25 modern book-to-screen adaptations that didn’t let us down

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been adapted more than once now, but Netflix’s interpretation of the book has seen the most excitement — perhaps ironically given how much the two stories differ from one another. While Jackson’s novel focuses on a group of unrelated characters who are thrown together to discover the horrors of Hill House, the Netflix series takes the concept of Hill House and shifts its focus to the family that once lived there.

The focus on a specific family and the house’s history arguably makes for a more interesting story overall, but the fact that the series is much longer than Jackson’s novel also allows viewers to dive more deeply into the psychological fallout each of the Crain siblings experiences after living at Hill House. With the show’s frequent time-skipping, viewers are able to uncover the trauma that the Crains experienced at the hands of the house alongside them.

And although there are some seriously spooky books out there, creepy-looking ghosts and jump scares come across far more effectively on the screen than they do on the page — meaning that most well-made horror adaptations will at least live up to, if not surpass, their book counterparts. We’d say that’s the case with The Haunting of Hill House, which impressively manages to incorporate its ghosts into nearly every frame.

Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House has also paved the way for an entirely new series of horror television focused on haunted houses. The Haunting of Bly Manor is next on the streaming service’s agenda, and while it will likely deviate entirely from Jackson’s original vision, we have the author to thank for the series as a whole.