Customer Reviews

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(85)
3 star:		(35)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

This fictional diary is a companion to the upcoming ABC mini-series - Stephen King's Rose Red, to air three nights at the end of January. Stephen King wrote the original teleplay about Joyce Reardon, PhD, who investigates a long-believed haunted house in the Seattle area with the help of an autistic 16 year old girl. This diary provides additional background to the story, supposedly written by Ellen Rimbauer, mistress to Rose Red, the haunted mansion. It is written in the tradion of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, of Twin Peaks fame. I would be extremely surprised to discover that Mr. King himself wrote this account, due to the overly dramatic, extremely feminine tone and viewpoint. Mr. King's writing is much more straight forward,and usually his stories are told with a distinctly male voice. I enjoyed this book. Because it is in journal form, it is easy to forgive the overly dramatic nature of some of the passages, and some of the writing problems. It is, in my opinion, a brilliant marketing stragegy a la the Blair Witch Project on the part of Hyperion Books and the producers of the mini-series. The book comes complete with references to a website for the fictional university where Dr. Reardon holds her chair, and provides pictures and additional background. As a fan of Haunted House stories, and horror in general, I was very satisified with the overall experience of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.

This faux-diary will remind many of the brilliant publicity campaign orchestrated for "The Blair Witch Project," although it certainly does not reach the depth and detail of that infamous effort. For me, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer," the back story for the upcoming "Rose Red" mini-series whipped up by Stephen King is more reminiscent of "The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer" from "Twin Peaks." The different is that the latter came out AFTER the first season and only served to obscure what was happening in that bizarre little town. "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" certainly sets the stage for the mini-series. We know a lot of what happened and we have some theories as to what is going on in that strange mansion overlooking Seattle, but the mystery is not even close to be solved.

The character of Ellen Rimbauer also reminds me strongly of Edna Pontellier, the heroine in Kate Chopin's 1899 classic "The Awakening." Both deal with the issue of a woman embracing her sexuality at the turn of the century and while both tales are tragedies, Ellen's is of a different fate. Her character is the strongest part of the "Diary," and if you are expecting the traditional heroine afflicted by a haunted house, you are going to be in for a surprise. The book suffers from the necessity of leaving massive holes in the narrative so that the cat does not end up entirely out of the bag. There are a couple of photographs and several relatively crude drawings that add little to the aura of authenticity (although I have seen better in both regards elsewhere associated with this enterprise).

This is a relatively simple division: If you are going to watch "Rose Red," then you should read "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer." Yes, on one level it is a blatant attempt to make money off of our interest in anything Stephen King. But on the other hand, it is a solid back story and if it does NOT inform our enjoyment of the mini-series, I really will be surprised. After "Rose Red" is aired, most of the fun and a large chunk of the value of reading this faux-diary will be gone.

So, who do I think wrote the book, Stephen or Tabitha? I certainly think he could do it and I suppose at some point a figure will emerge from behind the curtain and we will learn the truth, but it does not matter to me if this turns out to be Richard Bachman revisited. For now, we can just be content to go along for the ride. Besides, I am curious as to why so much seems to happen on the 15th of the month and will overlook the fact that if they indeed believe everything in the diary to be true, then Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. and his team of investigators are idiots to attempt to wake up Rose Red. But then there would be no mini-series, right? WARNING: Do not pursue the URL to discover the "other" diary excerpts, considered "too graphic and disturbing" to be printed in this volume by the "editor" until you have finished reading the diary.

This book was a very good weekend reader. A real page turner. I read this book late into the night and had to put it down because I got spooked. :) Woke up at 6AM the next morning just to finish the book.

THE GOOD: It is a wonderful tale that will take you around the world to Africa and back to the Northwest US, from the underbelly of a China Town district to the Grande Ballroom of a haunted house. It dabbles in dark magic and dives head first into Psychic Phenomena. Very well written. I love the cover, and the pages are the old antique like pages (uneven, rugged pages) with flowery decorations on each page. There is a nice map of the ground floor of Rose Red on the front and back covers of the book. This was great when I was trying to visualize what was happening and where, but I would have loved to seen a diagram of the other three floors.

THE BAD: WARNING: I would not reccommend this book to anyone who would be offended by bisexual experimentation or anyone who is under 18.

THE UGLY: I could have done without the cheesy cartoon-like drawings.

Rose Red is definitely a good read and a clever marketing ploy. The writing is first rate, and reminds me very much of Stephen (or possibly Tabitha?) King's. ... for confirmation that this is an elaborate hoax. Beaumont University does not exist(check the listings in any collegiate dictionary), and every link return's to the "exerpts" from the book.

