Hell House

By: Richard Matheson

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

“Hell House is the scariest haunted house novel ever written. It looms over the rest the way the mountains loom over the foothills.” — Stephen King

From the author of I Am Legend comes Hell House, the basis for the supernatural horror film starring Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill.

For over twenty years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mount 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.

©1999 Richard Matheson (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Great reading of a classic!

You will not be disappointed. Great story. Great reading of it. Want to continue with more Matheson.

a very very good ghost story

Worthy of 4.5 stars. Many times I found myself saying "no, don't go in THERE". Like watching a good horror movie and knowing when something bad is going to happen but not exactly what. Lots of violence, sex, frights, questions, and a nice bow at the end.

meh

not my cup of tea. had potential but got a little to convoluted to quickly.

Timeless Haunted House Read

What made the experience of listening to Hell House the most enjoyable?

Although I have seen multiple movie adaptations this book kept in engaged the whole time

Who was your favorite character and why?

Fischer - I loved how his character became the hero

Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?

Dr. Lionel Barrett

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Nope, just kept me interested

Even better as an audio!

This book was just as riveting as "I am Legend". Although I read that book, I felt the same excitement and intrigue with every word. I could visualize and feel all the emotions the characters experienced because of Matheson wording with the added bonus of the audio.

I also loved the unabashed gore and sexuality. I'm glad this is a book because, as many have said about "I am Legend", the movie doesn't have the same effect as Matheson's writing style. There's been plenty of haunted house-type movies made with this kind of content that were B-list at best. But Matheson paints scenes with his words that make it easy to keep the "movie" in your head and still feel all of the excitement.

I could go on and on but I wanna read more of his books. highly recommended!

very excellent

awesome book. loved it. the narrator was excellent. I recommend it. buy it. right now.

Pretty dang scary!

This was a pretty intense book. I love ghost stories and haunted houses and this seemed like just what I wanted, and at first it really was. I've read a few of Richard Matheson's other books and have enjoyed this one. What really turned me off of this book was how much of a major plot point the sexual influences of the ghost were. I won't give anything away, but there's some pretty graphic content in this book that was pretty uncomfortable for me. I know that was kind of the point, but I'd have preferred a ghost with some different tactics.
I listened to the end because I wanted to know how it ended, but I won't be coming back to this one.

Very well written and performed.

Matheson did a great job of creating believable characters and maintaining an interesting and well-paced storyline. I will definitely check out his other works

Rapey

There was so much weird sexual stuff - including multiple rapes - in this book. I felt kinda beat over the head with it. Performance - 5 stars. Story - 2 stars. It just wasn't that scary and one of the rape scenes was so weird it had me rolling my eyes. The women characters in this book are seen as crazy, fearful, or sex-crazed. I know this book was written in 1970 so maybe it's just a product of its time...but it's ridiculous.

Great story, awful voices.

What three words best describe Ray Porter’s voice?

Drag Queen Bonanza. He was fine when narrating action, but outright laughable when performing the women's parts. It was supposed to be a tension filled horror story but when he spoke one of the female character's lines, I burst out laughing on more than one occasion. They were all wrong and too unsubtle to keep me in the story. I'll finish listening to it but I'm going to buy a physical copy so I can actually read the story and absorb all the atmosphere that his unintentionally hilarious performance destroyed.