Ira Levin

Unabridged

Rosemary's Baby

She is a housewife—young, healthy, blissfully happy. He is an actor—charismatic and ambitious. The spacious, sun-filled apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side is their dream home—a dream that turns into an unspeakable nightmare. . . .
Enter the chilling world of Ira Levin—where terror is as near as your new neighbors . . . and where evil wears the most innocent face of all. . . .
--front flap

tori 👻

Ok, I'm not going to hide this review because I don't think there is one person alive that doesn't know the story of Rosemary's Baby. I will, however, warn before I talk anything spoiler related.
 One thing that I consider very important to mention is that this book has unfortunate consequences of being written in the time it was: Racist vocabulary. There is also homophobia and sexism but those came under character traits, not specifically the book's writing itself. Like I said, I know this is due to the time it was written, but it personally bothered me a lot and that is the reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars. So I think it is worth mentioning.
 Now on to the story. I would stop reading here if you, for a chance, don't know what this book is about and does not want to know anything.
 I think it's safe to say this book had an impact on me. I think scared is a strong word to express how I felt while reading it, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I wasn't. The true horror within Rosemary's Baby is not the satanic cult or even the embodiment of evil itself. What is truly terrifying is that Rosemary has no control whatsoever over her life, over her body. It horrified me how this woman had everything taken from her, her body, her choices, her long-dreamed motherhood for the sole purpose of giving a man fame and success.
 The rape scene is particularly brutal and sad. It was so absolutely heartbreaking seeing this woman trust in people that only wanted her and her body for a purpose. I hated everyone in this book, especially Guy, Jesus Christ did I want to give this asshole a punch in the face. To be completely honest, I didn't even like Rosemary at first, but as the story was told I started rooting for her.
 All in all, I really enjoyed this read and I definitely recommend it.

kelsey

i hated every second of this. the real horror wasn’t that rosemary gave birth to the son of satan but was that her body autonomy was taken away.

A. D. Knapp

Five star novel, but that ending costs it a star for me.

Sarah Sammis

I've read the book at least twice and seen the movie more times than I can count.

Rosemarys Baby

Laura Walden

the reveal made me laugh ngl lol but the gaslighting was cool

chloe

Geoffrey Froggatt

“He has his father’s eyes.”

Rosemary’s Baby is iconic. That word gets thrown around a lot but this story truly is infamous. My fascination with this story had less to do with the book itself and more so the aspects surrounding the film. I remember being intrigued by the scene in Rosemary’s Baby (1968) where Rosemary walks into traffic and learning it was spontaneous and genuine. Director Roman Polanski had told Mia Farrow that “nobody will hit a pregnant woman”. Farrow walked into real traffic and Polanski operated the hand-held camera. Rosemary’s Baby was a hit novel that became an iconic film, only to bring woe to nearly everyone who made it. According to half a century of pop-culture lore, the film is also cursed. Polanski had relocated to California alongside his new girlfriend, actress Sharon Tate, who was fresh off her first movie role as a witch in Eye of the Devil, just before filming began. She had gunned hard for the lead role in Rosemary’s Baby, but Paramount cast Mia Farrow. Tate instead loitered around the set, appearing uncredited like a ghost in the background of Rosemary’s party scene and, some say, becoming increasingly obsessed with the occult. Many years later, a friend quoted her in print as having said, “the devil is beautiful. Most people think he’s ugly, but he’s not.”. Polanski last saw Tate, by then his wife and very pregnant, in July 1969, noting in his autobiography a “grotesque thought” he had at the time: “You will never see her again,” he wrote. Tate was brutally murdered on August 8 by the Manson Family, as was their unborn son, all while Rosemary’s Baby still lingered in theaters. Unable to make sense of such a tragedy, and captivated by the stories of the Manson Family, the public took to Satan and curses as the only explanation. Internet fanatics say, like Guy Woodhouse, Polanski made his young wife a blood sacrifice for his still-untouchable status in Hollywood and beyond. Others maintain the Manson murders were a mere moment in a grand Satanic conspiracy scored by the Beatles. The White Album was written largely at an Indian meditation (with Mia Farrow in attendance). The song title “Helter Skelter,” albeit misspelled, was scrawled in blood at the crime scene. And, a dozen years later, Lennon was assassinated across the street from the Dakota, the landmark where Rosemary’s Baby was filmed. 

