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mechtimber's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Death, Torture, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cultural appropriation and Lesbophobia
amandapenn724's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, Rape, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
malthe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Merry Christmas
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcohol and Slavery
aparker89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Alcohol, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Suicide, Classism, Death, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Rape
elysianbud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Confinement, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Death, Gore, Grief, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Incest, Grief, Pedophilia, and Animal death
brookey8888's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Grief, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Animal death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
louiepotterbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Suicide, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Alcohol, Body horror, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexism, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Vomit, and Torture
the_books_music_life'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
1.25
I picked this up on a whim because the synopsis sounded intriguing and like something I might enjoy.
I didn't. I really didn't.
I have a lot of issues with this book and not a lot of good things to say. I'm not even really sure why I didn't DNF it to be completely honest.
This book was a ride to say the least and not a good smooth ride, more like a bumpy, traffic filled ride from hell.
Hell House is very scientific, almost to the point of annoyance and over explaining. The book is told through four different points of view but it never differentiated between whose point of view you were reading, and so when it would switch suddenly you were left confused. All of the characters are unreliable and you never really know what's going on.
There were certain scene I read and was just dumbfounded by. This book would go from being very scientific and to raunchy in the worst way possible.
The pacing was incredibly slow and fast at the same time. It felt like it dragged on and could honestly have been cut in half in my opinion. Then, other times if would feel like it everything was happening too fast and you were left 5 chapters behind.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Misogyny, Suicide, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Cursing, Animal death, Violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Cannibalism
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
zeynothekivircik's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexism, Violence, Torture, Transphobia, Outing, Lesbophobia, Gore, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, Body horror, Blood, Biphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Death, and Addiction