Hell House

Rating:
Summary: The Mount Everest of haunted house novels
Review: "Hell House" author Richard Matheson has always been one of the great supernatural authors of recent history. His novels may not hit the bestseller lists with the frequency of Stephen King or Dean Koontz, but his contributions to the genre are legendary. His resume includes episodes of "The Twilight Zone," "I Am Legend," "Somewhere In Time," "The Shrinking Man" and "Stir of Echoes." For me, "Hell House" stands out as his great contribution to the genre, a storied and historical form of literature traveled by the likes of Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, H. G. Wells and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Just when you think all has been covered in the haunted house genre, here comes Matheson with this electric and extraordinarily creepy variation circa 1971.

Wonderfully realized and darkly imaginative, "Hell House" is a simple tale of four unluckly folks hired to crack the legend of Hell House, an isolated mansion in Maine with a history as dark as the Manson Family at Spahn Ranch. Once owned by a Mr. Belasco, the house was an early 20th century hangout of deviant folks who explored carnal avenues to the ultimate point of starvation and death. Two previous expeditions of scientists ended in suicide and disaster, and our modern-day protagonists, needless-to-say, have their work cut out for them.

By novel's end, each character must come to terms with their own human weaknesses and repressions, exposed by the overwhelming evil of Hell House. Matheson's novel is brilliant because it brings a sexual awareness to the genre only flirted with in the past. The house, in many ways, is a prison with windows bricked over, nestled uncomfortably in an isolated, fog-covered valley. Matheson's characters are painfully alone, battling forces psycologically and eventually physically.

What is most memorable about "Hell House," is the set-up and creation of one of the most evil houses in literature history. Matheson's dark imagaination has created a character that is both repulsive and erotic, possessing an energy that slowly works on human frailty, devouring and dominating. Past haunted house novels have enthralled with gothic and mysterious allure. Matheson's novel throws goth out the window, replacing such conventions with an oozing, carnal evil, grotesque in nature, overwhelming and horrifying.

"Hell House" is so good, one wonders how it could possibly be topped. I don't think it ever really will, but recent authors such as King and Anne Rice continue to create epic variations on the haunted house story. But the brilliance of Matheson's novel is its primal simplicity. Horror has rarely seen a tale as creepy as "Hell House."

Rating:
Summary: Breathtakingly Astounding
Review: This book was truly amazing, as throughout the whole book I was held in suspense and just could not stop reading it. In fact, I finished the book in one sitting as soon as I got in in the mail. The thrill and scare is great, but what I enjoyed the most was the moving and brilliant storyline. At first you are a distant, somewhat curious reader observing the behavior of the team and the background of the house. Then soon you quickly become immersed in Matheson's own microcosm he has created, and you can imagine yourself being with the characters, shivering in fear. The characters are very believable as well, and as the plot unfolds you learn more about them and their past lives. The physicist's theory of eradicating the electromagnetic forces is interesting as well, and creates much suspense and aniticpation as the reader is left wondering whether he is right or wrong, whether his machine will work and all will turn out well, or whether he will fail miserably and all will topple, bringing him down along with the others. Truly fascinating read, go buy it now!

Rating:
Summary: As close to perfection as possible!
Review: Hell House is exactly what you want it to be.........a chilling, straight-forward haunted house story. It is highly entertaining, intelligent & worth every penny you pay for the book.

Far too often a book is spoken of as "scary", but once you reach a point, it spirals into a weird, hardly believable mess. Hell House is exactly what you hope for in a novel of its type. While the ending is ever-so-slightly a let down, it is quite appropriate & mostly satisfying.

While I've read books that have certainly chilled me more than Hell House (Summer of Night by Dan Simmons to be specific) it is certainly one of the best horror/supernatural/haunted house novels ever written.

Rating:
Summary: Ending disappointed
Review: I love subtle horror. I've never been one for blood and gore shock flicks, I was always into the horror stories that were creepy but not over the top. Give me something believable. My love for that type of horror definitely influenced my purchase of Hell House. I hadnt read his earlier work, but I did see Stir of Echoes and What Dreams May Come, and I figured how bad could it be. The awnser was not bad at all. The story moved at a good pace and the characters were better than average horror fare, but the ending seemed rushed and ultimately disappointing. After reading it, I could only say it was decent, and I'm still searching for a horror novel to truly scare me.

Rating:
Summary: Good Haunted House Tale
Review: This was a good read. I like a scary book and this was a fun one to read. The most important thing is well developed characters. The people in this story felt real, they all had their own distinct personality. That in itself sets it above most horror fiction I have read. The book provides some great chills and moves along at a fast pace. And unlike most horror fiction has a satisfying conclusion. If you are a Stephen King fan I think you will enjoy this book

Rating:
Summary: Rather disapointing affair
Review: I suspect I'll take a great deal of chiding for this, but I really wasn't very impressed with "Hell House". Indeed, I'm not too overwhelmed by what I have read of Richard Matheson overall, which is not much, admittedly. I liked "I Am Legend" quite a bit. "Hell House" is at times gripping, creepy, and silly. While always entertaining, it's too silly to really be effective as a horror novel.

