Hell House

Rating:
Summary: Let's not blow this out of proportion
Review: Ok, let's get something straight, it is a good book, probably a great book, very intriging, but not as scary as everyone is making it seem. I read this book because I had read What Dreams May Come, and I looked up Matheson on Amazon.com. I found this and how everyone said how terrifying Hell House was, so i checked it out at the library. It was a neat book, i liked it, but it did not have me "looking under my bed or in my closets"

Rating:
Summary: Believe the hype
Review: I couldn't agree with the other reviewers more. Poe is a little unsettling. Lovecraft gives me the creeps. King gives me the willies. However, Matheson's Hell House was the first book that ever truly scared me. This book had me looking over my shoulder at movement I thought I saw out of the corner of my eye. It had me jumping at the faintest, most benign little noises coming from somewhere in the house. I guarantee it will do the same to you.

Rating:
Summary: I was scared to death, had to read it AGAIN!!
Review: Hell House has been my favorite scary book since I can remember. I am desperately looking for a copy. I hope the publisher has a few left in the closet somewhere, but after reading THIS book they are probably afraid to OPEN THE CLOSET!! I love a good scary book with suspense and a meaningful story too, this goes beyond that...Way beyond that..Like to be right in the middle of the Mount Everest of Haunted Houses? This is THE BOOK!! It is cant sleep for nights and nights without the lights on type of book I promise you that!!

Rating:
Summary: If you like a good fright, here's the book for you!
Review: Richard Matheson has written a pulse pounder in this one. He makes you feel down to your bones that you are actually experiencing this horror. The characters are so real and the place so extreme. I was so frightened that I had to keep putting it down to stop my heart from racing. From first page to last, it is a winner for anyone who appreciates a good scare!

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS THE MOST FRIGHTENING BOOK I EVER READ
Review: THIS BOOK WILL LEAVE YOU IN COLD SWEATS. YOU WILL BE LOOKING UNDER YOUR BED AND IN THE CLOSET.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: Once again, Richard Matheson paints a chilling tale of horror in the modern world. Hell House is the canvas on which all horror books should be painted. With realistic portrayel of characters in otherworldly situation, Matheson reminds us why he is the greatest horror writer of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Verrrrry Scarrrrrey !!!!
Review: One of Mathesons' best. A Stay Up Late; Can't Put It Down; Hurt My Eyes thriller. I've got a first edition

Rating:
Summary: A fairly good read
Review: I was compelled to keep reading, although grew weary toward the end.
The beginning seemed to offer promise of some real scares, but it devolved into bloodletting and stupidity. Also, the plot is too close to Shirley Jackson's
The Haunting of Hill House -- which is far superior -- too many horror story writers think that over-the-top gore and explicitly bloody and "perverted" (please - lesbianism? Isn't this the 21st C.?) sex will carry the book, when I find that what scares me is exactly the opposite - subtlety, ambiguity, the feel of someone perhaps looking over your shoulder -- that's the scarey stuff of nightmares.
Read Shirley Jackson and the Turn of the Screw instead.

Rating:
Summary: Hellish!
Review: Despite what the title suggests, this book is NOT actually about my apartment during the holiday season. Though, frankly, I do feel somewhat haunted by the amazing piles of crap that are accumulating while I'm too busy wrapping gifts, baking cookies, and making shopping lists to keep on top of chores. However, lucky for me, that haunting doesn't involve evil ghost thingies that zoom around and rip my limbs off. The people in this novel? Ehhhh, not so fortunate.

Those of you who saw the 1973 movie "The Legend of Hell House" already know the plot of this novel (because the film was based on it). Those of you who saw "The Haunting" starring Owen Wilson, Liam Neeson, and Lily Taylor, or "House on Haunted Hill" starring Geoffrey Rush, also know the plot of this novel, even though "The Haunting" was actually based on a Shirley Jackson story and "House on Haunted Hill" was based on, uh, who knows what. The thing is, you read one haunted house novel or watch one haunted house movie, you read or watch them all. This book has nothing interesting or original to give to us, at least not anymore (who knows, in 1971, when it first was published, it may have been really fab). And, what's worse, it's not even scary, though it tries very, very hard to be.

The story is about a group of paranormal researchers and psychics who decide a really entertaining way to spend a week would be to go to the Belasco house (AKA "Hell House") and hang out. Yes, this despite the fact the previous two groups of yahoos who tried this very experiment all ended up dead. Eh, nobody said psychics were smart. Of course, they show up, the ghosts go bananas, most of them end up six feet under. Big surprise. La la la. Yawn. I confess, I've seen all three of the movies I just mentioned, and many of them more than once. And I did that for the same reason I read this book all the way through. I'm a sucker for ghost stories. But don't be like me. It can only cause you great amounts of pain, misery, and many, many good hours wasted on unoriginal crappola. Read something better. Like, say, the phone book. Recommended! But only if you are TOTALLY INSANE.


Rating:
Summary: Poe, anyone?
Review: A malevolent house, a tarn, a man walled in with bricks, a host of lascivious guests entombed, unwittingly, with death in their midst. Many of the themes and details of this novel smack of Poe's most successful short stories; The House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Cask of Amontellado, to name a few. That being said, I found it a largely satisfying read. The sense of vague unease stemmed not from the current occupants so much as the string of past atrocities. I found myself darkly fascinated with the history of the place, while the graphic sexuality of the current occupants struck me as less than frightening--and rather more offensive. As one reviewer pointed out, this is in some respects soft porn masquerading as a ghost story. All things considered, I found the book to be a satisfying read, with the possible exception of the ending. I can't explain it properly without spoiling the ending. Suffice to say, the summit of the thing, which should have been riveting through and through, lost a bit of its steam, and seemed to fizzle--if only a little. Still, a very enjoyable, and very disturbing, read.