A Review: "Hell House," Richard Matheson

Well! Has it been 2 months!?  Never one to dwell on past failings (at least out loud), I'm just going to jump right in.

Recently, I finished a classic horror novel, "Hell House," by Richard Matheson.  First, you should know that Matheson is a bit of a giant in the horror/fantasy/syfy field.  He wrote a few books, including "I Am Legend" and "Stir of Echoes" (see the movie if you haven't yet...); wrote approximately 5 million short stories, many of which were adapted for "The Twilight Zone," including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Button, Button" (most recently adapted as Richard Kelly's "The Box"); and a couple of television scripts here and there.  

I'll let Wikipedia give you the synopsis of the book I'm discussing today (with links and everything!):

The story concerns four people - Dr. Lionel Barrett, a physicist with an interest in parapsychology, his wife Edith, and two mediums (Florence Tanner, a Spiritualist and mental medium, and Benjamin Franklin Fischer, a physical medium) - who are hired by dying millionaire Rolf Randolph Deutsch to investigate the possibility of life after death. To do so, they must enter the infamous Belasco House in Maine, regarded as the most haunted house in the world. The house got its name from the horrible acts of blasphemy and perversion that occurred under the silent influence and supervision of Emeric Belasco, and Fisher is the only survivor of a previous failed investigation attempt thirty years earlier.

The book has a lot of sex in it.  A lot.  The synopsis above fails to mention the fact that the house is the most haunted in the world because the owner decided to hold sex/drug parties.  His guests became addicted to the growing levels of debauchery and were eventually murdered or died of starvation.  The four paranormal investigators who visit are forced to come to terms with their inner demons, most of which are sexual in nature.

The story is interesting in that it doesn't necessarily vilify the women who have sexual thoughts and feelings.  It does, however, make the fairly strong case that the women can't handle sexuality and need it tempered by the men in their lives.  In one instance, the female medium is convinced by one of the ghosts that her love (read: teh sex) will set him free.  This (surprise!) turns out not to be the case and she ends up going a bit crazy.  It's not that the women-folk shouldn't have sex, they should just have it with a normal, flesh-and-blood dude.  Then they'll be fine.  :)

Critiques aside, the book is a quick read and fun if you're looking for something a bit titillating to get you through chilly evening.

Thrilling reading to you!