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dylpickles's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Rape, Violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Alcohol
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Stalking, Ableism, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Drug abuse, Incest, Abortion, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
ulysses_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
My spoiler-free review:
Hellhouse has its creepy moments, but nothing more than that. The book is dark and fast-paced. Some of the characters have interesting dynamics with each other and development but not enough to look over some of the bigger sexual assault issues of the story.
I picked up this book to have a taste for the horror literature genre, and I saw that Stephen King had rated this book highly. A very relevant note to put here is that this is a horror novel book published in the 1970s. This was a time when the horror genre of both movies and literature was on the rise. While the genre has become a little more self-aware when it comes to female representation, it was very hard to overlook how the 2 female characters were represented and how they are treated throughout the book.
The male lead, Dr. Barrett, and Florence (female lead) are tied for the most POV time, and the juxtaposition of their perspectives when shit hits the fan is interesting and a good source of tension.
Edith is an interesting character, but I just don't think she is given enough development to really grow.
When the horror happens, what the female characters go through as compared to the men is just gratuitous, and there are definitely "menwritingwomen" moments that are hard to overlook.
Take notice of the content warnings before reading this book.
Extended review (With spoilers)
We will start with the good things first, but there are a lot of bad things. The science method Barrett sports with the spiritual method of Florence creates an interesting tension that is further hammered in by the fast pace of the story. There usually is a skeptic in the horror story, buts it interesting that the Barrettis out to prove the legitimacy of the paranormal as just a further extension of biology instead of believing that there is a real "afterlife."
Florence's rise and fall concerning her belief in Daniel Belasco interesting albeit maybe a little too naive, but the doubts especially when she realizes she might have made him all up make you want to keep turning pages. When she realized that one of her dreams of Daniel only consists of recited lines from her time as an actress, I was especially myself in doubt whether or not she manifested Daniel through her spiritual powers.
Unfortunately, character-wise, Edith and Fischer fall flat when compared to Florence and Barrett. Fischer, I suppose, has some excuse to not be too strong of a force because of his trauma at the house from his time before, but Edith seems to only exist to cause trouble. Her revelation near the end of the story feels completely alien since she had been otherwise simply a mechanism to cause conflict. There is something to be said that MAYBE she becomes relevant when her husband dies because her own force who don't need no man. This would be supported by Barretts own comment that being with him "repress's" her because of his own disabilities (this is his own can of worms but I can only write so much). But unfortunately, I don't think this is the case. Edith says that she struggled to be away from her husband and contemplated ending it all when he was gone for three weeks. Going from completely dependent to final girl feels forced to say the least. There could be something here, but really there's just not enough without potentially reading too much into things. Maybe Edith is supposed to be coming to terms with her potential attraction to women, but it's not a good look when it only gets mentioned when she gets possessed or when Belasco, the big ghost baddie, screams it at her. If it is supposed to be a coming out-of-the-closet reveal combined with the loss of her husband which frees her in a sense, I don't think it's handled well. The next section is my biggest issue.
<Spoiler> There's a lot of sexual violence aimed towards the women of the story. Considering that the haunting takes place in what effectively is a cannibalistic drug-fueled sex house, I was expecting some level of it but I feel Hellhouse takes it too far. Florence gets raped by a corpse, Edith is nearly raped by a ghost version of a dad. There is the frequent derogatory language associated with lesbianism. It's all terrible and takes away from the good points of the story. The worse the hauntings become, the worse the sex acts get. Edith gets possessed and tries to have sex with Fischer. Florence, who bears the brunt of it, becomes a "physical medium" for Belasco (the ghost) to channel himself through. The analogy is disturbing, to say the least. You might wonder, "Hey, what else did you expect reading a horror book that takes place in a cannibalistic drug-fueled sex house?" And my response would be, "Did Florence really have to be raped by a corpse and sodomized to make the haunting feel scarier? or "Did we really have to read that a ghost of Edith's father is chasing her while holding his large member?" For me at least, I think it went so over the line that it took away from the good parts of the story.
Overall. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Hellhouse has its creepy moments, but nothing more than that. The book is dark and fast-paced. Some of the characters have interesting dynamics with each other and development but not enough to look over some of the bigger sexual assault issues of the story.
I picked up this book to have a taste for the horror literature genre, and I saw that Stephen King had rated this book highly. A very relevant note to put here is that this is a horror novel book published in the 1970s. This was a time when the horror genre of both movies and literature was on the rise. While the genre has become a little more self-aware when it comes to female representation, it was very hard to overlook how the 2 female characters were represented and how they are treated throughout the book.
The male lead, Dr. Barrett, and Florence (female lead) are tied for the most POV time, and the juxtaposition of their perspectives when shit hits the fan is interesting and a good source of tension.
Edith is an interesting character, but I just don't think she is given enough development to really grow.
When the horror happens, what the female characters go through as compared to the men is just gratuitous, and there are definitely "menwritingwomen" moments that are hard to overlook.
Take notice of the content warnings before reading this book.
Extended review (With spoilers)
<Spoiler> There's a lot of sexual violence aimed towards the women of the story. Considering that the haunting takes place in what effectively is a cannibalistic drug-fueled sex house, I was expecting some level of it but I feel Hellhouse takes it too far. Florence gets raped by a corpse, Edith is nearly raped by a ghost version of a dad. There is the frequent derogatory language associated with lesbianism. It's all terrible and takes away from the good points of the story. The worse the hauntings become, the worse the sex acts get. Edith gets possessed and tries to have sex with Fischer. Florence, who bears the brunt of it, becomes a "physical medium" for Belasco (the ghost) to channel himself through. The analogy is disturbing, to say the least. You might wonder, "Hey, what else did you expect reading a horror book that takes place in a cannibalistic drug-fueled sex house?" And my response would be, "Did Florence really have to be raped by a corpse and sodomized to make the haunting feel scarier? or "Did we really have to read that a ghost of Edith's father is chasing her while holding his large member?" For me at least, I think it went so over the line that it took away from the good parts of the story.
Overall. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Abortion, Torture, and Cannibalism
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