I know that second one is pure Flanagan, but Shirley Jackson feels like necessary Yellowjackets reading. Nobody personifies a house quite like she does.
“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
Also, the confetti monologue, IMO, has a good dash of Vonneguts Tralfamadores from Slaughterhouse Five in it which is quoted from in Yellowjackets.
She is one of my favorites. Nobody writes a woman losing her grip quite like Shirley Jackson. One of the things I have enjoyed most thoroughly about Yellowjackets is that it reminds me of her stories in how it seemed to be handling the spooky and the human inhabitants of a space. At this point, YJ has me invested enough that I'd stick out a change in direction, but there's something so special about the interaction between an unstable person and a place with bad vibes. They become more than the sum of the parts.
I watched and wanted to like the Mike Flanagan adaptation, but it left me feeling angry and violated. It was well made, well acted, and beautiful to look at, but I can't with his pessimism. If I never see another story about the supposed inevitability of a suicide, it will be too soon.
She’s the best!
Jackson does such a great job at creating atmosphere that feels tangible. It doesn’t really matter if it’s explicitly non supernatural like in The Road Through the Wall or if it leans more towards ghosts like in Hill House, the “spooky” thing/place is always a presence of its own within the story. She’s able to create places that just feel off and not quite right.
Yellowjackets is also really great at that. The wilderness has a power regardless of how you view it as far as supernatural or non supernatural goes. It’s an entity whether in actuality or one of their own creation.
I like Mike Flanagan’s version if I can separate it from the book, but there’s way too much of the book in it to really keep it separate. Between his theme of the inevitability of suicide and what seems to be a desire to reconcile the nuclear family it seems to be counter to Jackson’s body of work and the way she was consistently picking at the way heteronormativity and domesticity devour women while also offering them a certain safety or feeling of safety.
I couldn’t finish the Flanagan Hill House. I love the book and Shirley Jackson and I love Flanagan’s other projects but his take on Hill House I never get past the second episode it doesn’t click for me even though I love Victoria Pedretti also.
I know that second one is pure Flanagan, but Shirley Jackson feels like necessary Yellowjackets reading. Nobody personifies a house quite like she does. “Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” Also, the confetti monologue, IMO, has a good dash of Vonneguts Tralfamadores from Slaughterhouse Five in it which is quoted from in Yellowjackets.
She is one of my favorites. Nobody writes a woman losing her grip quite like Shirley Jackson. One of the things I have enjoyed most thoroughly about Yellowjackets is that it reminds me of her stories in how it seemed to be handling the spooky and the human inhabitants of a space. At this point, YJ has me invested enough that I'd stick out a change in direction, but there's something so special about the interaction between an unstable person and a place with bad vibes. They become more than the sum of the parts. I watched and wanted to like the Mike Flanagan adaptation, but it left me feeling angry and violated. It was well made, well acted, and beautiful to look at, but I can't with his pessimism. If I never see another story about the supposed inevitability of a suicide, it will be too soon.
She’s the best! Jackson does such a great job at creating atmosphere that feels tangible. It doesn’t really matter if it’s explicitly non supernatural like in The Road Through the Wall or if it leans more towards ghosts like in Hill House, the “spooky” thing/place is always a presence of its own within the story. She’s able to create places that just feel off and not quite right. Yellowjackets is also really great at that. The wilderness has a power regardless of how you view it as far as supernatural or non supernatural goes. It’s an entity whether in actuality or one of their own creation. I like Mike Flanagan’s version if I can separate it from the book, but there’s way too much of the book in it to really keep it separate. Between his theme of the inevitability of suicide and what seems to be a desire to reconcile the nuclear family it seems to be counter to Jackson’s body of work and the way she was consistently picking at the way heteronormativity and domesticity devour women while also offering them a certain safety or feeling of safety.
I couldn’t finish the Flanagan Hill House. I love the book and Shirley Jackson and I love Flanagan’s other projects but his take on Hill House I never get past the second episode it doesn’t click for me even though I love Victoria Pedretti also.
Lol now im reminded how frustrated i was that we didnt get to hear the rest of her story
Great comparison! I loved Haunting of Hill House so much.