Hell House

[The Mythwriter]

Has anyone else read Hell House by Richard Matheson? I read it for a combination of reasons, partly because I love ghost/haunted house/horror stories, and partly because I enjoyed the film adaptation of I Am Legend but wanted to read a different work by Matheson.

I was astounded at how much I hated the book. Probably the only reason I finished it was because I wanted so hard to like it. Not only is Matheson accredited as one of the great modern horror novelists, but Hell House was highly recommended wherever I looked.

It had potential, but personally, I thought the characters had very little development beyond given them a few distinctions, and what little psychological effect that had been built up in the beginning was, I thought, very quickly overwhelmed and destroyed by the highly sexual elements throughout the story. (I doubt anyone would be angry at me if that's a spoiler.) The boom promises, in its own dialogue, a slew of paranormal events, but we only see a few, and as I said, they are all sexual in nature. I can see why Matheson used this to portray simple, pure evil, but the lack of variety made everything stale. If it had been written by a no-name author, I'd have said the monotony was a signature of lack of talent. Even the ending was predictable and anti-climactic, despite efforts at trickery.

Has anyone else felt this way about this book? Thus far, I seem to be quite alone in believing it is a terrible example of horror fiction, though I'll admit I'm hard to impress, and only Stoker, Shelly, LeFanu and Lovecraft have thus far managed to do so. At any rate, those who were wondering whether to read this book, you have my opinion, and be forewarned that it is rife with sexual assault that is borderline graphic and very wearisome after the umpteenth time, along with some language. In the end, this book did not scare me, and thus failed at its purpose. It disgusted me, yes. But the only horror I felt was that this was considered good fiction. I truly wish someone had warned me what this book was like before I bought it.

Otherwise, feel free to disagree, I know that certain types of writing appeal to different people. Still, I'm surprised at how few those who dislike this book are.

[The Baron]

A friend gave me that book about one year ago, according to him it was supposed to be a masterpiece.. I didn't like it, I agree with your critics but I want to add that, maybe because this is the only book from Matheson I've read so far, I do think it's due to lack of talent..

[ryan2]

I thought I am Legend was a decent book. It was a short one, and the movie can be misleading. I am Legend is a vampire book.

[MrWright]

I've never read the book but have seen the 1970s film adaptation 'Legend of Hell House'. It was a bit creepy, in parts, but the ending seemed a big build up to nothing. I've heard the book's far more graphic!