tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post7623834866885843567..comments2023-10-06T20:40:16.011-07:00Comments on Scientist Gone Wordy: Hell House by Richard MathesonRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-86734371915208427312015-10-25T18:55:39.381-07:002015-10-25T18:55:39.381-07:00Hi Mike, thanks for stopping by and sharing your t...Hi Mike, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I would agree that Matheson is very likely not a dark, evil man but, as I mentioned, this is not my first novel by him and he has a pattern to what he chooses to include in his stories and I think that does reflect on him personally not just artistically. But, obviously, I can just choose to read other things. <br /><br />Thanks again for leaving a comment!Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-87516565197197876802015-10-19T12:20:29.287-07:002015-10-19T12:20:29.287-07:00Just read this for the first time and really enjoy...Just read this for the first time and really enjoyed it. A classic ghost story. As for your complaint that only the women are attacked sexually while the men aren't, well, that's kind of to be expected considering the back story established for the spirit haunting the house. He was a man of great sexual depravity, so of course he would target the women in that way and not the men. I think there's a big difference between an author deliberately being sexist/misogynistic and depicting those traits in certain characters. What I look away from the story was that Emeric Belasco was a very dark, evil man, not Richard Matheson the author.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05701963371017623787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-48413393379012366802014-11-01T18:43:08.175-07:002014-11-01T18:43:08.175-07:00Ha! You know me so well. :)
I, too, was blown awa...Ha! You know me so well. :)<br /><br />I, too, was blown away to see that dedication. Doh! I might have a few words with my dad if he dedicated a book like that to me. hehe<br /><br /><br />Glad to hear the movie tones things down. I actually didn't watch it because I really didn't want to see the things my mind was having to edit. Now I'll go queue it up since I've got some more information.<br /><br />I would definitely agree that the faults of this novel are not horror specific. Sadly, all genres are equal opportunity offenders no matter what the decade. *sigh*<br /><br /><br />I also really enjoyed another year of doing this series together. Here's to many more to come. Many thanks!Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-47653055225530081352014-10-31T10:06:39.466-07:002014-10-31T10:06:39.466-07:00I had a feeling you'd not like this. Well, Hel...I had a feeling you'd not like this. Well, Hell House would be the capper that'd turn you totally off this writer. This, my second reading of the novel, did bring up aspects that were a bit off-putting this time around. You do bring up valid points. The extreme sexual violence against women specifically. Although, not to excuse it, but horror as a genre has a penchant for this. In the 60s-70s, for sure. You'd only have to look at THE EXORCIST for some of that.<br /><br />As I mentioned in my film review, this was Matheson’s “manly” take of Shirley Jackson’s THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. Certainly upping the blood and violence, to say nothing of the sexuality. This was pushing it for the 70s, and it was even a lot of those times. A great many antiquated sexist and homophobic views are on full display, but you can find evidence of that in a great many other novels of the period, and they don’t have to be horror.<br /><br />That said, it did keep my interest. I like another of Matheson’s take of the pseudo-scientific angle, even if it doesn’t exactly hold up. Even Stephen King (I’m re-reading his DANSE MACABRE non-fiction book) subscribed to the “haunted house as a battery” idea. Florence was the most interesting of the characters, though I enjoyed Fischer, too. Her destruction was pretty horrific, and certainly helped to bring the evil that was Belasco to full fruition. Wished the movie had used the tarn, though.<br /><br />Kinda sick Richard Matheson dedicated this novel to his daughters!<br /><br />Oh, well. I enjoyed the movie much more because if toned down, or eliminated much of the book’s excesses. I’m sure we can fill out our dance cards without more from this author. Another enjoyable review season, nevertheless. Thanks, Rachel :-)le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.com