The author never found other success after the novel, and often spoke about how he wasn’t proud of his legacy and how the film fostered irrationality and added fuel to the flames of the Satanic Panic. The historical impact of this book intimidated me and put me off reading it for a long time. The book and movie popularized the exclamation “Hail Satan” and started the common conception that stereotypical Satanists exclaim and invoke this chant, which is strange to think about. The book itself is a product of its time and it was interesting reading a story that was such a time capsule of the era it was written in. Rosemary’s kindness and the mundanity of her life with Guy really makes the reader care for the characters, and it only increases the suspense for when things really start to kick off and we get into the meat of the story. Rosemary’s slow descent into conspiracy and madness was done so well. I loved recognizing so many elements from this story that went on to inspire horror stories for years to this day. In a lot of classic (and sometimes contemporary) horror fiction, the protagonist is an idiot. This isn’t the case here. Rosemary does everything right, she takes all the precautions, she actively thinks about the situations she finds herself in, she’s self-aware, she’s smart… and she still ends up getting inescapably tangled up in the machinations of the people around her. It makes the horror even more sinister, because when you do all the right things and the horror still catches up with you, where can you go from there? Rosemary is living in the sixties, she comes from a devout Catholic family, and is married to an older man with a severe ego problem, so maybe she isn’t the fiery “strong female” a modern reader might be looking for, but her quiet intelligence is a much more accurate result of her environment. For a book published in 1967, written by a male author, there is a surprisingly amount of sensitivity and nuance in the way Rosemary’s relationship with her husband is handled. Levin doesn’t use modern terms like marital rape and gaslighting, but it’s very clear that that’s what he’s talking about. Although technically this is a book about Satan and devil worship, there is so much in the story about humans and human relationships, which is why it works so well. I do think that the ending of the movie executes a better atmosphere than the book, and I much preferred the movie’s choice to never show the baby. While the ending of the book was less effective for me, I still enjoyed it. This story was simple yet brilliant, and it retained my attention from start to finish. I highly recommend this horror classic to anyone intrigued by the premise or the history surrounding the novel.

Wynter

Of course, what else can it be?

Holy crap! Or should I say 'unholy'? No wonder this is classified as one of the most defining books in the horror genre. It has a bit of the 60's in it, of course, when expecting mothers didn't really know as much about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and had hoards of friends blowing cigarette smoke into their faces, but the book didn't feel dated at all. And while it's not hard to figure out what's what, the narrative still manages to be tight with atmospheric suspense. A classic!

Eabha Ni Lionaird

Sade A

♪ i want you but not for your devil side♪

Right so pretty sure everyone knows the gist about Rosemary's Baby. It's one of those books made into movies that even though you've never watched or read it, you basically know the whole story. This for me, was like feeling in the holes. 
Loved the book and fairly short. i can say the only thing that really bugged me about this book was the whole "Negro" thing in the book. Like every time the author had to refer to a black person, he'd add Negro to the description.

  

  "The elevator - oak paneled with a shining brass handrail all around - was run by a uniformed Negro boy"

"The elevator stopped and the Negro boy, smiling..."

"earlier on weekdays a bevy of Negro laundresses..."
  


It's actually something i've noticed a lot of that these old books do when describing a black person.There's always that description there that makes your eye brows go up. 

Besides that, was a pretty good read, and that ending. seriously WTF!!!!. 


  Moral of the story:
 Don't be a rosemary guys. I mean Rosemary was bloody naive like holy shit that woman was sloooooowwwwwwwww to catch on. Also being polite is liable to make you an easy prey for crazy witches..

Ryan LaFerney

Rosemary's Baby is a 1967 horror novel by American writer Ira Levin; it was his second published book. It sold over 4 million copies, "making it the top bestselling horror novel of the 1960s." The high popularity of the novel was a catalyst for a "horror boom", and horror fiction would achieve enormous commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s.

A young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move to a New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and odd neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet. When Rosemary becomes pregnant she becomes increasingly isolated, and the diabolical truth is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth. 

Could a satanic plot be involved? Perhaps. Or Rosemary could just be paranoid. 

Rosemary’s Baby tells of a young woman living in New York City who becomes pregnant and starts to believe that her husband and the neighbors at her apartment complex want to steal her baby after it’s born. The book is told in third person limited, past tense, from Rosemary’s perspective. And it's frightening.

