The Haunting of Hill House is a 1959 horror novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. The story concerns four main characters: Dr. John Montague, an investigator of the supernatural; Eleanor Vance, a shy young woman who resents caring for her demanding, disabled mother; Luke Sanderson, the young heir to Hill House, who is host to the others; and Theodora, who is implied to be a lesbian.