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The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story

Susan Hill

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By: David R Godine
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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> ( H ) -> Hill, Susan

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What real reader does not yearn, somewhere in the recesses of his or her heart, for a really literate, first-class thriller - one that chills the body with foreboding of dark deeds to come, but warms the soul with perceptions and language at once astute and vivid? In other words, a ghost story by Jane Austen.

Austen we cannot, alas, give you, but Susan Hill's remarkable Woman In Black comes as close as the late twentieth century is likely to provide. Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story has as its hero one Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north to attend the funeral and settle the estate of Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. The routine formalities he anticipates give way to a tumble of events and secrets more sinister and terrifying than any nightmare: the rocking chair in the nursery of the deserted Eel Marsh House, the eerie sound of pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most dreadfully, and for Kipps most tragically, the woman in black.

The Woman In Black is both a brilliant exercise in atmosphere and controlled horror and a delicious spine-tingler - proof positive that that neglected genre, the ghost story, isn't dead after all.

The Man in the Picture

Susan Hill

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By: Overlook Hardcover
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Ghost story of an antiquary 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Susan Hill's latest novella recalls the famous Edwardian ghost stories of M. R. James and the Benson brothers as much as her famous previous short novel THE WOMAN IN BLACK recalled the Victorian ghost stories of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Henry James and John Meade Falkner. We have here many of the more familiar tropes of M. R. James's ghost stories--tales within tales, multiple narrators, bachelor antiquarians in rooms at Oxbridge, and a woman possessed by a burning revenge--and in terms of atmosphere Hill is pretty faultless. But the novella leaves too much unclear in its telling. Although you want a certain amount of mystery preserved at the end of a ghost story, there's just too much muddled at the end of this to really get the effects Hill strives for--so while most of the story is quite a page turner, the final narrative section leaves you a bit unsatisfied.

Editorial Review:

An extraordinary ghost story from a modern master, published just in time for Halloween. In the apartment of Oliver's old professor at Cambridge, there is a painting on the wall, a mysterious depiction of masked revelers at the Venice carnival. On this cold winter's night, the old professor has decided to reveal the painting's eerie secret. The dark art of the Venetian scene, instead of imitating life, has the power to entrap it. To stare into the painting is to play dangerously with the unseen demons it hides, and become the victim of its macabre beauty.
By the renowned storyteller Susan Hill--whose first ghost story, The Woman in Black, has run for eighteen years as a play in London's West End--here is a new take on a form that is fully classical and, in Hill's able hands, newly vital. The Man in the Picture is a haunting tale of loss, love, and the very basest fear of our beings.

Mrs. De Winter

Susan Hill

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By: Vintage
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 85 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Let's just pretend it never happened! 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I found this book at a library sale and spent a whole fifty cents on it, thank goodness. I was leary of reading it, because Rebecca, to me, is a classic and one of my all-time favorite books. But, alas, I did read it. I can say one good thing about it--the descriptive prose was very good. Susan Hill did a great job of describing the English countryside, the places abroad, and the house. I found the main character annoying and the end ridiculous. I'm glad this is a sequel by another writer and we can just pretend the story ended where duMaurier intended it to!

Not Too Bad 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not bad.
I can't believe we still don't know Mrs. DeWinter's first name. I guess I can believe it; I think it's always supposed to remain a mystery, but it's frustrating.
A little wordy with less important action than the original book. But overall, it's not a bad sequel.
Some of the characters were not as foreboding as those in Rebecca. For instance, Dannie was not nearly as creepy and unsettling, or as malicious. The writer kept the brooding, unhappiness, cursed family, and overall flavor of first. The characters are evidently never to know happiness. Mystery solved, but damage done forever. I enjoyed this, but I probably won't read it again and will likely donate it to Goodwill.

Editorial Review:

Rejacketed alongside Air and Angels, The Mist in the Mirror and The Woman in Black to create a set of Susan Hill's most absorbing, enchanting and unsettling backlist titles

The Mist in the Mirror

Susan Hill

By: Mandarin
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A wonderful book - but the ending spoiled it somewhat ... 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

While I was reading this book I had mentally awarded it a five, even from the first few pages. Susan Hill evokes a wonderful, eerie vision of Victorian London, and the novel kept my attention all the way through. It is essentially an old fashioned ghost story, about a man who returns from the colonies to London in the latter half of the last century and begins a quest to discover the truth about his own mysterious past. It is an extremely well written story and I was filled with anticipation about what would be revealed at the end - how all the mysterious clues would tie together - but I am afraid that the ending when it came was a big disappointment. I felt that Ms Hill has no more idea than the reader about how the book should end, and the startling plot twist I was hoping for never came, so despite my enjoyment of the bulk of the novel I can't give it more than 4 marks. I would still recommend this book to other readers because of the excellent standard of writing and the wonderful Victorian atmosphere it evokes - and I also admit there is a possibility that I missed some hidden significance in the ending which will be crystal clear to other readers!

