Last night I stayed up until 1 a.m. reading Richard Matheson’s Hell House and I finally finished it before passing out. I had become a fan of Matheson’s ever since reading I Am Legend and saw on the back of Hell House’s cover when I picked it up that Stephen King claimed it to be one of the best haunted house novels ever written. Once I saw that I had to buy it and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed.
The book starts off with very little back story; just enough information to let you know where things will be taking place and for what purpose. You meet Dr. Lionel Barrett who is a brilliant and strictly scientific man who is hired by a dying millionaire to prove there is life after death at the most haunted house ever documented, the Belasco House or Hell House. From there the book introduces two mediums and Barrett’s wife all of whom enter the house for a weeks stay to seek out what haunts the house.
The different personalities of the characters in the story really were the most interesting part once the “House” itself started to manifest paranormal activity. How each character was affected differently and what that meant to everyone else in the story. I enjoyed reading about how Dr. Barrett’s conflict with one of the mediums escalates to a series of unfortunate events for both characters. The most interesting character of all I thought was the Dr.’s wife Edith. She basically releases of a great deal of repressed wants and feelings that have a very negative effect on the others but mostly on her.
The ending was a bit of a rollercoaster I thought with the last quarter of the book flying through theories and questions page by page. It gets a little confusing to be honest like a mystery with too many possible endings but then finally it comes to a close and makes more sense. I was a little surprised at the ending, in a good way and even a bit amused. I will leave it at that. Overall I would recommend it for a very mature reader who can handle extremes the likes of The Exorcist and one who likes a good horror mystery.
