Safe Return Doubtful

The jacket notes proclaim this to be the ‘authorised’ sequel to [book:The Haunting of Hill House|89717]. Authorised by whom I wonder, not Jackson herself who died in 1965. Rather, I think the queen of literary horror fiction would revolve in her grave if she read this, or even knew about its production. That revolution, under her pen, might make rather a good story.

Resurrecting dead authors, should that be done or not? I think this might be the first I’ve read, I’m usually put off by the very idea. And, on the strength of this, rightfully so.
I suspect that any reader coming to ‘A Haunting on the Hill’ and hoping to return to the original Hill House will be disappointed in her own way. There can be no winner here. Although the nature of the disappointment ways more about their loyalty to Jackson than to the qualities of the new book.

The premise, four strangers come together to conduct some sort of paranormal investigation, is copied from Jackson’s original, except this time they are working on the production of a play. Rather similar to the recent Mia Goth film, X, where they are filming. Not a lot of marks for originality.. though Goth’s film, X, certainly did break new ground.
Amongst the problems that this plot has, is that by the time the new gang of four arrive, the body count at Hill House has only risen, and there is that Scooby-Doo feel, wherein the new residents are oblivious of what’s screamingly apparent to the readers, which make it somewhat ridiculous.

Hand is a very capable writer who writes with an attention to detail that builds a gothic atmosphere and gives that sense of the sinister. But not here. The characters are flat, and any attempt at humour is if by way of apology, aware she is treading on hallowed ground. She should not have dirtied her hands with this. Better, she could have told the tale of Jackson being disturbed from her rest by hoards of new writers now unleashed to write about the venerated Hill House.