Hell House

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: Good for beginners, More Advanced Players skip this level
Review: Matheson, usually an amazing storyteller, falls short on this one novel. The story had an amazing set-up, very Jamesian history. I read the first hundred pages without taking a break then after that the story sort of lost the energy it started out with. All three stars are for the first hundred pages, give or take a few pages. The history of Belasco House that Matheson describes is amazingly rich and sinister, it was Matheson writing at his best. But then the middle and last part of the book had the reader waiting, and it was a wait without any suspense that readers of Matheson normally expect from his stories. The ending seemed hastily thrown together as if Matheson didn't know exactly how to finish the story. However, I have read a great portion of Matheson's body of work and I have been disappointed, thus far, with this one novel only. For those readers who are familiar with Matheson and have read some of his work, especially those of you who have only read his short stories, please skip this novel as it will leave a bad taste in your mouth for Matheson's work which is on the average very excellent. However, for those of you who know nothing about Matheson or are just familiar with him by seeing his name on the credits of Twilight Zone episodes start off with this novel as it will give you a greater appreciation for his other works. I highly recommend The Shrinking Man (also under the title The Incredible Shrinking Man), and I Am Legend along with any number of his short stories. You will not be disappointed with his other works, guarenteed.

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.