Rating: Summary: At last, a decent cover! Review: The history of the book is almost as fascinating as Hell House, itself. Matheson's amazing sci-fi/horror/murder mystery was first packaged as - of all things - a Gothic romance, with a stormblown woman on a Wuthering Heights moor gracing its cover, which must have given quite a few dainty ladies at the hair salon expecting a mere bodice-ripper a heart attack or two. It quickly was repackaged a la The Exorcist, when that notorious Blatty book and flick came out, in fairly mundane fashion - again, with a windblown woman looking over her shoulder, this time simply holding a candelabra. Many years later, it came out with an absurd comic-opera cover showing disembodied head and hands menacing a cartoon heroine. Finally, in this edition, it looks most like what it is - a chilling excursion into a malevolent house.Superficially, it is almost identical to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House: both stories have a quartet of varied researchers studying a famous haunted house, both focus on the neuroses of a central female character, both have at least one fatality, and both even have a lesbian undercurrent between the two female characters. But Matheson typically makes the story his own. Belasco House is explored by a hidebound scientific psychic researcher, his insecure wife, a physical medium who survived a disastrous previous excursion, and an emotionally unstable, gullible, and overly-religious mental medium. Florence Tanner, the unstable medium, becomes Belasco House's favorite new playtoy, in short order. Matheson, like Jackson, is careful not to tip his hand too heavily in the beginning as to whether the house is genuinely haunted/possessed, or is simply reflecting the personality of its least grounded guest. This is a very easy, breezy read - but the breeze has spiders and knives in it, and Matheson is a master at delivering horrifying surprises. The '73 film version, The Legend of Hell House, is a faithful adaptation (by Matheson), but don't short-change yourself. Discover why this book has stood the test of time.
Rating: Summary: Top-notch creeper! Review: Richard Matheson is one of the leading lights of horror fiction,and this is one well-done creepfest!This is a great haunted house novel!A dying millionaire hires a parapsychologist to go to Belasco house,a notoriously evil place,stay a few days,and find out once and for all if the place is indeed haunted.With 3 others,his wife and 2 mediums,he agrees.WELL,things DO get weird!The parasychologist sees the atmosphere in purely scientific terms.The mediums see it differently.Don't wanna give anything away,but this book is fast paced,absorbing,and SCARY.
Rating: Summary: You'll need a night light after reading this one!! Review: This is the granddaddy of all ghost storys!! they based the movie : The legend of Hell House(1974) on this book!! The screenplay for the movie was written by Mr. Matheson. A excellent read!! You'll jump at every creak that you hear in your house after reading this one!! The very best that I've ever read!!
Rating: Summary: Scary as Hell! Review: This book is by far the best haunted house novel ever written. I have read it countless numbers of times and am scared every time. I highly recommend this book!!
Rating: Summary: One of the scariest and best Review: Hell House is a classic haunted house story, told in the inimitable style of Richard Matheson the master. The chapters are interesting in that all tell the time of the events as they happen, as if it's counting down to the final climax. The Bellasco house is a rival to Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House for being one of the creepiest inventions in the world of supernatural fiction. The characters have their psychological nuances that make them not just run of the mill, halfway protagonists. I saw the movie of this many years ago and it was pretty good, one of the first things that got me into reading horror novels. Then I got this book and it's so much better than the movie; Richard Matheson is one of the best horror and sci fiction novelists of all time.
Rating: Summary: Creepy Review: This book is really easy to get through the day, but at night, it's a different story. Matheson's vivid haunting encounters are as memorable as they are fearful, and he successfully plants characters from all fields: skeptic, spiritualist, scientist, and uses them to explain the ghost phenomenon in several ways. A good read from a well rounded author.
Rating: Summary: Simply the Best House of Horror Review: This is a fine presentation by Tor Books, with a very atmospheric cover painting, of the Richard Matheson classic, filmed in 1973 by John Hough for James H Nicolson of AIP fame. Those who have seen that film will be familiar with the plot, which the film adaptation adheres to fairly closely, but there are some added scary sexual shenanigans which Hough thought he probably wouldn't be able to get away with. The haunted house subgenre has always been at risk of falling prey to "Scooby Doo" syndrome where the protagonists end up running from room to room, the goings-on are cliched and the climax risible. Richard Matheson got around these problems back in 1971 by creating a suitably depraved, debauched background for his mansion, and a suitably unpleasant owner in the form of Emeric Belasco, whose evil presence permeates the book without Matheson ever having to over-emphasise his presence. The characters are sympathetically drawn and I agree with one of the previous reviewers that if you can get through this book in one sitting it will leave you feeling emotionally exhausted. An all-time classic and one fully deserving of remaining in print
Rating: Summary: Belasko's Legacy Review: Without a doubt, the best haunted house story I've ever read. Fortified with plenty of active and background material. The theme of a haunted house is an ancient one, and in the wroung hands it can be disasterous, but I consumed Hell House in a single day. All of the protagonists are strong characters, and their enemy, a nasty phantom called Belasko, is powerful. The flaws of the protagonists are peeled away slowly, over the course of time, as they attempt to solve the mystery of Hell House. Years earlier, the house had been the scene of great debauchery---depraved lusts, orgies, murder---and had remained invulnerable against all atempts to investigate it. Within the walls of the house, ghosts writhe in the shadows, fed by massive psychic energies. Eventually, as the corruptive influence of the house settles, the protagonists are set against each other in standard divide-and-conquer fashion. Don't want to ruin anything for any first-time readers, so I'll say only that I recommend this book very highly. If you enjoyed The Shining, you'll enjoy Hell House, which was a darker, more sexual predecessor to The Shining. Two thumbs up.
