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RYO Review: Hell House by Richard Matheson
When Emeric Belasco built his huge mansion in 1919 in a remote unhealthy valley, he systematically debauched friends over several years to the utmost reaches of depravity. He blocked the windows and locked the doors, till the horrible frenzy of degradation and every sort of vileness ended with 27 people dead, though Belasco’s body was never found. Now alcohol abuse, drugs, rape, incest, sexual abuse of every variety, suicide, cannibalism, starvation and murder are imprinted on the house. Various psychic investigations over the years have always ended in death, suicide or madness.
Now a dying owner of the house wants an investigation to probe the possibility of life after death, and offers a team $100,000 each to brave the dangerous house to eradicate the evil.
Richard Matheson Leaves A Great Legacy
You may or may not know Richard Matheson by name, but it’s likely that you know his work. His 1954 novel, I Am Legend, has been adapted to film three different times, and was the precursor to the earliest zombie films (it was the inspiration for Night of the Living Dead). I Am Legend appears on some of the most prestigious lists that WWEnd covers, including those of the Guardian, NPR and SF Masterworks. Another novel, The Shrinking Man, appears on five such lists, and was also a blockbuster in 1957. His horror novel, Hell House, is one of the top 100 in its field according to Nightmare Magazine, and also made it to the silver screen. Matheson’s psychic thriller, A Stir of Echoes, was adapted to film twice, and his super romantic time-travel novel, Bid Time Return, may be better known to you as that Christopher Reeves/Jane Seymour 1980 classic Somewhere in Time.
Mr. Matheson’s influence was far bigger than just genre fiction. He made his mark on the culture at large, and that is a rare accomplishment.
He died Sunday, at age 87.
