Richard Matheson's Hell House, Book 1 (Bk. 1) (Paperback)

~ Ian Edginton (Author), (Author) "YES?..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) has remained a true master of the horror genre for decades. Hell House is one of his undisputed horror classics. Now IDW brings you a lavishly illustrated adaptation of this tale of newspaper publisher Rudolph Deutsch facing his impending demise. To help Deutsch forestall this and learn the secrets of life after death, a hired team of experts must survive a night in Belasco House, a place known amongst the local townsfolk as Hell House!

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: IDW Publishing (January 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932382607
• ISBN-13: 978-1932382600
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,770,311 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faithful Beginning, February 6, 2005

By	hamsterdance (TX) - See all my reviews

I'd never read Hell House although I'm a fan of horror. But browsing the rack one day I noticed this gem and reading the back cover piqued my interest. I was not disappointed. I re-read the story 3 times and kept wishing I could find out what happened next.

I finally couldn't stand it anymore. I bought the novel upon which it's based. OK, so I now know how the trade is going to end but it's not going to stop me from buying each issue. Edington and Co. has done a great job of adapting the story to the graphic novel format. All the key scenes, the nuiances, character personalities are preserved. Eddington preserved even key dialogue straight from the novel to the trade. The artwork is black and white yet for me seemed to work. It added strength to the creepiness of the house.

Anyone who is a fan of the original novel may well find this graphic novel adaption a new, interesting way to enjoy the story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and atmospheric adaptation of a horror classic, April 13, 2005

By	Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For many years my familiarity with Richard Matheson's Hell House was not of the novel, whose reputation as a classic is deserved, but of the equally effective, and very faithful, movie version, known as The Legend of Hell House. When Matheson adapted his novel into a screenplay he toned down the sexual tensions and altered the characterizations a bit. But the greater freedom of the comic book format allows writer Ian Edington and artist Simon Fraser to keep those tensions and characterizations intact and they let those elements play out without the constraints of a tight budget or an hour and a half running time.

Multimillionaire Rudolph Deutsch is dying and he wants hard evidence of survival after death. To collect this evidence Deutsch hires physicist and parapsychology investigator, not to mention life after death debunker, Dr. Lionel Barrett to investigate the phenomona at the Belasco House. A place that has earned to title Hell House. Joining Barrett in the investigation are his assistant wife Edith, Florence Tanner, a mental medium, and Benjamin Fischer, a physical medium and the only survivor of a previous investigation. Volume One (of Three?) introduces the characters and the Belasco House nicely, the creepy artwork is topnotch and, if the reader is familiar with the movie version, you can almost hear the creepy music that underscored The Legend of Hell House. I don't think there is a horror fan out there that wouldn't want to have this version of Matheson's frightening story. Highest recommendation.