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La casa infernal
by
Durante más de veinte años, la Casa Belasco ha permanecido vacía. Considerada el Everest de las casas encantadas, es una venerable mansión cuyas sombrías paredes han sido testigo de escenas de horror y depravación inimaginables. Las anteriores expediciones que han tratado de investigar sus secretos han terminado en desastre, siendo sus participantes destruidos por el asesi
...more
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Paperback, 342 pages
Published
April 1st 2005
by Puzzle
(first published 1971)
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For years I have been a fan of Richard Matheson, without ever becoming a dedicated reader of his fiction. I learned early that he was one of the two best writers (not counting Rod Serling) for Twilight Zone—the other being Charles Beaumont—and this led me to look out for his short stories and novels and read them when they came my way. I particularly admired his chilling stories “Nightmare at 20,000 ft.” (Twilight Zone Shatner menaced by gremlin on plane), “Prey” (featuring a doll called “He Who ...more
Click here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend.
Hell House is the sexually awkward tale of a haunted house that can't even bother to be haunted until the book is nearly over.
Dr. Barrett has been hired by a wealthy, dying man to investigate one of the most haunted houses known to man: Hell House. Along with his wife and two professional mediums, Dr. Barrett packs up his scientific gear and embarks to the long-abandoned house to settle the question onc ...more
Hell House is the sexually awkward tale of a haunted house that can't even bother to be haunted until the book is nearly over.
Dr. Barrett has been hired by a wealthy, dying man to investigate one of the most haunted houses known to man: Hell House. Along with his wife and two professional mediums, Dr. Barrett packs up his scientific gear and embarks to the long-abandoned house to settle the question onc ...more
"As he crossed the entry hall, he had the feeling that the house was swallowing him alive."
Hell House is basically The Haunting of Hill House on steroids. Both books centre around four characters who stay in a haunted house to try to investigate what is happening. We have Doctor Barrett, who’s intention is to prove his theory - he also brings his wife along cos she just can’t bear to be left alone... And then we have two mediums - one of which is Fischer, the only survivor of a failed investigat ...more
Hell House is basically The Haunting of Hill House on steroids. Both books centre around four characters who stay in a haunted house to try to investigate what is happening. We have Doctor Barrett, who’s intention is to prove his theory - he also brings his wife along cos she just can’t bear to be left alone... And then we have two mediums - one of which is Fischer, the only survivor of a failed investigat ...more
Dec 04, 2015
Jen/The Tolkien Gal/ジェニファー
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites
One day, a young woman, who had crisply turned 18 and was fresh out of school, explored the horror genre while walking around an abandoned building.
She was on a trip with her family to visit a lovely area with beautiful trees, fresh grass and rain. And yet, despite the large area, we were the only family there. It was so....empty - so silent. And so when I wasn't reading I explored the derelict houses, the rusty play area and the lovely forest.
And one day I settled down on bench outside and ope ...more
She was on a trip with her family to visit a lovely area with beautiful trees, fresh grass and rain. And yet, despite the large area, we were the only family there. It was so....empty - so silent. And so when I wasn't reading I explored the derelict houses, the rusty play area and the lovely forest.
And one day I settled down on bench outside and ope ...more
Dec 07, 2017
Matt
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
classic-novels
“I am certain you will find your stay here most illuminating…It is regrettable I cannot be here with you…All your needs have been provided for…Nothing has been overlooked. Go where you will, and do what you will – these are the cardinal precepts of my home. Feel free to function as you choose. There are no responsibilities, no rules. ‘Each to his own device’ shall be the only standard here. May you find the answer that you seek. It is here, I promise you.”
- Emeric Belasco in Richard Matheson’s H ...more
- Emeric Belasco in Richard Matheson’s H ...more
"Isn't it just another so-called haunted house?"
"I'm afraid it isn't. It's the Mount Everest of haunted houses."
This.is.one.creepy.book.
The excesses depicted in the history of the Belasco House (and here you can list any blasphemy and perversion you can think of) make for morbidly fascinating reading in itself and sets the stage for this 1970s horror novel.