The Woman In Black (Vintage Classic) (Vintage Classics)

Susan Hill

By: Vintage Classics
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Editorial Review:

Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.

Woman in Black

Susan Hill

By: VINTAGE (RAND)
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

amazing! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This was an amazing book! I went on a field trip with my class to see the play in London's west end and it was AMAZING!!! So I decided to read the book, and it was just as good. But in the play, they have the person who is the ghost of the woman, and it is SOOO scary! The sound effects, too... WHen he goes to open the door to the nursery, there is this gut- wrenching scream and it makes the entire theatre scream. All in all, and awesome book!

Frightening 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

A frightening ghost tale. The writing is not exceptional and the story's possibilities could have been more fully developed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story and found the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. A good, old-fashioned ghost story with a shocking ending.

A gripping suspenceful ghost story 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Tragically sad and painfully horrifying, this book is hauntingly surreal, well plotted and written in an accessible and readable style.

Breathtakingly frightening! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This story makes the reader realize the true meaning of the word "haunting". It is simple, clean, straightforward story telling which builds to the kind of terror where the hair raises on your arms and the back of your neck. It is a true shame that the book is not available currently; the publisher would do well to restock as soon as possible. For those of us who enjoy that quiet creepy feeling in the dead of night that you can get only by reading the most well written ghost story, this is the book!

The Random House Book of Ghost Stories (Random House Book of...)

Susan Hill

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By: Random House Books for Young Readers
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Ghosties Rock 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is an anthology full of ghosties and other paranormal beings!
Nule by Jan Mark
Inanimate object comes to life.
Young Kate by Eleanor Farjeon
Kate works as a servant in two oppressive households before being freed by marriage.
Joanna's Secret by Pauline Hill
Joanna learns true love never dies.
Sam and the Sea by George Mackay Brown
Reincarnated boy has an encounter with his Viking family.
The Kindly Ghost by Ruth Manning-Sanders
An old man's ghost gives Jiri a bag of finger bones that grants wishes.
The Yellow Ball by Philippa Pearce
A ghostly dog comes to play a game of catch when her old ball is recovered from a tree.
The Damp Spectre by Dorothy Edwards
The hallway ghost moves into Asher's apartment and his mother is far from pleased.
Little Nym by Joan Aiken
A neglected little boy just wants to be noticed.
Beware of the Ghost! by Catherine Sefton
Bertie makes a new friend.
Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons by Walter R. Brooks
Jimmy scares a ghost and finally tames him.
Uninvited Ghosts by Penelope Lively
Ghosts love kiddies and are willing to travel to be with them!
Laughter in the Dark by Leon Garfield
A mean old man is tricked into performing acts of kindness.
Through the Door by Ruth Ainsworth
Clare and Maria witness a scene form the past.
The Battle of the Bogles by Sorche Nic Leodhas
The doctor needs a ghostbuster to come into his home so that he can get servants who will stay.
Grandmother's Footsteps by John Gordon
A chilling family secret is revealed about Jack's kindly old granny.
Bring Me a Light by Ruth Manning-Sanders
A poor widow and her seven sons move into an abandoned palace rumored to be haunted by a ghost who frightens people to death.
A Friend Forever by Susan Hill
Anna is sent to Meldrum House to convalesce after a bout of rheumatic fever and meets a ghost girl who wants to be her friend FOREVER!
This is a wonderful book for children of all ages!

Editorial Review:

Illustrated in full color. "Who's that tapping at my window?" This classy collection and gorgeous gift volume of seventeen modern ghost stories is a refreshing antidote to all the gross and gory books presently on the market. Discriminating horror fans won't be able to put down these spooky tales written by contemporary American and British authors. The tales are devilishly diverse, ranging in mood from haunting humor to spine-tingling terror. Our original edition of The Random House Book of Ghost Stories quickly vanished, selling out of its first printing, but was never reprinted. Now, with the explosion of the horror/Halloween market, it seems the perfect time to resurrect Ghost Stories.