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Summary: Welcome to Hell House
Review: Ah yes, Hell House, Richard Matheson's 1971 masterpiece that does indeed loom like a shadow over its competition in the haunted house genre. Perhaps the books finest achievement is the truly sinister and dreadful atmosphere it creates: the entire book reeks of corruption, perversion, and murder. The story is simple: a wealthy, dying old man has purchased the Belasco House, also known as "Hell House". And for good reason. Emeric Belasco, the house's depraved owner, created a murderous self-worshipping cult that ultimately self-destructed, leaving behind an evil supernatural legacy. Now, the old man hires three people to investigate Hell House; a scientist and two mediums, one of whom had a previous, and destructive, experience with Hell House. Matheson builds the tension in a subtle way, as the House begins to exploit the weakness' of the team. The unbelieving scientist, who's critical nature prevents him from accepting the reality of Hell House's power, the young mental medium, who's vulnerable nature makes her perfect prey for deception. There is the older physical medium, who's past experience prevents him from taking any action whilst evil befalls everyone around him. And then there is the scientist's lonely, sexually frustrated wife -- you can image the fun Hell House has with her..... All the characters are marvelously portrayed, and you feel like a reluctant member of the team, sent to Hell House as punishment. With its scene's of truly violent possession, one can almost smell The Exorcist. Indeed, here is where you can find the origin of Stephen King's The Shining. Though I dare say that Hell House is the superior tale in terms of the spook factor. Matheson exploites our fear of the unseen much better. This is a very graphic book in terms of profanity and sexuality, but because Matheson takes his time in building the story, only hinting at the evil that is to unleash itself, the books graphic nature actually comes as a surprise, even to my own jaded senses. All in all, Hell House still stands as a pinnacle achievemnt in the genre of horror literature. If you haven't read it yet, by all means, pick it up.
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Summary: Fast-paced and grotesquely beautiful
Review: 'Hell House' is, oddly enough, a psychological horror with a healthy amount of blood loss mixed in. The reader is immersed with the mystery of the Belasco house and, more importantly, the quirks of its late, sadistic owner. Matheson provides a rich, in-depth history of the house which pulls in the reader and provides just enough clues to incite conclusions, but not enough to reveal the ending. To summarize, the story encircles the excursion of a skeptical doctor, his wife, a devout religious medium, and a survivor of the Hell House and their personal pursuits within the walls of Belasco's playpen. The house itself has had a terrible history involving everything from sexual immorality, twisted menageries, disease, torture, suicide, and the occult. Our four heroes enter the house with little intrusions and are introduced to the typical haunts: rocking chairs, jangling lights, closing windows, and cryptic words. However, Belasco is a far more sophiscated ghost and, eventually, tears the the characters' confidence into shreds via psychological corruption and manipulation, leaving them open to self-destruction. A thrill to read, but one finds little time to relate to characters in the pace Matheson has set, and the momentum the author starts off with dies out far too quickly near the end, almost making the suspense before not worth it. As a side note, this book is not for the faint of heart or light of stomach.
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Summary: Semi-Classic with Much to Offer
Review: Richard Matheson is more famous, deservedly, for I am Legend than Hell House but this classic horror novel is still worth a look. It pales somewhat when compared to its progenitor, Shirley Jackson's far superior Haunting of Hill House. The author takes Jackson's basic premise (and very similar characters) and throws in more gore, switching psychological suspense for outright physical terror following the same patterns movies had taken in the late sixties following Night of the Living Dead. Actually this novel is one that reads like it was meant to be filmed. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a chilly little story that is worth a quick read showing the best of the horror genre before Stephen King came along in the mid-seventies.
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Summary: variations on a theme...
Review: I liked this book. Some say it's too derivative of Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House, but I see it a bit differently. This novel is not a ripoff, though I had my doubts during the first few pages. Having read Hell House directly after reading Jackson's novel *and* after watching Stephen King's Rose Red, I began to wonder exactly how many iterations of 'haunted house eats small group of scientists / psychics / searchers-for-truth' the world really needs. But, I admit that in the end, I was surprised and delighted by the uniqueness of all three stories. Just as academics build ideas and arguments on prior research, it would make sense that artists do the same! And as an artistic representation of 'academic' (even if fictional) ideas, the 'crusade for truth' nature of this type of haunted house story calls for some level of reanalysis of old concepts. If Hell House is a conscious duplication at all, the intent is to show how much two similar haunted house concepts can diverge. Where Jackson is subtle and nebulous about the validity of the paranormal, Matheson is outright. However, his story reaches beyond the existence of the supernatural to explore its possible root. Is it psychological? Is it tangible? Is the energy directed by one's own perceptions and fears, or do ghosts have a volition of their own? The ending may be a disappointment to some, but to others, it simply reinforces - in a new way - what you may have suspected all along. :o)
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Summary: One of the Best of its Genre
Review: I saw the movie version of this book as a teenager in the late 1970's, and it scared the heck out of me! About 10 years ago, I read the book for the first time, and even though I was very familiar with the story, it scared me all over again! I have read it over again and again, and it always gives me a creepy feeling....a real classic for those who love books of this nature. Richard Matheson was also responsible for writing something like half of the original "Twilight Zone" episodes on television.
