Freud Would Have a Field Day With This Novel: A Review of Hell House by Richard Matheson
Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.
Oops, I went to a used book store, found myself in the horror section, and ended up leaving with multiple haunted house books. That's what today's review is on.
Please give a warm welcome to Hell House by Richard Matheson!
Yes, this classic horror novel found its way home with me. And yes, even though this novel was first published in 1971, I am still reviewing it even though I’m not entirely sure I have anything to say on the subject that hasn’t already been said. (Other than whoever owns the rights to Hell House needs to sell them to Mike Flanagan so he can direct a new mini-series. Please and thank you!)
With that, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I review. Also, I have a quick content and trigger warning. Listen, Hell House is not for the faint of heart. This novel has mentions of rape and sexual assault, incest, pedophilia, animal death, suicide, racism, homophobia, sexism, poorly written female characters; any sort of depravity and concerning topic you can think of is here. Please take care while reading. And with that, let’s get to the synopsis.
Dying billionaire William Reinhardt Deutsch wants an answer to the age old question: is there life after death? So he hires a small team to investigate the most haunted house in the world, Hell House, and discover the truth. Dr. Lionel Barrett, a physicist with an interest in parapsychology; medium and renowned Spiritualist leader Florence Tanner; and medium Benjamin Fischer who is the only survivor of a previous research trip into Hell House.
Hell House earned its moniker after the original owner, one Emeric Belasco, allowed and encouraged all sorts of depravity and violence to occur within the home’s walls. Even after death, Emeric Belasco influences Hell House’s dark, seedy nature. No one is safe within Hell House’s halls.
When Deutsch’s team arrives, they’re primed to become the house’s next victims. They plan on finding a definitive answer about the afterlife, and the house is as equally determined to drive them into madness and take their lives. One question remains, who, if anyone, will make it out alive?
I feel it best to start with the elephant in the room: the two female characters are women written by men. Florence Tanner and Edith Barrett, Dr. Barrett’s wife whom I failed to mention in the synopsis but is the book’s forth main character, are both written so incredibly poorly. There is lots of gratuitous use of sexual violence and an intense hyper-sexualization of Florence and Edith. Richard Matheson puts a lot of detail and attention on their breasts—mostly for no reason—and how the two women boobed boobily all over the place. As you can see, I am breaking out the big technical terms for this review.
Poorly written female characters aside, the writing is decent. Namely the vivid imagery. This novel is not for the faint of heart. Richard Matheson does not shy away from depicting gore and depravity. Nor does he leave the description of any room in Hell House up for interpretation. I believe the descriptions of the setting are my favorite part of the novel. Every room is impeccably described, from the antique furniture of the house, to the wear and tear from Emeric Belasco’s “parties,” to the fact all the windows have been bricked up thus adding to the isolating atmosphere, and to what is left for the current research team to discover. There is beauty in this isolated old house, and also details to disturb even the most hardened of horror readers.
Hell House is a novel that relies on its shock value and sensationalism. If The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is psychological horror at its finest, Hell House is a gore fest with an amount of gratuitous nudity and sex that would make an 80’s slasher film blush. Hell House is certainly not for every reader; see my content and trigger warning. This book is far from an entry level horror novel, nor is it a novel to be enjoyed by the masses. Read this book only if you enjoy haunted house stories and don't mind all the sensationalism.
I also can’t help but mention the debate between science and spirituality as a highlight of Hell House. The age old question: is there life after death? If so, what becomes of us? We will never know the answer until we ourselves die, but the debate is always interesting to read. I appreciate that Richard Matheson gives credit to both sides of the argument in the end. The truth is unknown. One side has no more weight to it than the other. Both could be right in the end, or both could be wrong; who knows?
I am glad I read Hell House. It’s considered a classic haunted house horror novel, and, well, you know me, Book Nerds; I live for the genre. I’m happy to say I have now read this classic. That said, nothing groundbreaking or genre changing occurs in Hell House. Thus it’s middling in my opinion.
With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you had a lovely time here this week, and I will see you all again next Wednesday with another new review. If you can’t wait that long, then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books, then I highly suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. We’ve been watching every Disney film ever made…there’s a lot and it doesn’t feel like we’re making progress on them but we are. You can listen to that full series, and so much more, on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.
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