I was actually surprised at how grim this book gets. It’s much more explicit than contemporaries like Rosemary's Baby, which was published ...more
"Matheson created one of the most brain-freezingly frightening haunted house novels of the 20th century in HELL HOUSE." - Stephen King
**PRETTY SPOILERY REVIEW: READ AT YOUR OWN READER DISCOVERY RISK!**
I've had this book on my list of horror classics for so long but I was really just waiting for the right edition. I don't like reading classic horror in a modern re-release format. I want a beat-up, mangled, smelly old paperback that's been read and handled at least a hundred times.
I finally found ...more
**PRETTY SPOILERY REVIEW: READ AT YOUR OWN READER DISCOVERY RISK!**
I've had this book on my list of horror classics for so long but I was really just waiting for the right edition. I don't like reading classic horror in a modern re-release format. I want a beat-up, mangled, smelly old paperback that's been read and handled at least a hundred times.
I finally found ...more
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 which also ir ...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 which also ir ...more
I've tried to read Hell House numerous times. The writing seemed a little too... simplistic, I guess would be the word, for my tastes. It's also, at times, annoyingly repetitive, and had my buddy Thomas Strömquist (sorry I still haven't figured out how to link to other people on this site) hadn't accepted my buddy read proposal, I probably wouldn't have ever finished it. I couldn't understand, for the life of me, why everyone suggested I read it. "It's a horror classic!" and "It's soooooooo scar
...more
Bought during Audible's $2.99 sale (10/13/17)! . It's more now, sorry about that.
A rich guy offers to pay a group of people to stay a few nights in a haunted house to prove there is life after death. All previous attempts to do such a stupid thing at this particular house have ended very badly for the suckers brave or stupid or hard-up enough to have a sleep-over. It’s no different this time around.
I read this book closely on the heels of finishing up Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill Hous ...more
A rich guy offers to pay a group of people to stay a few nights in a haunted house to prove there is life after death. All previous attempts to do such a stupid thing at this particular house have ended very badly for the suckers brave or stupid or hard-up enough to have a sleep-over. It’s no different this time around.
I read this book closely on the heels of finishing up Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill Hous ...more
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read such a horror classic by one of the masters who has influenced so many others, including Stephen King. First off, what I loved:
1) What’s not to love? Matheson manages to accomplish a haunted house story that is not only supremely eerie and filled with a creepy atmosphere that’s sublime, but a full-on assault of the senses as well. This book does not pussy-foot around – it is in your face practically from page one all the way through to the end.
2) ...more
1) What’s not to love? Matheson manages to accomplish a haunted house story that is not only supremely eerie and filled with a creepy atmosphere that’s sublime, but a full-on assault of the senses as well. This book does not pussy-foot around – it is in your face practically from page one all the way through to the end.
2) ...more
When physicist Dr. Lionel Barrett is offered $100,000 by an ailing but wealthy eccentric hoping he will prove the existence of the afterlife by staying in an old abandoned mansion with an evil past, the offer is just too much to resist. Dr. Barrett is a non-believer, but agrees to travel to Maine with the two appointed mediums, Florence and Ben (and wife Edith) with the intention of proving the exact opposite with his new invention, the Reversor.
Arrival at "HELL HOUSE" begins with the appearance
...more
Sorry, I know this is a classic haunted house novel. But, it was terrible. It was offensive, lurid. I read horror novels frequently as a young adult. I still read King, Koontz, John Saul and sometimes Bentley Little. But, this was just disgusting. Then after putting me through all that crap, the ending was incredibly anti- climatic. I only picked this one out because I was in the mood for a good haunted house or ghost story to read during the month of October for Halloween. I really wish I hadn'
...more
Whoa, creepy, scary book.
This must be required reading for Wes Craven and Clive Barker and other horror movie directors. Published 6 years before The Shining, I also wonder how much this influenced Stephen King. Alas, I did not care for the ending.
Well written, imaginative, and innovative, Matheson again displays his power as a storyteller in this genre.
...more
This must be required reading for Wes Craven and Clive Barker and other horror movie directors. Published 6 years before The Shining, I also wonder how much this influenced Stephen King. Alas, I did not care for the ending.
