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Jan 04, 2012

Jemidar rated it:

Rating Clarification: 2.5 stars.

Disappointing and predictable, this Gothic ghost story isn't a patch on the classics of the genre such as Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. The writing is uneven and the author fails to keep the suspense building often interspersing awkward/boring moments between the tense scenes, which unfortunately were all too few. Part of the problem with the tension was that it was all so predictable I didn't even feel the need to check the ending like I More...

26 comments like (19 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Anna rated it:

Hmm. A pseudo-Victorian gothic ghost story that has a very un-Victorian length of 140 pages. To be honest, it's not very good. It reminds me of 14 year old me when I started reading things like Dracula, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and thinking 'there's not much to this writing a classic novel business- I should give it a try'. Cue the dull, rational protagonist (lawyer or doctor obviously) who is thrown into some spooky goings-on and slowly becomes undone in such default settings More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2012

Bill rated it:

A disappointment. I kept hearing about how this was a real honest-to-god, old-fashioned ghost story steeped in the tradition of James and James (Henry and Montague Rhodes)that delivered a frisson of genuine terror and some very fine writing as well. Alas1 I didn't find any of this to be true.

For starters, I didn't believe the narrator. He is a man in his forties--self-described as "unimaginative"--who years before suffered a scarring supernatural experience, yet h More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Monique rated it:

Over the four-day Halloween/All Saints' Day/All Souls' Day long weekend, I took a respite from reading the classic novel, Gone With The Wind, to ~~get spooked~~ read something that's thematically apt for the holiday. I had been provided with a PDF copy of this book for a couple of months now (thanks to Kwesi), and I was particularly saving reading it for Halloween.

The Woman In Black: A Ghost Story is about a young Brit lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who was tasked to tie up the loose ends i More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Daniel rated it:

I've always loved a good ghost film, so after seeing 'The Woman in Black' advertised at a bus stop, I decided I absolutely had to go see this film. Imagine my surprise when I found out it had originally been a book! Well, that changes everything, I thought. I have to read the book first! And so I did.

'The Woman in Black' tells the tale of Arthur Kipp, a solicitor acting on behalf of the late Mrs. Drablow, attempting to sort out her affairs. Mrs. Drablow was an old recluse, living in More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 08, 2011

Bonnie rated it:

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

’Yes, I had a story, a true story, a story of haunting and evil, fear and confusion, horror and tragedy.

Storyline

Arthur Kipps is a junior solicitor from London who has been asked by his employer to attend the funeral of Mrs. Alice Drablow in Crythin Gifford. He must also visit her residence in order to collect any important paperwork that she may have been left behind. Arthur sees the woman in black at Mrs. Drabl More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2012

Karen rated it:

I am honestly concerned that some are going to be misled by the descriptions floating around about this book and possibly miss out on enjoying a great, true to the classic style, ghost story.

I almost didn't pick this book up because I kept hearing that it is "The scariest ghost story of our time" and "Beware, it will keep you awake at night". It wasn't until I heard it was written in the style of the classic ghost story that I thought I would give it a shot.
More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2011

Emily rated it:

I said in another review that I'm near impossible to scare because my parents were relaxed with horror movie censorship when I was a young kid. I was oversaturated with horror from a young age and tend to find it more laughable than spine-tingling.

However, this book may be the only exception I have found so far. In recent years I have flat-out avoided horror stories because they do nothing for me... I can stomach Stephen King but only because his books tend to be about more than the ba More...

3 comments like (25 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

kari rated it:

This is a ghost story in the very classic style. This isn't Stephen King style, more Edgar Allen Poe or a Victorian tale. The writing style adds to the story, pulling you back into a different time.
I liked the beginning which frames the story and sets the mood for the tale. A story so frightening that the teller, Arthur Kipps, cannot even share it with his family.
The story is very descriptive and atmospheric. You can feel the mist, the chill, see the views out across the marsh and t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2011

Book Chick City rated it:

I first read 'The Woman in Black' back in 1990 - I loved it then and I still love it now. I re-read it especially for my 'All Hallows Eve' event and I'm so pleased I revisited this amazing book.

