Cute story. I love the Netflix series a lot more, to be truthful

It's clear why this is a classic. I had a lot of fun reading this and realizing just how many pieces of modern horror are clearly inspired by this, or make callbacks to this.

I loved the symbolism and the metaphor. I think writing the haunted house almost like its own character and tying it into the mental health decline of the main protagonist so interesting and especially inventive for its time. Eleanor is entirely unreliable, and it's unclear if any of the hauntings were real at all. I always think obviously unreliable protagonists are extremely fun, it makes you want to reread certain passages and try to pick apart things that happen.

I found Eleanor to be a very sympathetic main character. She's socially awkward, shy, and comes from profound trauma that leaves her feeling like she doesn't belong, constantly second-guessing her actions and wondering how others perceive her. I think a lot of people can relate to her. By the end of the book, although she's not a perfect character by any means, I felt an immense sadness for her.

However, I admittedly had trouble motivating myself to pick this up because of the writing style. It wasn't clear to me where the story was going, and I was expecting more tension and, well, horror. But this is more like a slow burn psychological thriller. The tension is definitely there but not in the way I expected. I honestly think if this were a longer work, I would have given it up. 

BUT the author makes up for it with tight prose and clipped dialogue. She doesn't spend too much time on the minutiae of descriptions or over-explaining her characters' thoughts and feelings. She definitely knows how to use her prose to create a feeling of claustrophobia, so you almost feel like you're going mad alongside the main character.

The ending was jaw-dropping. I had no idea where it was going but it was super satisfying in a wicked way. 

I am very confused which I think was entirely the point. I also want to immediately start a re-read to get a different perspective now that I don't have to try to figure out the resolution.
This is definitely horror, though not the kind full of jumpscares that makes you look over your shoulder nervously when you read. It's creepy, it's claustrophobic and it is scary, but the horror comes from the feeling of unease and the engagement with disturbing topics. It is also surprisingly funny and I now have to read more mid-century American fiction where witty characters just talk to each other because the conversations were a delight.
I liked how the novel played with expectations of horror storys and used that to its full extent. It plays around with concepts of realism and expectable behaviour and while that made me constantly try to figure out what was actually going on, what was the twist, what was the explanation for all the weirdness, it also opened up possibilities for discussions of the main topics: home, belonging, paranoia, reality and imagination, guilt.
It's not exactly a satisfying read where everything comes together, you have nice character growth and a complete resolution, but that's kinda the point. A lot of whats happening isn't being told and the reader is supposed to scramble at the bits of information provided. The kind of unreliable narration that we now think of as overdone but incredibly well done and especially for its time innovative.
Another nice surprise were the queer subtext and the feminist undertones!

Something must be wrong with me because I could not enjoy this book at all. I struggled with how it was written, I did not care too much for the characters (I really did not like Theodora), and sure it was unsettling at times, but boy, I really had to force myself to read this. More often than not, it was putting me to sleep instead. I really, genuinely tried to give this a chance and get into it. I wasn't enjoying reading it, so a dear friend suggested trying an audiobook. It worked better for me, but I still wasn't a huge fan. It probably didn't help that when I originally went into it, I expected a lot more spooky scares since this was always described as "one of the best ghost stories of all times." It can be creepy, and it does have a good atmosphere, but otherwise, it's very meh. 

I hope others who decide to read this have a better experience than me.