Well written, imaginative, and innovative, Matheson again displays his power as a storyteller in this genre.
...more
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 fantastic fears, like ghosts a
...more
I absolutely love the early 70's movie version of this book, The Legend of Hell House with Roddy McDowell. But I never read the book it was based on. Following the spirit of my challenge to myself this year to read more books that I've always wanted to read but never have....I decided to delve into the evil that is Hell House. I have to admit that I saw the actors from the movie in my head as I read this story. I'm not sure I like the mixing of so much cheesy horror with what might have been a g
...more
Such a creepy book.. takes the premise of haunting of hill house and makes it a hundred times more terrifying.. even if i wasn’t that much invested into the characters
Mar 18, 2012
Maciek
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in what a 70's gothic novel might be
Obviously inspired by Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Richard Matheson's Hell House pays homage to Jackson by borrowing the basic crux of the plot - several characters gathering to investigate a seemingly haunted mansion - and making the story his own instead of merely copying the earlier novel.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of the original Hill House was its ambiguity concerning the origin and source of the hauntings; it Hell House there is plenty of ambiguity, but it's obvious tha ...more
Perhaps the biggest advantage of the original Hill House was its ambiguity concerning the origin and source of the hauntings; it Hell House there is plenty of ambiguity, but it's obvious tha ...more
Welcome to Hell House and be prepared to be scared!
Would you enter Hell House for a sum of $100,000? Dr. Barrett a physicist along with two mediums are offered the chance to enter the house in the sum of $100,000 each to see what they can find in terms of a possible haunting.
Dr. Barrett not only takes the mediums with him, but he ends up taking his wife along as she didn't want to be left alone as he was going to be gone a few days.
Hell House has been closed down since 1949 as seedy and despica ...more
Would you enter Hell House for a sum of $100,000? Dr. Barrett a physicist along with two mediums are offered the chance to enter the house in the sum of $100,000 each to see what they can find in terms of a possible haunting.
Dr. Barrett not only takes the mediums with him, but he ends up taking his wife along as she didn't want to be left alone as he was going to be gone a few days.
Hell House has been closed down since 1949 as seedy and despica ...more
Reading it again three years later I've added two stars. I was thrown the first time by a ludicrous reveal at the very, very end. But knowing it was coming allowed me to enjoy the fun of this book, one of the two best haunted house books ever written, along with Shirley Jackson's "Haunting of Hill House." The book is fantastic until that silly head-scratcher at the end (it's in the movie too) which on second reading doesn't at all negate the positives. The film version doesn't begin to capture t
...more
This book was just straight up strange. Made me very uncomfortable. Check out my full review on my booktube channel at http://Youtube.com/peterlikesbooks
...more
I was looking forward to reading this book as I have enjoyed reading Richard Matheson books in the past.
But this did not live up to me expectations.
This was a strange mix of supernatural horror, pseudo science all tied together with some very awkward erotica.
When I think of other horror stories from the 60s and 70s like Ira Levin’s ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and Peter Bloch’s ‘Psycho’ that left me breathless, this did not.
Four people are employed to enter Hell House and discover the source of the horror ...more
A classic ghost story written by an author that was before his time. This gruesome thriller was made even better with the added bonus of being narrated by the great Roy Porter. A fantastic, spooky story to listen to around Halloween.
Oct 16, 2016
Terry
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
2016-book-challenge
Great classic haunted house story, perfect as a Halloween read! Ultimately a clever idea and a solid resolution.
Once again, Richard Matheson shows why he's the man. I read this book after reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and of the two, there is no doubt which I prefer. The Haunting of Hill House wasn't so much scary or creepy was it was atmospheric and interpretable. You can see anything you like in it. But Hell House takes that inspiration and runs with it, not only giving us those things, but more - creepiness, doubt, faith, hope, dread, manipulation, science and religion, and mor
...more
I'm a sucker for a haunted-house book, always optimistic that I'll be in for something as good as The Shining or The Haunting of Hill House. I'm a damn fool, because most books don't come close. This one has me ready to give up on the genre; it was that bad.