The eeriness of the story is combined with delicious descriptive prose. This is what I love about Hills' writing. She's able to describe the world surrounding her characters with such detail I could actually be there, smelling the morning dew, feeling the biting wind on my skin, sensing the fe More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2008

Leanna rated it:

I was perusing the Amazon bestseller list when I first stumbled on Susan Hill’s mystery The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story. Why the book, originally published in 1983, was on the list at all is likely the greatest mystery of all.

Lawyer Arthur Kipps is sorting through a deceased client’s paperwork at Eel House when he first encounters the titular woman in black. The house and the woman are shrouded in mystery, and the local villagers refuse to reveal their history to Kipps. Instead, More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 14, 2010

Linda K rated it:

Chilling story with great attention to capturing the bleakness and emotional darkness of good versus evil. I could almost feel the atmosphere of heavy fog, dampness, dreariness and unexplained appearances in a very small English town where a lawyer travels to finalize the estate of an elderly client. Not my usual reading topic, but I can greatly appreciate the skill of this writer.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2009

MG rated it:

This is perhaps my favorite ghost story of all time. I recently finished reading her story, “The Man In The Picture: A Ghost Story,” when I was directed to Ms. Hill once again by a friend helping me research the best constructed ghost stories. As a writer, this exactly what I desire to achieve. She is a master at building tension. The atmosphere she creates is not only something you observe, but you also feel it. This story in particular entails a tangible sense of isolation. The main character More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2012

Kaitie rated it:

I wanted to read this book before I saw the movie, but that didn't happen. So my review of the book is influenced by my comparison of it to the movie, and I wish I had read it first because I think I preferred the movie.

The book was ok, I enjoyed it well enough, but it was slow going. Where the movie was suspenseful, the book was less so. There were still moments, but it didn't have the same effect as seeing scary things appear on screen.

I did love the descriptions of the More...

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Feb 20, 2012

Karen rated it:

I loved this horror novel because of the skillful building of suspense through the setting and because it is just a great, old-fashioned ghost story. A solicitor travels to attend a funeral of one of his law firm's clients, and to settle her affairs. At the church service, he sees a woman in black, and when he asks the townspeople about her, they register shock and fear before completely ignoring him. His uneasiness only increases as he travels to the house, which is only accessible at low tide More...

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Feb 20, 2012

Petit-lips rated it:

- Un livre à dévorer le soir... ou pas ! Parce que je l'ai terminé juste avant de dormir, et je ne suis pas sûre d'avoir un sommeil parfait là... lol

- Ce livre a été une très bonne surprise pour moi. Je ne suis pas une habituée des Thriller en littérature, mais j'aime beaucoup ce genre de films. Et avec La dame en noir, j'ai été séduite.
Même si la première moitié du récit est un peu plate, les choses s'accélèrent dans le seconde partie. La tension va crescendo, et la sensation More...

0 comments like

Feb 17, 2012

Ali rated it:

Although I am not a great reader of ghostly spooky tales, I have read and enjoyed some good examples of gothic type stories, by such people as M R James, Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell. When I tweeted that I was reading this book, I was warned it was terrifying and not to read it late at night. Well I am not too much of a wimp – and so I did read it at night – it’s a great atmospheric read for late at night.

The Woman in Black is a delightfully chilly tale – in the best trad More...

1 comment like

Feb 10, 2012

Josh rated it:

In a word: adequate. It's very hard to frighten a reader with words. Hill doesn't. But interesting a reader with words is kind of her job and she didn't earn any gold stars for that more mundane task either. The story begins to go cool, evocative places, but just as quickly drops the thread. There is a scene where the protagonist finds the heretofore perpetually locked door to a mysterious room suddenly open. He goes in and finds a warm, lived-in nursery, which stands in contrast to the gray qua More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story? I have a difficult time passing up anything that offers thrills and chills and goes Bump! in the night. After watching the much anticipated trailer for the upcoming movie, I knew that The Woman in Black was definitely going to make it into the reading pile before the movie released. What it worth it? Yes and no.

From the summary, you quickly find out that Arthur is to travel to Crythin Gifford to set the late Mrs. Drablow’s affairs in order. What sho More...

0 comments like

Feb 02, 2012

Loren rated it:

From ISawLightningFall.com

Even though time has taught me that Hollywood likes to sell more sizzle than steak, I'm not immune to a well-crafted trailer for an upcoming feature. I'll admit to feeling a stir of interest upon seeing the preview for CBS Films' The Woman in Black, a horror movie that also happens to be the first starring role for Daniel Radcliffe after his turn in Harry Potter. Imagine my pleasure upon learning that the upcoming film had originally been a short novel writt More...

