Meh..

I am a big fan of horror novels and movies. I have read quite a few shining reviews on Hell House and had thus been very enthusiastic to finally have the chance to read it.

I was a little disappointed to be honest. This may be because I have become desensitized to "Scary" subject matter, or simply because I had held such high expectations for Hell House, as it has been featured in so many "scariest novels" lists I have come across.

I quite enjoyed the section of the book which dealt with the sordid history of Hell House, and also found the setup to be quite effective. After this point, I found that it devolved into merely a slightly more adult rendition of a Ghostbusters script.

I tend to enjoy a more subtle style of horror, and find that quite often the simple suggestion towards a horrific or chilling event has the potential to be much more effective and unnerving than a mere blow by blow description of such a scene. Hell House seems to tend towards the latter.

Some people may find Hell House to be very creepy and highly enjoyable. There are plenty of eerie, paranormal and sometimes flat out blood-curdling events to keep a reader who enjoys this style of writing absorbed and entertained. I simply enjoy a contrasting style of horror to what I found Hell House had to offer.

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3 people found this helpful

The WORST.

This story has not aged well. It was very difficult listening for so many reasons: the characterisation of women as child-like, needing to be constantly watched and assisted to understand the simplest things and the portrayal of alcohol, sex and profane language as the epitome of evil became more irritating with each chapter.
And it was boring.

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Great scary book. Good voices , loved it

Great voices for character definition. some really scary scenes/ chapters. Very 18 + but loved it. Had to have the lights on when listening.

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1 person found this helpful

brilliant!! a truly chilling tale.

if you enjoy classic horror with a haunted sadistic twist,and a really unhappy ending,then this is for you!!

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A HELL of a good haunted house story!

I absolutely love Shirley Jackson‘s “The Haunting of Hill House”, so I went into this book expecting it to be totally derivative. A team of four, two men, two women, investigating a haunted house. The set up is the same but that’s where it ends. Where Shirley Jackson is ethereal and haunting in her prose, Richard Matheson writes with a bloody razor. A trip inside Hell House is violent and hard-core. I love this book. And Ray Porter does such an amazing job narrating it. Hill House and Hell House are both classic haunted house stories. Dark praises to them both. 🖤🙌🏿🖤

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Not Bad...

I somewhat enjoyed Hell House. While it wasn't amazing it had it quite a bit of gore and mystery that kept me happy as a horror fan. I found I didn't fall in love with the characters as much as I wish I had. I found the characters only ever seemed to care about one thing. They were unlikeable and flat- and as a resault I didn't care if they lived or died. But if you don't mind a slow start things really start to pick up near the end. If you do pick this up I hope you enjoy it.

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1 person found this helpful

Annoying narration

Hmmm. Left me cold. And not in a goosebumps way. Pretty old school horror. Overuse of words and phrases which drives me nuts. Did not like the narration but I think the material was part of the problem. Not worth the 14.95 price tag.

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Hyper sexualized horror

The story left a lot to be desired. It was typical haunted house story without much creative innovation. The grotesque sexual scenes made the whole story feel weaker.

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not scary at all

basically just weird fetishized rape fiction. wasn't scary at all; more tedious than anything. wish I could un-purchase this, and un-waste my time.

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Not a Lot Going for It

The story itself is nothing but disappointing, over sexualised, and predictable. There was nothing gripping about it, no emotional connection was even attempted to be made and with any characters so I couldn't care less about who lived and who died. The narration was flat and dreary - I had to stop listening on my way to work as it was putting me to sleep! I couldn't name one memorable point to this book (unless you count the many utterly cringe inducing sexual encounters the writer felt necessarily to add in in every chapter), nor any scary bits. honestly this classic is not deserving of the classic title - I can't see how it even did well it it's time but it definitely doesn't hold up. Give this one a miss, there are many amazing horror books out there and this is very very far from one of them.

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