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444 ratings, 3.64 average rating, 72 reviews
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published
October 29th 2008
by IDW Publishing
binding
Paperback, 200 pages
isbn
1600102638
(isbn13: 9781600102639)
description
IDW brings you this lavishly illustrated adaptation of Richard Matheson's tale of newspaper publisher Rudolph Deutsch facing his impending demise. To ...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 632)
Read in June, 2008
In order to fully appreciate and enjoy this book, you should really try to read it prior to watching any of the movies made about it. Unfortunately I had seen “The Legend of Hell House” back many years ago, so I was familiar with what would happen. Although the book and the movie were different in parts, the truth behind the haunting was the same, which took some of the shock out of it for me.
Short Synopsis: An eccentric dying millionaire commissions a study to prove that there is life...more
Short Synopsis: An eccentric dying millionaire commissions a study to prove that there is life...more
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Read in September, 2008
I've been a Richard Matheson fan for a few years now and he rarely disappoints. Hell House is no different. A dying millionaire offers a physicist and two psychics a hundred thousand dollars apiece to spend a week in a haunted house to prove or disprove the existence of an afterlife. Sounds simple enough, right?
Tensions run high between the investigators. Barrett thinks Florence's beliefs are crap and his scientific explanation is the only one. Fischer doesn't seem to be doing much whic...more
Tensions run high between the investigators. Barrett thinks Florence's beliefs are crap and his scientific explanation is the only one. Fischer doesn't seem to be doing much whic...more
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Read in December, 2007
Once again I learned how much of an influence Richard Matheson was on Stephen King.
Yet Matheson has his own brand of the macabre. His characters, while compelling, aren't as well-drawn or emotionally involving as King's (at least in this book). And his horror has a slower build and then explodes all over the page - kind of like Poe.
And talk about mixing disturbing horror with sexuality. That's a place where both King and Matheson hold crowns. Deeply disturbing - and yet I couldn't put ...more
Yet Matheson has his own brand of the macabre. His characters, while compelling, aren't as well-drawn or emotionally involving as King's (at least in this book). And his horror has a slower build and then explodes all over the page - kind of like Poe.
And talk about mixing disturbing horror with sexuality. That's a place where both King and Matheson hold crowns. Deeply disturbing - and yet I couldn't put ...more
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Read in May, 2001
REALLY scary!
I'm a little surprised that I got through this one. It's probably one of the scariest, most disturbing books I've ever read. I enjoy a good ghost story, but this one is really over the top. However, I really love the author, and it's a classic, so I had to give it a try. (Can you believe this is the same guy that wrote "Somewhere in Time"?!!)
It's worth noting that it's not only scary, it's rather graphic - not for the light-hearted. It's well-written, which is why ...more
I'm a little surprised that I got through this one. It's probably one of the scariest, most disturbing books I've ever read. I enjoy a good ghost story, but this one is really over the top. However, I really love the author, and it's a classic, so I had to give it a try. (Can you believe this is the same guy that wrote "Somewhere in Time"?!!)
It's worth noting that it's not only scary, it's rather graphic - not for the light-hearted. It's well-written, which is why ...more
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Read in November, 1990
One of the greatest haunted house novels ever written. Richard Matheson rules!
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“Welcome to my house, I’m delighted you could come. I am certain you will find your stay here most illuminating. It is regrettable I cannot be with you, but I had to leave before your arrival. Do not let my physical absence disturb you, however. Think of me as your unseen host and believe that, during your stay here, I shall be with you in spirit.” ~ Emeric Belasco
Belasco House…Hell House…within these dark passages and cavernous rooms resides the residue of pure, unadulterated evil...more
Belasco House…Hell House…within these dark passages and cavernous rooms resides the residue of pure, unadulterated evil...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
Horror fans
I’ve never seen this movie though I don’t know if I really need to, considering I picture it to be just another old school cheesy horror flick. After reading “What Dreams May Come” I was intrigued to see how Matheson did horror and for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.
Four people are hired by the owner of the mansion, termed Hell House due to the stories of extreme haunting and the madness that those who try to stay there end up falling into. One is a scientist who believes th...more
Four people are hired by the owner of the mansion, termed Hell House due to the stories of extreme haunting and the madness that those who try to stay there end up falling into. One is a scientist who believes th...more
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Read in February, 2006
This is one of the classic haunted house novels, and the basis for the movie "The Legend of Hell House." The house was once owned by Emeric Belasco, who turned it into a carnival of the most depraved desires while he was alive, and now may be haunting it after death. It's the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, and has killed or driven insane nearly every paranormal investigator who has dared to challenge it. Four paranormal investigators have been offered $100,000 each to finally get to th...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who doesn't scare or startle easily
DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE EASILY SCARED, DISTURBED, OR IF EXPLICIT SEXUALITY MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE...DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!
This is simply the most terrifying book that I have ever read. It is not scary because of gore or graphic murders. This book delves into subjects that are truly horrific. Issues such as drug addiction, alcoholism, repressed sexuality, debauchery, religion, and philosophy are challenged and twisted so as to point out our greatest fears about them.