Matheson seems to have lifted most of his stuff straight from Shirley Jackson's novel: a parapsychologist and two sensitives agree to stay in a notorious haunted house in an effort to prove or disprove survival after death. Alas, he lacks Jac ...more
Matheson seems to have lifted most of his stuff straight from Shirley Jackson's novel: a parapsychologist and two sensitives agree to stay in a notorious haunted house in an effort to prove or disprove survival after death. Alas, he lacks Jac ...more
Sometimes it's nice to just read a really good horror book. I think besides a couple of flow problems and the story taking a while to get going, there is a reason why this one is a classic.
Taking place in 1970, a man named William Deutsch wants to investigate the possibility of life after death. He hires four people to go and investigate the infamous Belasco house in Maine.
The four people who go to investigate are: Dr. Lionel Barrett, a physicist and his wife Edith. The two other people are Flo ...more
Taking place in 1970, a man named William Deutsch wants to investigate the possibility of life after death. He hires four people to go and investigate the infamous Belasco house in Maine.
The four people who go to investigate are: Dr. Lionel Barrett, a physicist and his wife Edith. The two other people are Flo ...more
1.5
I haven't got a clue how to rate this book. There are too many things I found either funny or plain bad. I even waited for a day or so to think about it. On the one hand, I like haunted house theme (half a star for the theme). On the other, there are tons of things which I really didn't like. First, it isn't scary. At all. Sure, there are a few moments that should have been scary, but for me they were plain flat - as if I was watching from above.
Second, I didn't like the characters or how th ...more
I haven't got a clue how to rate this book. There are too many things I found either funny or plain bad. I even waited for a day or so to think about it. On the one hand, I like haunted house theme (half a star for the theme). On the other, there are tons of things which I really didn't like. First, it isn't scary. At all. Sure, there are a few moments that should have been scary, but for me they were plain flat - as if I was watching from above.
Second, I didn't like the characters or how th ...more
Chilling thriller, a house which has a history of indulgence in evil and acts of the most vile and depraved committed by residents and visitors years past by and all departed this earth or have they? Are their souls still haunting the house?
That's the task of a group who have been hired to investigate the house for the supernatural, but a game is being played against them as they take resident the question is by who and will they leave alive?
Matheson is a great writer when it comes to painting ...more
That's the task of a group who have been hired to investigate the house for the supernatural, but a game is being played against them as they take resident the question is by who and will they leave alive?
Matheson is a great writer when it comes to painting ...more
I've been a huge fan of Matheson's short fiction for an eternity, but this is my first time digging into a novel by him. Pretty friggin' amazing. Matheson is an undeniable master of plot, action, tension and setting a stage. If you haven't read it yet, you should correct that.
A door slammed suddenly in my bedroom while I was reading this late at night and I almost hit the ceiling. I'm still not sure if it was from the A/C coming on or the malevolent spirit of Belasco reaching out from the pages. ...more
A door slammed suddenly in my bedroom while I was reading this late at night and I almost hit the ceiling. I'm still not sure if it was from the A/C coming on or the malevolent spirit of Belasco reaching out from the pages. ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creatures, Creatu...: October 2020 Group Read: Hell House by Richard Matheson! | 8 | 13 | Sep 03, 2020 04:25PM | |
| Vampires, Weres a...: Horror: Hell House | 16 | 21 | May 05, 2020 06:34PM | |
| Letras Macabras: La casa infernal, de Richard Matheson | 21 | 88 | Oct 04, 2018 10:17PM | |
| Horror Aficionados : August Group Read #2: Hell House by Richard Matheson | 63 | 134 | Sep 26, 2017 08:11AM | |
| Play Book Tag: Hell House / Richard Matheson. 3.5 stars | 1 | 7 | Jun 24, 2017 01:02PM | |
| Horror Aficionados : Hell House | 69 | 66 | Oct 17, 2016 08:01AM |
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Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of w
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“If you only knew the beauty which awaits you, Daniel. If you only knew how lovely are the realms which lie beyond this house. Would you keep yourself locked in a barren cell when all the beauties of the universe await you on the outside?”
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“ego subliminal: esa vasta y oculta extensión de la personalidad humana que, al igual que un iceberg, forma parte del”
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