3.22k reviews for:

The Woman in Black

Susan Hill

3.65 AVERAGE

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

2nd Time Reading This Book: 3 out of 5, no half star. Original review (3.5/5) from late 2020 saved under this for posterity.

Original Review:

3.5 Stars

This is a very atmospheric book and I enjoyed Susan Hill's writing style greatly- it was simple, but effectively. I'm not a very avid horror reader but this felt like a very classic ghost story with a mysterious town and a big scary mansion. It wasn't trying to be the most original thing in the world, it just wanted to tell a ghost story well and I respect that.

However, this book is short. Really short. Less than 200 pages on a paperback. It's weird for me to complain about that considering how sick I am of needlessly long books, but like a few other people I see in the reviews, I wish it elaborated more on what happened and how. We only really get the answers at the very end and then an incident happens and then- that's it. I was left wanting more and feeling a bit empty. I didn't need a bloodbath or even that much more- maybe even just 20 more pages would have solved a lot of my problems with it. It was a lot of buildup for a very short (NOT RUSHED, just short) ending and then it's over. The ending might've hit harder if the first chapter wasn't a framing device that told me that the protagonist was alive and living relatively peacefully- I don't know, I guess I was expecting more to happen a the end?

I still enjoyed this book but I wish it was a bit more.

the scary parts were pretty unsettling but there were very few of them and nothing seemed to actually happen until right at the end
dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book messed me up! The ending at least. The ending is horrifying and tragic and scary! It took me a while to read only because the time I read it was super busy in my life but I honestly could have sat and read it in one go. Word of advice, do not read it after the sun goes down while you’re outside. Some kids rode their bikes home while I was at the spookiest part and scared the daylights out of me! It was quite funny! Anyway, the titular woman in black is a sympathetic figure until you find out what she does while haunting this poor village. The eeriness of the marsh and the sallow description of the haunting ghost are truly perfect for a gothic horror. Perfectly on par! The ending is so so sad though so be prepared for that. I used to only read spooky books in the fall but I’m loving them all year long and this one is perfect any time of year.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

Damn! That ending was ABRUPT! 
dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Wish I hadn't read it this year, but rather a few years from now.

Having just read, a few months ago, the complete anthology of Lovecraft, and many other tales with the same style throughout the year, the plot felt a little bit predictable.

Nonetheless, the writing style is very clean and made it quite enjoyable overall.