Julie Harris and The Haunting of Hill House

One of my favorite movie scenes.
Claire Bloom and Julie Harris

The actress Julie Harris died yesterday at age 87.

I will always remember her best for her performance as Eleanor Vance, in one of my favorite stories, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The book was written in 1959 and has become the most famous haunted house story of the 20th Century. No blog about scary books would be complete without discussing it!

The first movie adaption of this book came out in 1963. Julie Harris played the main character, Eleanor Vance, who comes to Hill House for a vacation. Yes, that's correct. A vacation, a holiday from home. You might be thinking, Is this lady nuts?! Well, actually, maybe.

Eleanor is told in her letter from Dr. Markway about the house and the experiment, but I don't think Eleanor gets it at first. She just sees this as a chance to get away--away from her past life of caring for her mother who is now dead, away from her unreasonable sister who has filled in their mother's shoes as another person who imprisons Eleanor in a life of drudgery. Eleanor is so reclusive and shy that I have often wondered how she dared break free, even with the promise of somewhere to go. The movie doesn't include the book's description of Eleanor's visit to the small coffeehouse in the depressing town near Hill House. I think this experience shows that Eleanor is more determined to get away than we might expect because I would probably have wanted to run back home myself after being stared at by those odd villagers.

At Hill House, Eleanor meets some interesting personalities. Dr. John Markway, the scientific parapsychologist, seems friendly and organized, if not a little naive about what a truly haunted house will do to sensitive people like Eleanor. Theo seems to be everything that Eleanor would like to be: sophisticated, independent, beautiful, talented, self-assured. Luke Sanderson is the heir to Hill House and is quite mercenary about the whole visit. And who can forget the Dudleys, especially the efficient and charming Mrs. Dudley:

Rosalie Crutchley as the creepy Mrs. Dudley

"I set dinner on the dining room sideboard at 6. I clear up in the morning. I have breakfast for you at 9. I don't wait on people. I don't stay after I set out the dinner, not after it begins to get dark. I leave before the dark....We live over in town, miles away.... So there won't be anyone around if you need help....We couldn't hear you. In the night.... No one could.... No one lives any nearer than town. No one will come any nearer than that.... In the night. In the dark."

Well, we have only arrived and we're not scared yet, right?

Quite soon we get into the haunting and everything you could want in a good haunting happens: spooky noises, walls that move, disembodied voices, phantom animals, mysterious writing on the wall, magically appearing blood stains, noxious smells. Add to that the extremely creepy past history lesson that Dr. Markway gives to his new students and it is no wonder this story scares most people. We do have some lighter moments, with Mrs. Dudley's rather comical insistence on adhering to a schedule, Eleanor and Theo painting their toe nails, dancing in the conservatory, and delicious meals in the dining room. But these moments only help prevent us from dying from fright.

Julie Harris as Eleanor Vance

I think Julie Harris does a good job of playing Eleanor as a rather mixed-up psychological mess. We are not really certain how much of what is going on is in her mind or not. Obviously it is not ALL in her mind, since we know in the movie and the book that the others see and hear things that are disturbing and frightening. Eleanor, the young woman who felt that she doesn't belong anywhere, begins to feel at home in Hill House not long after her initial repulsion of the invitation on the wall of "Help Eleanor come home". Something snaps inside her when she sees her own name on the wall of Hill House, and she (and we) begin to wonder, what does this mean? I certainly never thought Eleanor would willingly go back to her sister's home, the only home she had, once she had found the strength to leave at last. But where would she go after her time at Hill House? Maybe Hill House itself has found the answer.

There is another movie adaptation based on this book. The Haunting with Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson came out in 1999. Despite the excellent cast, I feel that the screenwriters were too free with their adaptation, including too many story changes. I hate cheap tricks in scary movies, and this one is full of them. Shirley Jackson and her phenomenal book deserved better.

I first read this story in high school and was suitably scared silly. I think I read this story and see the Julie Harris version of the movie at least once a year. I have inflicted it on others--family, friends, and library patrons. It is often quoted, especially the reference to "whatever walked there, walked alone." It is a high bar to clear when evaluating or writing other haunted house stories. Nobody who likes horror stories should miss this book, and nobody who likes horror movies should miss Julie Harris's movie performance.