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stduke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual violence and Suicide
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, and Violence
childofmongreldogs's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The writing was good. I love Richard Matheson's short fiction so it wasn't a problem with the actual quality of the prose itself which has me feeling a certain kind of way about this novel. I will also say that the actual storyline itself was good as well. The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. This feels like the definition of a genre. The ultimate kind of haunted house story.
The way I was on edge throughout the story was next level. Not really terrifying but I think that a lot of the tension was well done. I think that Matheson was an absolutely phenomenal writer.
I just can't jive with horror novels from this era, I think. There's too much that is bad writing to me because it fundamentally misunderstands certain people. I know that that is a controversial opinion to have: I don't like this novel because it's depiction of women is bad and it's depiction of the LGBT group is bad and it's depiction of people other than white straight men is bad, but it is what it is.
There's always a lot of handwringing and excuses for it being a different time so having an indigenous man's spirit talk like a cave man, a possible lesbian be a lesbian because she was sexually molested, and have women be generally overly emotional and easy to control (among other things like in other novels) is just something we have to forgive, just a quirk of the time, instead of being seen as a legitimate problem in the writing.
Is this the worst offender of these issues? Probably not. I'm currently reading one that's even worse, really, from a fundamental level. The problem though is that being slightly better or on the lighter end of awful for the time period isn't enough for me to forgive that form of writing. I think there's a place for making things uncomfortable for the reader, but it was lazy even then to make it uncomfortable for women by simply filling the story with violent rape of the female characters.
I can see that there's some aspects of this novel that are really good and interesting. It doesn't make up for the "problematic" nature of the novel in other ways for me.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Cannibalism, Incest, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Infidelity, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug abuse, and Murder
samster_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Homophobia, and Torture
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death
bookishbeccahale's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Murder, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
dylpickles's review against another edition
- 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
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
laurenkristine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Death
Minor: Animal death and Incest
ashley_elizabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Torture
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Animal death
ahh_listen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Alcoholism
Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Incest
missbreathing's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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“Hell House” is dark, creepy, and atmospheric. It sucks the reader into the story with ease. Full of classic horror imagery and with a cinematic style of prose, reading it feels like watching a horror movie.
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The plot is fairly straightforward. The amount of paranormal occurrences make the story engaging, but they also bog down the plot and make the story move slowly. The ending was fitting, but not exactly groundbreaking. Still, this is was probably the scariest and most disturbing horror book I’ve ever read. I’d recommend it for anyone looking to be truly spooked.
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While I can’t fault a horror novel for being too horrific, I do have to say this is the most twisted thing I’ve ever read. Although there are more typical images and scenes (angry spirits throwing furniture around, for instance), one gets the sense that nothing is off-limits here. The backstory of Hell House and its owner are truly dark. The entire story is suffused with a mockery of Christianity I found effectively unnerving. This is not a book for newbie horror readers. It’s truly chilling.
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Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual violence, Gore, and Vomit
sargasso_c's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest and Vomit