Full of themes of hysteria and obsession and religious fervor, no wonder this book caught the zeitgeist in the late 1960s/early 1970s. 

It's a bonafide classic.

Better than the film! A lot of the tropes are worn out, but I did still find myself hella creeped out at the incessant gaslighting of poor Rosemary. Hail Andrew! 

Ashlyn

ROSEMARY S BABY

Christine Bruce

** spoiler alert **
           The only reason this didn't get a higher rating is because it made me SO ANGRY. Guy in particular. But everything that made me angry was true to life things that would have happened in the 60s. Oh your husband basically rapes you while you're asleep? That's fine. You're overreacting. That's the main thing. But everything stems from how Guy treats rosemary. Like she's just another vessel for his success. Makes me so. Angry.

Nick Schmoyer

Celeste Richardson

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions. 

Thanks, Mr. Levin. I hate it.

I had so many problems with this book. Because I feel the need to vent about said problems, there will be an abundance of spoilers in the review below. I’ll try to keep things as vague as possible, but yeah. Spoilers. If you’re unfamiliar with the story and have any desire to read it without prior knowledge, please skip reading this review.

You have been warned. 

I feel like one of the very few people in my part of the world who has never watched the movie Rosemary’s Baby, or at least been exposed to the story. Because I have in recent years developed a love for the horror genre, I’m trying to read some of the backlist of books that make up the genre’s classics. As this is a tiny little novel, barely outside of the novella length, I decided that it would be my next foray into said classics. I’m glad to be able to say that I’ve read it, and that’s about all the good I have to say about this book. I read it. That’s it.

Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse are a recently married couple who find luck turning in their favor when an apartment becomes available at the prestigious Bramford. The two move into their new home with glee and excitement, exulting in the building’s quirks and motley assortment of tenants. Two of these neighbors, Minnie and Roman Castevet, take the couple in as if they were long lost grandchildren. Rosemary begins experiencing some odd happenings as her husband’s acting career takes off and she finds herself finally pregnant with the child she’s been longing for. But her memory of the child’s conception is hazy at best, and the few details she does recall sound like something from a fevered nightmare so she refuses to see them as real. From there things spiral down for Rosemary. She finds herself consumed by pain and paranoia, and utterly isolated. She believes there is a malevolent force in her life, a conspiracy to steal her baby. And she’s not wrong. This is because her child is not fully human. You see, Guy isn’t the father. Lucifer is.

Okay, let me air my problems with this book. First, Rosemary is an incredibly weak and self-absorbed protagonist, and I didn’t find her the least bit likable. I felt sympathy for her, of course; she’s facing a terrifying situation that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But some of her choices infuriated me. Yes, she did start fighting back near the end of her pregnancy, seeking to extract herself and her unborn child from their terrifying situation. But before coming to that decision, she accepted just about anything she was told or given, even if she protested somewhere inside herself. And when she would make a decision to see a different doctor or stop drinking Minnie’s sketchy vitamin drink, she was fairly easy to convince to change her mind and fall back into her previous patterns. Also, I couldn’t stand Guy. I’m trying to think of a more careless, callous, superficial character, but I’m coming up blank. I wanted to reach into the pages and strangle him, and give Rosemary a slap for not seeing through him sooner. But what really blew my mind was Rosemary’s decision at the end of the book. I was totally baffled by her response, which I won’t get into just in case you decide you do want to read it for yourself.

There were a couple of redeeming qualities to this book which kept me from rating it with one star instead of two. First, Levin had to have a massive set of figurative balls to stick with this ending. It was risky and has been controversial since the book was first published. Rarely does an author show evil winning the day, and that’s what Levin does here. Good doesn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere to vanquish said evil. It actually wins. Second, even though there were many elements of the book that felt cliche, you have to remember that this novel was written before they were cliche, and is more than likely a large part of how these elements have become and remained so prevalent in pop culture. 

I can see why other horror fans love this book, I honestly can. But it really rubbed me the wrong way, especially theologically. I believe that the devil is real, and I know that the Church of Satan is an actual religion practiced by real people. My problem here was with how easily Rosemary, a lapsed Catholic, shrugs off this evil while believing that she could fight it singlehandedly. This argument sounded fragile and watery even in her own mind, and I doubt that she truly believed it. Rosemary’s Baby is all kinds of messed up, but it’s compelling, I’ll give it that. Read at your own risk, though, especially if you’re a practicing monotheist. Because Levin knows how to make believers in God feel super uncomfortable.

