Book Review: Hell House, by Richard Matheson

Investigators vs. an R-rated haunted house.

Viking, 1971, 279 pages

For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.

But now, a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to Belasco House in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. A wealthy publisher, brooding over his impending death, has paid a physicist and two mediums to establish the facts of life after death once and for all. For one night, they will investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.

Hell House, which inspired the 1973 film The Legend of Hell House, is Matheson's most frightening and shocking book, and an acknowledged classic of the genre.

( A killer haunted house and a ghost who wants to bang all the chicks. Also a review of the movie The Legend of Hell House. )

Also by Richard Matheson: My reviews of I Am Legend and Shadow on the Sun.

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My complete list of book reviews.