Hell House? More like Heck House

 Hell House narrates the experiences of a scientist, his wife, and two psychic mediums as they attempt to collect hard evidence that proves the existence of the supernatural in the famous Belasco House, aka Hell House. Almost immediately, the paranormal forces that inhabit Hell House make themselves known, but not everything is as it seems. The group will have to either band together to survive the house, or be destroyed by the malicious being haunting it.

I was honestly expecting more from Richard Matheson after reading I Am Legend. He was my first introduction into the horror genre and really set the bar for me for how to make a book scary. This book, on the other hand, felt very stiff. There was a lot of rambling that didn't make a lot of sense because it was full of technical jargon that I didn't quite understand. The horror aspect of this novel took a backseat to the scientific talk and it just didn’t really make a lot of sense. I mean, this is supposed to be primarily a horror novel, right? It almost felt like I was reading a textbook at times.

Because of the technical feel of this book I also had a really hard time connecting with the characters. I felt like I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with each of the characters, which made it hard to get to know them. The POV switched around so often that, to be perfectly honest, they all kind of ran together at some point. They all had similar goals and similar ways of achieving those goals. They were very flat characters. Not people I felt that I was really getting to know through the story. I had no reason to get to know them as people. 

So why finish the book? Well, for one, I love a good horror story. The idea of a house being so haunted that it literally drives people insane is really appealing to me. Ghosts being able to influence the physical world to the point of being able to hurt the living is just so scary. I think that despite the plethora of scientific jargon and flat characters, Richard Matheson still managed to write an interesting story. It would have definitely been better without those flaws, but I’ll take what I can get I guess.

The horror imagery was also something that kept me reading long after I had given up on the characters becoming more interesting. It was downright gruesome and dark. The descriptions gave me a visceral reaction as I was reading them. I was honestly a little grossed out sometimes. 

Overall, I’m going to give Hell House 3.5/5 stars. The story concept and imagery throughout the book are solid. The idea behind Hell House is really exciting and spooky. However, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I was genuinely scared when reading this. I will say that it was really creepy in the right ways. It grossed me out. It elicited the correct reactions in me. I just wish that the way that this story was told would have given me more spooky vibes. Instead, I got textbook vibes and boring characters. 

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