I loved this book. Shirley Jackson is a great writer and storyteller, and in this book she is able to make a house the main character. She is able to re-create the feeling of Poe in creating a scary atmosphere amazingly. This is one of the original haunted house books and as such she does it really well. I loved the build up of fear and the slow decent into madness from Nell. The scare factor comes nearly all from the atmosphere of the house and the Phycological breakdown of Nell, and the reaction of the characters around her. My only nit picking is that there is not enough to Nell to be likeable. Some of her reactions and thoughts at the beginning are just as paranoid and petty as at the end. That lack of distinction erases the amount of influence you feel the house has on her and your empathy for her (unless that is the point and she has a mental disorder from the beginning such as bio-polar), rather than a break due to a supernatural experience. I prefer ghosts rather than stigmatising mental illness. So that's what I'm going with.