Welcome to horror lit fit, where chills and gore meet the written page.  For our inaugural article we’re kicking it old school, dredging up a story from nearly 40 years ago, Hell House by Richard Matheson.  Many of you have seen Matheson’s other books, or films inspired by his works.  These include the recent Will Smith vehicle, I am Legend, as well as What Dreams May Come. Hell House is a haunted house vehicle plain and simple.  Nowadays stories of scientists (or wannabes) investigating disturbed residences is hardly original.  Poltergeist is among the most popular, and there are shows like Ghost Chasers (here’s a hint, they won’t ever find ANYTHING on that show).  But back in the early 1970s we had not yet seen The Amityville Horror and Hell House was a new and interesting formula.

For our cast of characters first you have the overly clinical and emotionally detached doctor.  Then there’s the doctor’s undersexed and needy wife.  A jaded, aging, male psychic has returned to the house (the only one to ever survive a previous encounter).  A younger, naive, female psychic is also present.  See the fault lines the house will expose?  Because this is not a nuanced house.  There is no tragedy behind the house, no Casper you want to feel sorry for.  Unlike a Stephen King story, no authors or kids (that are far too smart to be real) ever show up.  No, this house is pure malevolence and it enjoys putting the main characters through hell.

You know that scene in horror movies where you yell at the main characters to get out of the house?  Hell House is sort of like that, except you feel that way from about chapter 2 through the book’s conclusion.  The house feels oppressive as you read and you just want the characters to high tail it out of there, just get outside at least.  Of course if they were to oblige us that would make for a short story.  If the house would just murder the characters that would be one thing, but it appears to get off on torturing and perverting before drawing the final curtain.  Some of the depraved acts are still very gut turning, do not expect the book’s quant nostalgia (men smoking pipes and wearing hats) to save you from some truly icky moments.  And of course there’s a core mystery that the characters might figure out if they can live long enough.

Some have criticized Matheson for using science and technology to minimalize the supernatural.  I disagree.  Perhaps it’s because God and religion seem injected into everything nowadays, but scientific theories and explanations for this ghost make it all the scarier.  Here we have a malevolent ghost that has stored up energy for the sole purpose of hurting and killing those still among the living.  The science is also tied up in the question of what are ghosts and what do they want?  Questions people still ask today (not sure if there was ever a time when they didn’t ask them). It’s an easy read and you can still find Matheson’s work in bookstores and at your local library.

Read on!

Tags: ghosts, haunted houses, haunting, poltergeist, Richard Matheson, spirits, Supernatural

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 3:00 am and is filed under Creepy Reviews, Horror Literature, ghosts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.