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Physicist Lionel Barrett is the nominal leader of a small group of investigators hired by a dying man to investigate a supposedly haunted house in order to establish conclusively whether or not there is survival after death. Barrett doesn't think so; Florence Tanner, a mental medium, disagrees; and Ben Fisher, a physical medium and the only sane survivor of a previous investigation years before, agrees with Florence -- but he's there less to prove anything to his employer than to avenge his previous failure. Edith, Barrett's seemingly timid wife, is along for the ride. It's a wild ride, to be sure. This is not a book that skimps on its supernatural manifestations. Spirit guides, poltergeist activity, possession, teleplasmic extrusions -- the list goes on and on. You want action? You've found it. To Matheson's credit, it isn't, however, mindless mayhem. He doesn't toss a ghost in the house and figure anything goes. Matheson weaves together the personalities of his investigators with the sordid history of the house to create a believable framework for all the insanity. The final revelation -- a psychologically weak explanation for the house's most evil ghost -- can't spoil an otherwise satisfying resolution. Made into a film, The Legend of Hell House, in 1973.
Physicist Lionel Barrett is the nominal leader of a small group of investigators hired by a dying man to investigate a supposedly haunted house in order to establish conclusively whether or not there is survival after death. Barrett doesn't think so; Florence Tanner, a mental medium, disagrees; and Ben Fisher, a physical medium and the only sane survivor of a previous investigation years before, agrees with Florence -- but he's there less to prove anything to his employer than to avenge his previous failure. Edith, Barrett's seemingly timid wife, is along for the ride. It's a wild ride, to be sure. This is not a book that skimps on its supernatural manifestations. Spirit guides, poltergeist activity, possession, teleplasmic extrusions -- the list goes on and on. You want action? You've found it. To Matheson's credit, it isn't, however, mindless mayhem. He doesn't toss a ghost in the house and figure anything goes. Matheson weaves together the personalities of his investigators with the sordid history of the house to create a believable framework for all the insanity. The final revelation -- a psychologically weak explanation for the house's most evil ghost -- can't spoil an otherwise satisfying resolution. Made into a film, The Legend of Hell House, in 1973.
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