Who wrote it? My money is on one of the King's (see page 190 for a clue). I found other clues that convinced me the book is a hoax on pages 119 and 225. Ther are probably others, but my history is not good enough to recognize them.

If you accept that this book, combined with the website and upcoming miniseries, is fiction, then you're in for a rich and titillating read(I confess--I fruitlessly searched the website for the supposedly edited entries mentioned on page 221). To whoever is responsible for this clever marketing ploy: great job! A multimedia first I believe.

BEWARE: This is a hoax - but a clever one!

Welcome to the wacky world of psychic phenomena, aristocracy and marketing. With a beguiling introduction, the purported author, Joyce Reardon, sucks you in with her account of discovering the long lost diary of Ellen Rimbauer, a notorious Seattle socialite from the turn of the twentieth century. According to Reardon, at least 26 people died or vanished within Rimbauer's enormous estate, Rose Red, over a period of four decades.

In a masterful marketing ploy promoting his upcoming miniseries "Rose Red" on ABC, Stephen King obviously wrote this book under the pseudonym of Joyce Reardon. Regardless of authorship, it is a good weekend read - or even a day if you find it as difficult to put down as I did. It was also rather intriguing to read King's interpretation of a woman's deepest thoughts.

Well-written stories well woven into a fascinating book.
A little informal research on the Beaumont University website referred to in Reardon's introduction revealed a home page with no address and most links "under construction." The Special Programs link listed four courses in the paranormal realm - three of which are taught by the illusive Dr. Reardon. The Contact button requested, "Please submit email address and we will keep you informed of paranormal activity in your area."

Did I sign up for Beaumont University's contact list, you ask? For now, I prefer to remain in the psychic dark and deal with the real world. But I will be watching the miniseries on ABC now scheduled for late January - hoping for a solution to the puzzle and even more titillating entertainment.

I read this wonderful book in one sitting, into the early morning hours, wanting to read it before the Stephen King mini-series comes out. I live in Seattle and I bought the whole thing hook-line and sinker. As a matter of fact, I was planning to take a drive to try to find the Rose Red mansion this weekend, even though the directions didn't quite make sense to me. The top of Spring Street? Isn't Spring Street interrupted by the I-5 Freeway? Then I thoroughly investigated the Beaumont University website and everything except the info on Rose Red is "under construction." I, too, have been wonderfully dupped! I loved it! Mr. King is the best in the business and he is the Master of suspense & horror.... and the last laugh! (I admit I still plan to take that weekend drive.. just in case!)
I thoughly suggest you read this book. It is a marvel.... but please, keep the lights on and hopefully your cats won't keep looking to the front door and at shadows that aren't there... or are they?

Rumors abound that this is the work of Stephen or Tabitha King. Indeed stylistically, it comes very close to the prose of Mrs. K and frankly I can't imagine any man being able to write so well of feminine intimacies with such candor and understanding. This is an incredibly fun book with some clever marketing ploys thrown in. This one was definitely of the I-couldn't-put-it-down variety with fast pacing, fascinating characters whom you came to love or despise without knowing too much, and a plot that thickens like a Seattle gumbo! Great reading for a cold wintry night. Too bad Rose Red is only a fiction; it'd do wonders for the Pacific Northwest tourist trade.

I wanted to read this "diary" because of it's tie-in to the ABC movie "Rose Red" and to Stephen King - my favorite author. I am writing this review while I still have 10 pages left to read but I would already recommend this to King fans and anyone who plans on watching the mini-series. It's a good,easy read with some fun King references and although I'm almost sure that SK did not write this one, I had a thought that perhaps Tabitha King might have. After reading the diary, I am primed to watch the mini-series so the book did what it was supposed to do.

I am glad that I read this book before I read the reviews. For awhile I thought it was a true story, but then it seemed to be a cross between "The Exorcist", the Sara Winchester house, and "The Haunting". The story itself is chilling, not just the house, but the demise of the marriage between John and Ellen. What is a good story anyway? Do we have to be told in advance that it is true or untrue? I take it for what it was, an enjoyable read, enough that I didn't want to put it down until I finished. I don't think this was written by Stephen King because there was a tender side to it that a female could better understand and describe. Whoever wrote it did a great job and a visit to the website is every bit as interesting as the story.

This book is one that is hard to put down. It is well written and has a sense of black humor. I say this because the authors leave you to belive this is a true story, and a diary that they did find. you will rarely find anybody calling it fiction anywhere on the web sites, it doesnt state what it is, except for that tiny place on the back beside the barcode, a place we are unlikely to look. This has left me only a little dissapointed after reading it, one of the books downfalls. other than that, it is worth taking the time to read!