The greatest motif...more
This is simply the most terrifying book that I have ever read. It is not scary because of gore or graphic murders. This book delves into subjects that are truly horrific. Issues such as drug addiction, alcoholism, repressed sexuality, debauchery, religion, and philosophy are challenged and twisted so as to point out our greatest fears about them.
The greatest motif...more
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Read in September, 2007
I had to sleep with the lights on last night.
The ghosts in this story are particularly nasty because the scientist who goes in on the haunted house excursion has accepted his hypothesis that mediums are individuals who can turn residual energy from houses (I think this relates to a paranormal theory of place memory) into physical and mental manifestations. I.e...take a powerful medium into a haunted house where there's a lot of residual energy, and you have a really scary spook show where p...more
The ghosts in this story are particularly nasty because the scientist who goes in on the haunted house excursion has accepted his hypothesis that mediums are individuals who can turn residual energy from houses (I think this relates to a paranormal theory of place memory) into physical and mental manifestations. I.e...take a powerful medium into a haunted house where there's a lot of residual energy, and you have a really scary spook show where p...more
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Read in August, 2007
Book ten of the commute. This book is yet another "product of its times", and once again the times in question are the seventies (see also "Still Life With Woodpecker"). This book, if some of the blurbs on the back cover are to be believed, is a classic of American horror, and I'm a big fan of horror (especially Stephen King, who is in fact the praising voice of one of the back-cover blurbs) so I decided to check it out. Like a lot of good horror, the book combines fantast...more
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Read in July, 2007
I read this book last night and it really scared me, actually. This is odd because the movie bored the crud out of me...it had basically the same plot as Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, but not as literary and cerebral. That was more psychological and will probably stand the test of time...this was more pulpy and garish, though written in a page-turning sort of way. It had what you wanted to from Hill House, but fortunately did not get (possibly one of the reasons Hill House is ...more
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Read in March, 2008
A lot of people complain that this book is semi-pornographic. Call me desensitized or something, but growing up with Stephen King and Jack Ketchum and others who graphically describe sex in their books has likely shaped my opinion that that is a load of bullshit. There's some descriptions of sex and sexual activity but the whole premise was that the house was host to a whole litany of unimaginable depravities.
Other than that, this is one of the best haunted house stories out there, bar none...more
Other than that, this is one of the best haunted house stories out there, bar none...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
any horror fan
Ok, there's a physicist and his wife, a spiritualist, and a psychic. They all go into this "hell house" to, once and for all, cleanse the presence. They all have different theories on the paranormal and different plans for dealing with the phenomenon. But one thing's for certain, they are all susceptible to the terrible power within! It's a great read that keeps you on the edge of your seat. But one thing I noticed is that it's just not that scary. Even the characters aren't that scare...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
horror fans
I think this book was over-hyped. I was very eager to read something by Matheson in light of the I Am Legend hoopla and this book sounded right up my alley. I was hoping for a more light horror story, but did not get anything of the sort. The subject matter is very disturbing and takes you to this dark world that you want to get out of very soon, making you keep reading to have some sort of closure.
I think the end was almost rushed and I didn't feel satisfied. I've also been debating whether...more
I think the end was almost rushed and I didn't feel satisfied. I've also been debating whether...more
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Read in October, 2008
This book is okay... I love horror and mystery stories. Based upon the title, I thought this book was going to rock! Especially because it's by the author of "I Am Legend." After reading for awhile, I realized that it really wasn't that scary... Perhaps because it was written in the early 1970s... Despite all this, it's an easy and interesting read about a haunted house that a bunch of people are hired to examine. The author allows you to hear the thoughts and feelings of all the chara...more
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Read in July, 2008
This Matheson wasn't nearly as good as I Am Legend, but it was an all right haunted house tale. Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is a ton better if you're in the mood for a good haunting. Hell House is all right, but Matheson takes much too long figuring out the "riddle" (revealing the gag), and by the time he does, I really didn't care that much. Also, because of the nature of this particular haunting--a perverted guy turns his ridiculously opulent estate into a den of sexual iniq...more
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Read in April, 2008
Completely average. HAving seen this movie years ago and liked it, I thought I could gain more insight into my characters by reading the book. I was wrong. The book read exactly the way to movie unfolded leaving me utterly bored. Might be interesting if you don't know much about the story. Hell House has been "haunted" for 50 years. Two groups of people have tried to cleared it of all spirits and died in their failure. A third group try to clear the house using science and mediu...more
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Read in November, 2008
This story was originally published in 1971 and is very well written. A good, solid haunted-house story that is very reminiscent of the original "The Haunting" movie from 1963. Many will be satisfied by the ending.. I was only partially so (I won't say why, I don't like spoilers), but it left a couple unanswered/unaddressed questions that I wish writers in the haunted-house genre would address. Otherwise, a very good, scary, no-holds-barred ghost story.
Pretty awesome haunted house action complete with backstory involving the evil owner and some weird satanic stuff he did with somepeople. I think there's a "Ghostbusters"-style machine that detects spectral activity too, everyone loves those. Somebody gets splinters in their eyes, too, if I remember correctly. Richard Matheson wrote the book "Stir of Echoes" which was made into a pretty cool movie with Kevin Bacon.
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