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Hell House

By: Richard Matheson
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Saint Martin's Press Inc.
ISBN: 0312868855
ISBN-13: 9780312868857
Released: 01 Jan 1971
RRP: £8.02
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Hell Has No Fury - By: J. J. O'neill, 18 Nov 2008
This rather cliche ridden story of a scientist, a spiritualist & a medium's exploration of a notorious haunted house does not reach the heights of Matheson's most famous work : "I Am Legend."

There is, perhaps ,too little left to the imagination here as the author describes in detail the injuries & sexual indidignities heaped on his characters, particularly on Florence, the most sympathetic of the investigators.

To be fair, this is a well written book & does come to a satisfyingly final conclusion, but there is little in the way of plot twists or unexpected revelations along the way.

The demonic haunted house & the quasi scientific means used to combat it reminded me of a mix of two of William Hope Hodgson's works : "The Night Land" & "Carnacki the Ghost Finder"
Not the best haunted house story ever written...but almost! - By: Jack, 05 Dec 2007
Far more brutal & intense than the disappointing film version, this novel moves along at a great pace, thanks mainly to Matheson's crisp, no-nonsense prose & the fact that the entire action of the story takes place over the course of just a few days as the ghost of cruel & sadistic libertine, Emeric Belasco, concentrates alll its efforts on the destruction of a team of squabbling scientists & psychics employed by a dying millionaire to prove that life exists after death. There is so much in this book that didn't make it into the film, & contrary to a previous reviewer's complaint, the Belasco House as it is presented here seems to me to be a magnificent & monstrous monument to Emeric Belasco's decadence & immorality. It's much more effective than the fairly pedestrian, cobwebbed manse that appears in the film version. There are some genuinely shocking sequences in this book (as Matheson once pointed out following criticism of the book's violence & sexual preoccupations, what's the point in writing a story about the most evil house in the world if alll you're going to do is have leprechauns running around) & its influence is readily apparent in a lot of the haunted house novels that came after it (King's 'The Shining', for instance, which contains scenes that read as if they were lifted straight from Matheson's novel, & Chet Williamson's entertaining, if inferior, 'Soulstorm'). The greatest haunted house story ever written is undoubtedly Shirley Jackson's subtler, trickier 'Haunting of Hill House' - but for sheer unadulterated funhouse thrills & chills, 'Hell House' can't be bettered.
A classic horror tale of mystery and ungodly events. - By: Chris Hall, 06 Mar 2006
For over twenty years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mount Everest of haunted houses, it is a venerable mansion whose shadowed wallls have witnessed scenes of almost unimaginable horror & depravity. Two previous expeditions to investigate its secrets met with disaster, the participants destroyed by murder, suicide or insanity.

Now a new investigation has been mounted, bringing four strangers to the forbidding mansion, determined to probe Belasco House for the ultimate secrets of life & death. Each has his or her own reason for daring the unknown torments & temptations of the mansion, but can any soul survive what lurks within the most haunted house on Earth?

Richard Matheson’s classic horror novel ‘Hell House’ was first published by Viking Press Inc back in 1971. Matheson had already received much praise for his previous work with novels such as ‘I Am Legend’ & ‘The Shrinking Man’. The novel proved to be such an inspirational piece of horror fiction that it was later made into the film ‘The Legend of Hell House’ starring both Pamela Franklin & Roddy McDowalll.

From the very beginning of the novel, the reader is thrown into the eerie premise of the novel, with its classic haunted house plot. The four main characters that are hired to investigate & research the truth behind the house’s paranormal haunting are introduced from the start, with somewhat cliqued characterization & obvious clashes in personality. Yet this does not detract from the enjoyment & the books storyline. The tension slowly builds, as the reader is submerged deeper into the creepy house & the ghostly occurrences that occur within its wallls. The story is packed with twists & turns, delivering a fast paced tale that builds towards the final mysterious outcome.

‘Hell House’ is bursting with graphic scenes of sexual deprivation as the house’s influence & history reveals itself. You’ll find yourself trapped within the pages of the novel as each horrific event is followed by another equallly horrific event. Each characters sanity will be questioned on many occasion, as the terrible power that is held within the house corrupts & destroys the four inhabitants.

The novel is well written, with a diary like structure to the book that makes it very easy to read in smalll parts if desired. The tale is by no means a particularly scary tale, but it will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat from the outset. If you enjoy a good ghost story with an element of mystery then this is certainly a book for you.

The novel runs for a total of 301 pages & is released through Tor Books.

good, but not as good as the film. - By: S. Hapgood, 06 Nov 2003
I read this solely because I had liked the film "The Legend of Hell House" so much. I didn't feel though that it was as effective at creating a disturbing atmosphere as the film was. The house itself for instance is different in the book. Whereas in the film it's a cobwebby, gloomy Gothic mansion, in the book it's a luxurious art deco-style palace, complete with swimming-pool & balllroom, like something out of the Great Gatsby. It sounds far more of desirable residence! I also feel the characters were better interpreted in the film. In the book it's hard to reallly care what happens to them.

Where the book IS better than the film is in the descriptions of Belasco's lifestyle. The film only refers to his dubious antics in a hysterical over-blown way, but in the book you get a detailed description of how he manipulated his guests, & just how horrifying his final house-party was. There is almost something Sadean about the descriptions of the guests descent into a living hell. We could almost do with a remake of the film with those parts added in as a disturbing flashback. What a horror film that would make!

Very good, but perhaps not the classic I was expecting - By: Docendo Discimus, 29 Sep 2002
"Hell House is the scariest haunted house novel ever written. It looms over the rest the way the mountains loom over the foothills."

At least according to a certain Mr Stephen King.

I was very much looking forward to reading this supposed masterpiece, & I was only slightly disappointed. "Hell House"is quite well-written, although not as well as I'd expected, based on my (admittedly not too extensive) knowledge of Richard Burton Matheson.

It is thrilling at times, but never reallly frightening, & the characters are a little bit cardboard-y. But it is worth the read none the less, just don't expect it to be as scary (or as well-written) as "The Shining" or "Pet Sematary" by the aforementioned Mr King.

If you want pure terror, go for "Pet Sematary". That is, in my humble opinion, the single most horrifying novel ever confined to paper.