0 comments like

Jan 31, 2012

Cate rated it:

This is a Reading Good Books review.

Just in time for the movie tie-in’s release! I’ve had this in my TBR list for years and finally I’ve come around to reading it.

The Woman in Black is a straight up horror story. No frills, no creepy crawlies, no blood and gore. Just your honest to goodness scary ghost with a curse. And I enjoy horror stories like that. It’s very simple with essentially one main character, Arthur Kipps, and he’s the one narrating the story. And the way More...

0 comments like

Jan 31, 2012

Marie-Therese rated it:

A moderately entertaining but rather pedestrian, highly predictable ghost story.

Hill's only an adequate writer and not much of a prose stylist so her tendency to follow her protagonist's movements in excruciating detail and at excessive length is tiring. There's really not enough of a plot here, not enough complexity or emotional depth, to justify this tale's word count. Characters are so flat and so unreal that their every emotion seems melodramatic and engineered in service of the More...

0 comments like

Jan 30, 2012

theresa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jan 29, 2012

Judie rated it:

I'm a big fan of horror books and this is one of those works that is so hard to put down. You just want to get it over with, and I did, with satisfaction. From the title, you would get an idea of what's it about, who the woman in black is, and the sightings, the almost-real narration of what is happening at the Eel Marsh House, will spook you and hook you to the story until the end. The end didn't surprise me what with tons of horror twists and turns I have read through the years, but the cli More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2012

Trini rated it:

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit how much I liked this book. It's slow-paced--very slow-paced--and the sentences are kind of long and sometimes hard to follow because of that, but overall, it was a good read. It was a nice little chill to get right before you went to bed.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK is about a lawyer who retells the story of his youth, when he was bright and innocent and becoming something of a success in his firm. He's put on an assignment to appraise the leftover documents of th More...

0 comments like

Jan 21, 2012

Sam rated it:

I must make a confession on this one, that my reading of the book was tainted by the fact that I read it after having seen this performed as a play in a theatre in Liverpool.

I have always maintained that if you are going to read a novel and see it either at the theatre or in the cinema that it must always be book first - and having now had the experience of doing this the other way round, I can honestly say that the book probably didn't hold my attention in anywhere near the same way a More...

0 comments like

Jan 10, 2012

Mallory Anne-Marie rated it:

From the first page of this exciting novel I am reminded of the pleasure of reading good literature, of the sensory acclaim of a Charles Dickens or a Henry James. I relaxed into the narrative knowing I should be on edge, expecting the subsequent horrors, but Ms. Hill’s writing is simply so superb that relaxing quickly became the order of the day. What a pleasure, also, to encounter a protagonist who suffers from a form of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which he acknowledges but of course has no wa More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2012

Jackie rated it:

Creepy, chilling in a Austen kind of way. The Woman in Black tells the story of a young and promising lawyer named Arthur Kipps. He is sent to attend the funeral of Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. He must stay over a few nights, put her papers in order, and wrap up the estate. What he doesn't know is that the house is haunted by Jennet Humfrye, the Woman in Black. She's been wronged, accused, and her beloved child has been torn from her. She wants revenge, even and especially in death.
More...

0 comments like

Jan 02, 2012

Bruce rated it:

This is a gothic, and one that really knows what it's about. The narrator is a comfortable, happy, and secure British lawyer, reflecting on a dreadful experience he had as a young man. He comes to an isolated community, runs into the supernatural legacy of old wrongs, suffers, and escapes, but not without a final cost. Two things make it stand out to me.

First, the protagonist. It's hard to write interestingly about basically happy people, where the absence of conflict and misery is the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Sandra rated it:

A creepy ghost story expertly written in the Victorian Gothic-style, this short book creates a suitably chilling atmosphere and has a real doozy of a setting. Hill brings the era, the small town and its people to life and Arthur Kipps is a likeable character with whom the reader can identify. Spider is also an easily loveable addition to the great dogs of literature.

Unfortunately it's all terribly familiar to those who have read many supernatural stories, from the escalation of even More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)