The horror of this novel really comes from the nature of Hell House itself. The creepiest moments of this novel come when the history of the house is recounted. However, much of that horror is undone by the novel's central conceit that even the supernatural can be handled by scientific means, and that even ghosts can be banished with the right tools. This ultimate solution pretty much drains the horror out of the proceedings.

While Matheson is a solid writer, the plot here never suspends disbelief. "Hell House" is a page turner, with a lot of atmosphere, but a minimum of chills in favor of rationalizing phantoms.

Rating:
Summary: Last hundred or so pages pulls it out of a tailspin.
Review: I'm a huge fan of "I Am Legend" and Mr. Matheson's short stories have always been little gems to me. His writing style and imaginative ideas in a haunted house setting would seem ideal, but the beginning chapters of the book were fairly boring.

I suppose I'm used to being creeped out in the first fifty pages, or perhaps I prefer more feelings of dread and anxiety, but after the first hundred pages I kept wondering if I was ever going to get a real fright.

Good thing I hung in there. The book started scaring ... me at about two-thirds in and didn't relent. The turning point was more overt interactions of the house with the guests, and the misdirection working to unseat sanity from their minds.

Now, as compared to some real page-turning horror novels, this one stands as a very good effort with some flaws. Dialogue, some characterizations, some plot devices didn't work as well as I expected. Still, putting it in its place among novels along a timeline, it is a solid novel and it will deliver if you hang in there.

However, it does not surpass "Salem's Lot" or "It" from Stephen King for pure "how the heck am I gonna get to sleep tonight?" anxiety. It does edge out "The Shining", however, and here's an interesting final thought: what if Stanley Kubrick made this book into a movie instead of "The Shining"? I think it might've been the most lethal film ever made...

Rating:
Summary: Typical Haunted Story
Review: This was an okay book to read. It's basically your typical haunted house storyline with a tiny twist. The book does contain some strong sexual scenes that I found uncomfortable to read. I was disappointed with the ending of the story...it was kinda a dud. Overall it wasn't that bad of a book. I still wanna see the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Pure Pulp Bliss
Review: I was in the mood for some nostalgia the other day and remembered a fantastic scary movie I'd seen when I was about twelve starring Roddy McDowell and the perpetually naked Pamela Franklin called 'The Legend of Hell House'. Since it's nearly impossible to find in video stores I decided to read the book it was based on instead and picked this up. Granted, my inner child is not the most reliable source of information (I caught 'Jack the Giant Killer', what it rated as my 'favorite' childhood movie, on tv the other day and was so appalled we're still not on speaking terms) so I didn't open up the cover with the highest of expectations.

Fan-freaking-tastic is all I have to say. Now I'm not rating this as how it compares to Shakespeare, but rather judging it on what it is: pulp. And as pulp horror goes this is a fun jaunt through scary house land. All the requisite elements are here: creepy fog, seance gone wrong, spirit-sensitive cat, sole survivor of previous attempted exorcism, and the paranormally clueless character that gives the author a reason to explain everything to you. Plus, it being the seventies and all, you get the added sex and open perversion earlier books of this kind had to leave out.

I know most horror connouseurs consider 'The Shining' as the book by which all other haunted house tales are judged but I never liked that novel much anyway ('Blasphemy!' The review readers cry. 'Burn the heretic!'). When I pick up a horror novel I want to be scared or uncomfortable or made to feel at least *something* and when you pick up a hefty Stephen King you have to break it into pieces which ruins any suspense you might get. With Hell House you can just dive in, get your scares, and crawl out again all in the space of a single sitting. No fuss, no muss, and the intended impact stays intact.

So four stars for Hell House and all its' campy, seventies pulp-porn glory. It might not make anyone's top horror list (myself included) but it will give you a few hours of rainy-day/snowed in/beach weekend entertainment and for that you will be grateful.

Rating:
Summary: At the risk of not being popular....
Review: I too am going to risk being one of the few detractors of Hell House. I have the utmost respect for Matheson as a horror writer, but for me Hell House has one very fundamental flaw... it's not scary. The writing is atmospheric, moody, occasionally even shocking, but.... it's not scary. The only character I even felt remotely sympathetic towards was the psychic Florence, as for the rest.. lets say I was often rooting for the house. A truly scary haunted house story needs to quicken the pulse, give a shiver, or make you jump at a strange sound, all were sadly lacking at the Belasco residence.