Recently I started getting interested in haunted house stories, which represents a break in my usual zombie-filled reading list. I read “I Am Legend” and absolutely loved it, and I wanted to see what Matheson could do given a haunted house theme. I was in no way disappointed !
A scientist, his flaky wife, and two mediums are charged by a dying millionaire to investigate the phenomena of Belasco House. Over the years, Belasco house has earned the reputation for being fiercely haunted, and is therefore also referred to as Hell House. The four people are supposed to survive a week in Hell House, recording data and coming to a solid conclusion of whether or not the soul persists after death, and whether or not the house is actually haunted.
At times it was hard to remember that the book was set in the 1970s, because the language was modern. Or, I suppose it could be said that the writing was ‘timeless’. Don’t misunderstand me, I love disco, but I don’t want to read a ghost story in 2010 and constantly be reminded of the time period. This attribute has kept Hell House a novel for the ages.
The haunting itself was masterfully written. In the beginning I was afraid that the haunting phenomena would be tame and sparse, but in actuality Matheson was taking his time establishing the characters. Once the haunting began, it was page-by-page madness. I didn’t know from one moment to the next what to expect. There was no predictability, and every time I thought I had figured out the haunting I was wrong. Matheson’s greatest strength was in his ability to keep the reader in the perspective of the characters by never giving too much away at one time.
Towards the end of Hell House, I became worried that Matheson had written himself into a corner and wouldn’t be able to give the story the strong finish it deserved. Thankfully, I was wrong again. The ending had the right amount of suspense as well as closure. The ending definitely ‘fit’ the book, both explaining the haunting as well as showing character growth. By the final page, the characters had progressed in maturity and understanding in a natural way, almost as if they were real people.
Hell House is a great introduction to the works of Richard Matheson, but is also enjoyable to anyone who likes scary stories.
dougthoughts
Nice review! My intro was “I Am Legend” and after that, I became an instant fan of the BOOKS, not the MOVIES for that book. Ugh! Can the directors and screenwriters ever get something right? Anyways, I look forward to more reviews from fellow fans of this guy.
Doug!
deadaeris
I’m so glad you enjoyed my review ! To be honest, I usually try to pretend that movies based on books were just separate entities, or I try and read the book first. You are correct – they don’t usually get the book right when they make it into a movie.
I think for most people “I Am Legend” has an accessibility to it that makes it the gateway story. I have a few other Matheson books on my summer reading list, but I don’t want to go through them too fast – there’s only a finite number !
Once again – thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. I hope to hear more from you !
~ deadaeris
dougthoughts
Thanks for the reply. I try to view book-based movies the same way. Anyway, I have added Hell House to my infinite list of books to FIND and read. I am way too spoiled by paying 25cents for the books I pickup at my local treasure house, so I will play to waiting game.
Laters,
DOug