ethereal, and I’ve since compared it to watching someone else’s dreams and said it reminded me in some vague way of William Burroughs. It’s most definitely a tough act to follow.