Rating: Summary: Full-throtle horror Review: It is quite a pleasure, being scared. While most people would argue this statement, claiming that being frightened is not pleasurable in the slightest, nevertheless it is true. We go out of our way to be scared, either through literature and movies, or through the more visceral route of roller-coasters and bungee-jumping. But within this ever-growing need for thrills lies a problem; we are becoming inured to fright, becoming jaded by the horrific. What was once terrifying is now mundane, or so the audiences of today would have us believe. By remaining an arms length away from any emotional connection with the subject-matter, through a sort of ironic detatchment, we have become immune to the sheer thrill of what may lie beyond that door. It's a shame, as Richard Matheson's HELL HOUSE is a novel that cries for the reader's rapt attention and suspension of disbelief. If that can be achieved, then HELL HOUSE is a hell of a ride. HELL HOUSE functions as a revved-up hounted house cousin to Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, taking Jackson's basic premise, and ratcheting up the adreneline. Matheson presents the story as a scientific test of the paranormal, as four disparate characters take up residence inside the infamous Belasco house, united together by the lure of money, and the hope that the evil can be dispelled. No time is wasted moving the story along, the characters entering the house in record time (page 12, I believe). As the story progresses over four deeply disturbing days, the characters find themselves increasingly affected by whatever forces inhabit the house. Florence, a medium, contacts the spirit of a young man who died within the walls. Dr. Barrett is obsessed with finding a mechanical means of dispelling the force. His wife, Edith, takes to sleepwalking. And Fischer has personal demons to battle, as well; he was the only survivor of a previous expedition. Unlike Jackson's more sedate and internalized novel (the modern standard of haunted house stories), Matheson externalizes the horror in ever-increasing gruesomeness. The walls of the house are riddled with visions of obscenities. The manisfestations are decidedly physical, and unsubtle. Matheson seems to have a high time rubbing the reader's nose in every unpleasantness, every degradation. It is a testament to his skill as a writer that the reader never feels dirty afterwards. This is vivid and gruesome writing, but it never becomes exploitative. It sure teeters on the edge, though. Matheson allows the story to flesh out the characters, their motivations and weaknesses slowly becoming apparent. This is as it should be, as the house preys on such fallibilities. And, as in the best novels of the genre, the house itself becomes a character, gradually revealing its weaknesses as well. Much like the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's THE SHINING (which owes a great deal of debt to HELL HOUSE), the Belasco house is an entity unto itself, with a history so disturbing that it would take up a few more novels to fully expose its character. HELL HOUSE is not simply a series of events the human characters react to: it is alive, and wishes to remain so. But unlike Matheson's I AM LEGEND, which completely re-imagines the vampire myth as an apocalyptic nightmare, HELL HOUSE does not re-invent the haunted house novel. Unlike THE SHINING, it does not create a personal empathy with the reader through the downfall of its characters. HELL HOUSE is an homage to the haunted house, adding modern sensibilities to the genre. It raises the gore level and sexual content beyond that of previous attempts, which is a mixed blessing. Matheson can sustain the story through his abilities as an author, but how many novels have been written since that present the reader with blood instead of scares, with guts in place of horror? And perhaps that is a problem HELL HOUSE can't overcome. HELL HOUSE's scares, as pleasurable as they are, may not be able to overcome the jaded nature of today's audience, who prefer to view horror as 'camp'. I recall with dismay a recent viewing of the re-release of THE EXORCIST, and hearing many audience members laugh at particularly upsetting scenes. HELL HOUSE requires a suspension of disbelief, a rare commodity these days; if that can be achieved, it becomes a frightening tale of terror, concerned with nothing so much as scaring the wits out of you.
Rating: Summary: The Best! Review: This is probably the best haunted house novel ever. Richard Matheson is the second most important horror-writer of the twentieth century, and this is my favorite novel by him. On the surface, it bears many similarities to The Haunting of Hill House: four paranormal investigators, a lesbian relationship, etc. This novel however is much grittier and the scare factor is greatly increased. For me, the most interesting part of the book is the backstory about Victor Belasco and how Hell House earned its name...
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