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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I heard it was really scary and a good thriller but I felt bored and disappointed throughout most of it. I didn't find it scary in the slightest.
Meh. I didn't find this particularly scary or well written.
The spooky bits were good, everything else put me to sleep, at one point literally. This book reads like a reddit nosleep post if they had those in [whenever this book is set, I don't care, I have forgotten]. Non-descript mandude who constantly insist he's a rational intelligent man is spooked by spooky shit yet insist on seeking out the spooky shit and then proceeds to shitting his pants. I didn't care about what happened to him. I wouldn't have cared about him even if the book wasn't written by an older version of him and therefore we know he survives More disappointing I didn't care about the spooky stuffs backstory either - it was pretty predictable and not terribly interesting. And then - the book ends. It literally ends with him going "enough". Enough! The end. I at least expected *something* to happen in his present or I don't know what the point of the framing device was. Why'd I spend the first chapter remembering his family's names when they never show up again! Whatever. Came for the creepy bits, stayed for the creepy bits, so, a rather weak 3 stars for the creepy bits.
A great book for the upcoming Holiday of Halloween for sure! I read it mainly because of the moving coming out soon (because the trailer made the movie look very good, so we shall see) and upon reading it I am now almost too scared to see the movie just because the book itself was scary!
Though I felt the beginning of the book was very slow moving, and so was the middle, but boy once the dog, Spider, comes into the story things certainly pick up and become chilling! I loved how the 'hauntings' were written, they had my eyes glued to the pages begging for the main character and Spider to be alright. And the last page, god that was just terrifying and sad! But again a great creepy story.
The only thing I really didn't like about this book was HOW long it took to find out why the hauntings were taking place. I think Hill could have had Arthur reading those letters bit by bit throughout the story instead of in two big chunks towards the end. Though I knew a little of what was to happen from reading about the movie online, I still had hoped to have some of this confirmed earlier in the book. I found Arthur's lack of questions for the people talking about the rumors of the mansion bothersome. I personally would have wanted to know why all these people acted terrified of the place I was going to... but he always seemed to brush it off and not think about it. And even when he began to wonder he didn't ask anyone until the very end (Mr. Daily).
If you are looking for a short chilling tale, this is a great one!
Though I felt the beginning of the book was very slow moving, and so was the middle, but boy once the dog, Spider, comes into the story things certainly pick up and become chilling! I loved how the 'hauntings' were written, they had my eyes glued to the pages begging for the main character and Spider to be alright. And the last page, god that was just terrifying and sad! But again a great creepy story.
The only thing I really didn't like about this book was HOW long it took to find out why the hauntings were taking place. I think Hill could have had Arthur reading those letters bit by bit throughout the story instead of in two big chunks towards the end. Though I knew a little of what was to happen from reading about the movie online, I still had hoped to have some of this confirmed earlier in the book. I found Arthur's lack of questions for the people talking about the rumors of the mansion bothersome. I personally would have wanted to know why all these people acted terrified of the place I was going to... but he always seemed to brush it off and not think about it. And even when he began to wonder he didn't ask anyone until the very end (Mr. Daily).
If you are looking for a short chilling tale, this is a great one!
This was the first book I've read by Susan Hill, and I liked it well enough to try another of her books. It was a quick read, a solid ghost story written in the style of a Victorian gothic (although set in the 1920s or 1930s), complete with characters wasting away physically from the horrors of what they've seen. The ghost story is not particularly surprising, but Hill creates a good atmosphere. Interestingly, the most horrifying part of the story takes up just a page or so.
The movie terrified me but I found the book a "pleasantly" haunting tale.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A great ghost story that utilises atmosphere rather than explicit violence.
Very engaging - a page turner!
Not loads of characters development but that comes with the genre.
Very engaging - a page turner!
Not loads of characters development but that comes with the genre.
I wasn't scared exactly, but there were moments of shivers up the back of my neck when I was reading The Woman in Black. I've seen the film but I'd never got around to reading the book, and now that the film is far enough behind me not to remember much about it, it was fun to read this. Arthur, a young solicitor travels to a remote coastal village in the marshes to attend the funeral and tie up the paperwork of one of his firm's clients. During the funeral he sees a woman in black, and later when he has to visit Eel Marsh house, the dead woman's home, he sees her again, and worse. It's in the gothic tradition, although published in 1989, and Hill does this very well. I kind of saw the end coming, but guessing at it was also some kind of enjoyment.
I enjoyed the ghost story and the build up of suspense. That ending hurt my heart.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated