Rolf Rudolph Deutsch is going die. But when Deutsch, a wealthy magazine and newpaper publisher, starts thinking seriously about his impending death, he offers to pay a physicist and two mediums, one physical and one mental, $100,000 each to establish the facts of life after death.Dr. Lionel Barrett, the physicist, accompanied by the mediums, travel to the Belasco House in Maine, which has been … has been abandoned and sealed since 1949 after a decade of drug addiction, alcoholism, and debauchery. For one night, Barrett and his colleagues investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townfolks refer to it as the Hell House.
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In my opinion, Hellhouse is Matheson’s best.
I don’t want to take anything away from I am Legend (which is great) and What Dreams May Come (Not My Cup of Tea) but Hellhouse is one of the best Haunted House Stories I’ve ever read. So creepy, unsettling and realistic. Horror is my Genre, I love everything about it, and this book had me turning on lights in my house at night. Classic, must read kind of material.
One of the Top 10 horror novels of all time. I read it when it was first published and it scared me half to death! If you love a good scare, this well-written horror novel is for you.
This is one of my all time favorite books.
This was the first of Mattheson’s novels I have read. I appreciate the way his characters’ strengths and weaknesses play out in the story without the author’s overt sermonizing or editorializing. Over-confidence, self-doubt, naiveté, ambitious drive, loyalty (to a fault), selfishness, heroism, faith, intellectual curiosity, love, generosity, intellectual & emotional blindness – all are on display through a realistic depiction of human beings in a supernatural and overwhelming situation.
It moved right along and kept my attention!
Classic! I was pleasantly surprised to find this as I am a fan of his work, not an avid fan.
If you love good old fashion haunted house stories I highly recommend this.
This book was on a list of ‘the scariest books written by year’. Seemed like a fun read and it was. Nothing spectacular, but it’ll be fun if you’re into horror.
Hell House is what happens when Richard Matheson combines The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson with And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
It’s fun, scary and doesn’t pull any punches.
Arguably the quintessential horror story, ‘Hell House’ has a special place on my bookshelf. A disturbing tale of human ego and the occult going down a most twisted and disturbing path, this haunting tale oozes creepiness. If you pick up only one Matheson book, t his should be it.
Richard Mathewson never fails to scare and surprise his readers. This tale is no exception. Recommended as classic haunting without being horror per se.
Mathewson is one of the greats!
Not for the faint of heart!
Only three ghosts and let me explain why (no spoilers!) I don’t like sexually perverted things, especially involved in horror. Horror is supposed to be scary, not just make you uncomfortable. That’s my opinion, and I know it defers from others, but it is what it is. I had really high hopes for this book as I love haunted house stories (like Shirley Jackson’s classic), but sadly the perversion ruined it for me. Would suggest though if that sort of stuff doesn’t bother you as it was well written.
One of the best horror stories I have ever read.
This is one of my all time favorite books. The movie wasn’t bad either. Though, I’ve never understood why it has not been remade to better follow the book. I would probably be disappointed since when I read a good book it’s like watching a movie play out.
Well written, but the ending was a bit of a let-down. I expected more of an all-or-nothing ending. This ending left no sense of what may happen next…a lot of energy expended for no real return for anyone.
Still, most of the book had me wondering what would happen and whether or not anyone would survive. I had no clue how it would end.
Disturbing, and dark but overall i did enjoy the book. Very graphic, just a warning.
Dr. Barrett, a renowned scientist, his wife, Edith, and Florence Tanner and Fischer, two powerful psychics, were hired to investigate and to, hopefully, eradicate the Belasco mansion of the spirits that have haunted it for decades. The Belasco mansion is known as the “Mount Everest” of haunted houses. When Belasco was alive, he held parties of unimaginable depravity and horror in the house, and the house seems to have absorbed all of this.
Previous groups sent to the house had been unsuccessful, all of the members having been killed by the house. Nut this time, Dr. Barrett has an invention that he is sure will eradicate the haunted house of the spirits haunting it. Florence wants to devote herself to contacting the spirits and to freeing them from the constraints of the house. And Fischer had been in the last unsuccessful party. He is going to be an uninvolved bystander. He does not intend to mess with the ghosts after his last horrific experience.
If you want a good old-fashioned haunted house story, Hell House is a good choice! It certainly is frightening, and, if you have ever read Matheson before, you know what a masterful storyteller he is. If you are in the mood for a good scare, this is your book!
one of the scariest books I’ve ever read.
This is one of those books that, once read, will never be forgotten.