Rosemary's baby

Gianluigi

Casey W. 

** spoiler alert **
           I really enjoyed the whole premise of the book, but there were most definitely parts that didn't sit well with me. Several times I wanted to punch Rosemary in the face for being so naive/stupid. I think a lot of that comes from a modern perspective. At one point, she is under the assumption that her husband had sex with her while she was passed out drunk (raped her). While she's initially appalled, she just lets it go for the most part. There's no repercussions for her husband and she continues to be the doting wife. On another note, I certainly would not trust my stranger neighbors to make me pregnancy drinks and I'd be highly suspicious of any doctor who says to trust no one but him. Meh, it's still a good read and I would recommend it to others.

B.H. Pitt

Pretty much 1:1 with the film--which is to say, excellent.

Neva Davies

Not a fan

Rosemary's Baby is a horror novel about a woman who wants a baby, and eventually gets one. But it's not human.

Trigger warning for rape, death

About 30% into the story, I struggled. I started really hating Rosemary's husband, for his hand in the horrifying rape that led to Rosemary getting pregnant with the devil's spawn. I also started feeling sorry for Rosemary, as she dealt with being raped by her husband. I hate that Rosemary's Baby doesn't deal with marital rape in more than a few seconds of dialogue. 

2.25/5

erin s

Marija M

What a book!
So eerie and haunting. Kept me feeling a bit uncomfortable the entire time. Nicely written, easy to read. 

To me, this books actually sends an important message: the power of mother's love. And also - beware of your surroundings and trust your instincts!

Dani

Finally got to read this classic, can't actually remember if I watched the movie or not back in the day, but well, now I should have no excuse.
Clasic horror which takes me back to those years of reading tons of Stephen King, and Koontz.

Pia Sophia

** spoiler alert **
           Excuse my French, but fuck. This book is just amazing and I loved it. The only reason it’s getting 4 stars instead of 5, is because of the use of the word ‘negro’ in it. I know this was written in an other time, but that just felt wrong for me and I didn’t like the stereotypical way those characters (although not important to the story) were displayed. 

Back to the story. 
I have been behind in the whole hype of this book, and I’ve never seen the movie as well. The first time I heared about this, was in Gossip Girl (sorry not sorry). The phrased used in this series that got my attention: “Who accepts desserts from strangers anyway?” (Blair Waldorf). 
God, I can’t even begin to explain why I loved this book and why it was so terrifying to me. 

Guy, you’re an asshole. Disrespecting your wife like that, raping her (or at least making it seem you did), denying her feelings towards your neighbours, NOT LETTING HER SEE AN OTHER DOCTOR WHEN SHE’S CLEARLY IN A LOT OF FUCKING PAIN. 

Roman and Minnie, you are creepier than creepy. Mind your own damn business, was what I thought from the beginning of the book. Like, get a life. Or die already (is what I thought when Minnie kept insisting Rosemary to drink her drinks in front of her). 

Hutch, poor Hutch. I can’t even begin to explain how much I hoped you didn’t meet Roman, how you wouldn’t be there at that particular evening, and how you would have been kept safe from their evil hands (Minnie meeting Rosemary after she heared the bad news, coincidence much?). Brave old Hutch, even moments before your death you tried to save your friend. Bless you, man. 

And then, the ending. So creepy, so well-written, so... I was genuinely sorry to have finished the story. What happens next?! Does Rosemary join the cult to be with her son? HOW is it possible little Andy looked the way he did? So many questions. I’m lucky my copy had an excerpt of Son of Rosemary in the back, so I could get some answers. I didn’t, though. Even more questions arose. 

Levin, you’re a master.

Jana Pashovska

Despite having seen the film a few times, I was still as gripped by the story as someone who had no idea what it is about would be, which just shows how for all its simplicity and lack of stylistic flourishes, Levin's storytelling is nevertheless as powerful as it can be. You get so mesmerised, so involved in the events that you become Rosemary–you feel what she feels, you react the way she does, you understand her decisions, you understand everything. 

A clever book, really, and I very much liked Levin's somewhat ironic tone of talking about religions and religious mania, as well as his way of dealing with important themes such as pregnant women—and women in general—not being taken seriously due to their "hormonal behaviour". Recommended even if you have seen the movie, because the book offers a different sensory experience that you wouldn't want to miss out on.

Rosemary's Baby Unabridged

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