I bring you a ‘Read of the Day,’ a short horror story, so that we can indulge in the joy of reading. You can visit my site to check a short story for analysis and participate in the discussion in the comments.
Read of the Day
Today, we will read The Haunted House by Virginia Woolf.
You can read the story here: Haunted House Virgina Woolf pdf
About Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf was a famous English novelist, essayist, and trailblazer in modern literature. Her most accomplished works include novels like Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the essay A Room of One’s Own (1929).
The Haunted House by Virginia Woolf Analysis
The Haunted House by Virginia Woolf is a tease. I know how hard it is to write horror. But it’s also equally a lot of fun to scare people off their seats. You need to paint your words with deftness to invoke excitement, fear, and curiosity in your readers.
It’s clear when you read the story how Woolf must have had a blast writing this story. She builds anxiety and anticipation in the reader with her wizardry of words, a sketchy narrative, blurred characterization, in a genre-bender story.
The story starts with the opening line—
“Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting.”
A brilliant way to start a horror story.
‘You’ is a vague character that could point out to the living house, inmates, a couple in this case, or you, the reader.
The opening phrase ‘Whatever hour’ plays upon the eternal question of humankind. Do ghosts exist or a figment of our imagination? It also dances upon our perpetual fear of all things, spirits and the otherworldly.
Soon, we learn there’s a potential ghost couple who’s busy searching for something around the house. We hear fragmented pieces of their conversations, elevating our confusion about the reality of ghosts, and curiosity for the treasure they’re desperately seeking.
“Here we slept,” she says.
And he adds, “Kisses without number.”
“Waking in the morning -“
“Silver between the trees -“
“Upstairs -“
“In the garden -“
“When summer came -“
“In winter snowtime -“
The doors go shutting far in the distance, gently knocking like the pulse of a heart.”
There’s a lot happening inside the haunted house. There’s a living and dead couple, a possible narrator, and us (?) in the story as characters. The house brims with action as Woolf uses the techniques of personification.
“the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing machine from the farm.”
It’s Virginia Woolf’s ingeniousness to take a story, topple it completely, and turn it into something else altogether. Read the story to know how Woolf takes us from an opening line like—
“Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting.”
to this concluding line—
“Here we left our treasure—” Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. “Safe! safe! safe!” the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry “Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.”
The story is unlike any horror story you’ve read to date. Its poetic language lends it a delicate touch. When you come to a conclusion like the one in the story, everything makes perfect sense.
The takeaway?
The house is definitely haunted. But more so by the memories of the ghosts’ lived experiences in the house than the ghosts per se. The light is symbolic of the love shared between them and how it got extinguished with the woman’s death. The ghosts searched for the love they shared once upon a time in this sacred space — their house.
What are your thoughts on The Haunted House by Virginia Woolf?
The haunted house did haunt me and more than that , impressed me! Your analysis was deep, invigorating and exciting. Glad I read this today!
It is an impressive story, isn’t it? Thank you so much, Daisy! So glad to hear. Keep stopping by! #BlogchatterA2Z
Sure! Thankyou Tina❤️
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Nice to have someone reminding us of a few classical writers.
Thank you so much, Tomichan! It means so much coming from you. I am exploring short stories in this #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge. I lean towards classical writers as I find their writings inventive, and substantial.
Thanks. I hadn`t read this one !
It’s an interesting short story by Virginia Woolf. Please do read whenever you’re free. 🙂
Interesting story and Interesting analysis !
Thank you so much, Ruchi! Means a lot coming from you. 🙂
What a delicate ghost story, where the horror is so understated. Loved the way you analysed the story.
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[…] you’re too scared to read horror, then maybe The Haunted House by Virginia Woolf can make you change your mind. It’s a story that’ll make you fall in […]