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Summary: Exquisitely Visceral Horror
Review: Matheson's HELL HOUSE deserves a special place in the archives of haunted house fiction. Like Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE and Tristan MacAvery's TEA FOR TWENTY, this novel presents us with puzzles made up of both the history and haunting of the house itself and the demons and memories haunting the characters as well. Matheson has the ability to get into your head directly, by writing in such a way that you are drawn into the mind of the explorer, who is himself drawn into the heart of the house -- the mind, the evil soul, of the house -- and both of you are locked onto a collision course with terror. Tristan MacAvery's haunted house tale, TEA FOR TWENTY, even pays an homage to this book, when one of his characters is watching late-night cable and sees a spooky re-vision of the film based upon this book. Few contemporary authors have made a proper study of Matheson's ability to bring about sheer terror, but MacAvery has done his homework and gotten back a string of A-plus grades. I recommend buying both books and enjoying the frothy, frosty terror of them both.
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Summary: Best Horror Novel I've read so far
Review: I've been indulging in horror novels for the past year and I've read everything from Anne Rice to Stephen King. This novel was the most frightening novel I've laid my eyes on. While reading it, someone knocked on my door and I screamed so loud that I practically gave my visitor a heart attack. So would you like this book? Picture this. There is a house where only one person has survived living beneath its roof in over 30 years. Four people return (a physicist, his wife, and 2 mediums); with a reward of 100,000 to see if they can get rid of the "hauntings" at Hell House. The physicists, Lionel, insists that there are no such things as ghost; that paranormal occurrences are a natural part of the world created by electromagnetic forces rather than the dead. The spiritualist, Florence, argues that the phenomenon's are a result of trapped and torments spirits which she has the power to relinquish from their prison. The mystery emerges as the debate of the force behind the phantoms grows. Will any of these four survive to solve the mystery of Hell House and if they do did they really learn the truth or just what the house wanted them to learn?
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Summary: Wonderful Classic Haunted House Story
Review: After picking up this book on by accident, after seeing the movie many moons ago, I was throughly surprised again to see that was so much of deeper tale. While it is a dated tale, the movie came out in the 70's if that helps, it still has the power to shock. Not in so much a gruesome sense, but genuinely creepy way. That being said, it does show its age in the shock department sometimes. The characters are easy to get involved with. It is a simple story, about the fates of four strangers trying to conquer the almost unstoppable haunting of an old house in New England. If you have seen it's movie counterpart, this story is by far much more complete in that some essential parts have not been removed for the sake of "adult content". Whereas the movie focuses on the supernatural activity and it's consequent destruction, the book focuses more on what happens to the characters physically and psychologically. It's fare lies along the lines of "The Haunting" or the "Turn of the Screw". Don't be afraid to pick this one up as Matheson's story telling is excellent. Even if others' say that the book is narrow, it is truly a classic and must read for those who love tales of horror and haunted houses.
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Summary: One of the best Haunted House books ever!
Review: Bravo Richard Matheson! You have written us a suspenseful and frightening tale without relying on pure gore! I have read some of the other reviews that have a bad opinion, but I fail to see what all of the harping is about. First of all, I don't think he was trying to frighten us with the lesbianism, it was all about losing control and some outside entity being in charge of your body and thoughts. The character, Edith, that is most desturbed has a problem with sex in general not just lesbianism. It is more than the sexual aspects, it is about how one man can corrupt so many and how evil can survive.
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Summary: NARROW TRASH
Review: I cannot believe so many give this book such credit. It isn't scary, it relies on the reader to find lesbianism to be shocking, and spirals into hyper-sexual possessions. It's a poorly written book, repeats and explains itself ENDLESSLY, and has the most uneventful ending I've ever encountered next to King's novel, IT. Save your money(...). Expand your mind and delve into Wilkie Collins or other gothic novelists who knew how to write sentences. Mike
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