The House On The Cliff is the second book in the original Hardy Boys series published by Grosset & Dunlap. The book ranks 72nd on the Publishers Weekly's All-Time Bestselling Children's Book List in the United States with 1,712,433 copies sold . This book is one of the "Original 10" Hardy Boys books and is an excellent example of the writing style used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate's writers. This style influenced many other "youth adventure series" books that the Stratemeyer Syndicate also published, including the Nancy Drew series (designed as a corollary to The Hardy Boys written from the perspective of young girls), the Tom Swift adventure series, the Bobbsey Twins and other lesser known series. All of them used a unique writing style that made them very recognizable as Stratemeyer product.
This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1927. US Copyright on the 1927 book expired on January 1, 2023, putting the 1927 version in the US Public Domain. The Canadian Copyright is still in effect until January 1, 2048 for the 1927 version, due to Canada using “the author’s life plus 70 years” copyright model for works-for-hire (Leslie McFarlane died in 1977). The 1959 version will enter the US Public Domain on January 1, 2055, while it will enter the Canadian Public Domain on January 1, 2053 (Harriet Stratemeyer Adams died in 1982). Between 1959 and 1973, the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. The original version of this book was rewritten in 1959 by Harriet S. Adams, He did this by taking the original 1927 edition and stripping out all the details to form an outline of the story similar to, in his opinion, the outline Leslie McFarlane would have received from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He then reimagined the story using his own version of the familiar Hardy Boys characters, making many minor changes, such as the case which Fenton Hardy is investigating, and more significant changes to the characters and their personalities. For example, in this reimagined version Callie Shaw and Iola Morten play an active role in investigating the Polucca residence and Callie shows her concern for Frank by giving him a kiss on the lips. Note that this would not likely have been permitted in the original, for (as McFarlane writes in "Ghost of the Hardy Boys" ) Stratemeyer expected the girls to make only occasional appearances and to have relationships with the boys that "would not go beyond the borders of wholesome friendship and discreet mutual esteem."
Adaptations
Walt Disney published a condensed and revised version of this story in their publication, Walt Disney's Magazine (1957 - 1958)
Filmation Associates made an 11-minute cartoon of this story in The Hardy Boys animated TV show features a condensed version of the plot of this book.
Seattle Children's Theatre put on a theatrical performance of the play, "The Hardy Boys in the Mystery of the Haunted House", which is based on this book. The script is available online here for purchase.