The Woman in Black

I went with the audible original of this, narrated by Paapa Essiedu. It was fantastically done, with music and all the ghostly thuds. The only hiccup was dialogue was lowered as if those speaking to Arthur were further away—a cool idea, but I found these lines to be hard to hear both at work with an AirPod in and in the car. The narration as fantastic though.

I found myself truly blown away that this novel is from the 80s. The author’s voice, the way it’s written, the way the content is presented, just all speaks to it being a classic of much older origin. With that sort of Victorian-gothic creeping atmosphere you’d expect from the ghost stories that started it all. Even following in the footsteps of the likes of The Turn of the Screw and the later The Haunting of Hill House with its focus on the feel of the haunting much more than the actions of any ghost. And while this novel does turn into actual consequence, I felt that it still toed the line.

Arthur is a junior solicitor, so when the chance to prove himself is presented, he jumps at the opportunity. Penning a brief explanation to his fiancée, certain she will understand, he leaves for the job. He has been tasked with attending the funeral of Mrs. Drablow, the sole occupant and owner of Eel Marsh House. After representing his firm at the funeral, he must go to the house and search it for any document of worth before her final business is settled. However, the house is at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mist, and becomes unreachable during the tide. As if that wasn’t enough to raise his hackles, there’s also something more at work here. Her secrets, some of which are even sinister, are boiling just below the surface.

I really enjoyed how the author made the reader feel each and every thudding heart beat from Arthur. That each eerie instance is drawn out for all it’s worth. It excels as an atmospheric ghost horror, and that’s a genre I don’t always think succeeds. And I still can’t believe the facsimile quality of their much older sounding writing, it’s honestly a triumph.

While you’ll most likely find yourself uneasy, or feeling suspense, I doubt anyone will actually feel genuine fear or terror. While the ending is truly horrific and bleak, the story is just much more understated than that. Definitely for fans of those ghostly tales of old.

It’s so delightfully simple - compared to other horror stories there’s very little actual spooky stuff that actually happens. But just enough happens, in just the right way, to make it pretty damn scary.

** spoiler alert ** My only prior knowledge to this story is the film adaptation with Daniel Radcliffe, but I wanted to read the original to see how it compared. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is sent to settle the affairs of Alice Drablow. He sees a woman dressed in black at her funeral, though apparently no one else does. At Eel Marsh House, a house beyond a causeway, Arthur is haunted by noises and sightings of the woman. This story did a fantastic job at showcasing a classic ghost story format. A ghost comes back from the past, and so does a ghost story. In the opening of this narrative the storyteller talks of coming out "from under the long shadow cast by the events of the past". At its end, the storyteller has managed a difficult task. Thus the book's terse concluding sentences: "They asked for my story. I have told it. Enough." I loved the revenge theme of the story and the tragic ending for the protagonist, doomed to live his life in grief after the traumatic death of his loved ones. I don’t expect modern readers to be very fearful of this story. Ghost stories are not effective without atmosphere. That's why we tell them around campfires or late at night in dark rooms. And for a generation raised on slasher flicks and daily news about terrorist attacks and school shootings, it's a lost cause to try to "scare" people with words in a book. However this is a glimpse into the classic and traditional ghost story format, and I do think readers would enjoy the classic atmosphere as a product of its time. Susan Hill doesn't try to do anything particularly new with the story. The ghosts are not clever or different or original. There's no deep hidden meaning, or if there is, I didn't feel inclined to dig for it. But what she does very well is convey atmosphere. The movie is a lot more Amityville Horror and The Shining than the book was, with more gruesome effects and a lot less subtlety. The movie tries to generate thrills from sudden noises and abrupt ghostly appearances in windows, mirrors, etc. The book does it with atmospheric dread. And it does it well.

Looking for a spine chilling ghost story for the month of November now that Halloween is over? Look no further than this stunningly written short ghost story. It is truly haunting and hard not to get sucked into. I do recommend reading during the day though!

😶‍🌫️

Brief: chilled me to the frickin bone. Gorgeously written.

The Woman in Black is a chilling ghost story set in a small, rural English town on the coast. The time period isn’t specifically mentioned, but I gather it’s the early 1900s. I wish we could have had a solid date; it makes me feel more centered when I'm reading hist fic.

Our protagonist Arthur Kipps works for a lawyer in London and is sent on a trip to attend to the affairs of the recently deceased Alice Drablow in rural Crythin Gifford. It should be a simple business trip: attend the funeral and settle Mrs. Drablow’s affairs. When Arthur notices a ghostly woman in black, he asks the townspeople about her. They all avoid his questions; some are visibly afraid. Arthur is sent to Mrs. Drablow’s estate on the marshes, Eel Marsh House, and it’s there he experiences a series of hauntings. Can he survive and get to the bottom of the Woman in Black’s mystery?

So, this book starts off strong. It sets a spooky, Gothic tone, so I was surprised to discover it takes place much later in history than I thought. I think this book would be better suited if it took place in Victorian England. It just seems more Gothic, so I was slightly jarred at the mention of motor cars and telephones.

This is a short, fast paced read, which I liked. However, for as short as it is, I was surprised how little action there is. Arthur doesn’t spend too much of this novel actually in the haunted house. There’s a lot of exposition and mundane stuff. Simply put, this book could have been scarier. Like I said, it starts off spooky and doesn’t really maintain that theme.

Also, I’m just not sure I liked how it was written. It’s presented as Arthur writing about his experiences years after they happened, and there’s too many flourishes. Too many commas. In journalism school I was taught that commas should be used sparingly because they represent a pause. To that degree, there’s like five commas, or pauses, in each sentence. It really breaks up the narrative for me. The wording was superfluous and almost came off as pretentious at times. I just wanted Arthur to tell the story, and not pretend he was writing a Jane Austen novel. This is probably just a reflection of me and my tastes, however.

I don't want to be too hard on this book; I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. It was a solid read and semi-fit what I was looking for this spooky season.

Hill mimicks the style of the late Victorian story with vivid delightful accuracy. Knowing the at-times considered relative verbosity of the period's prose, it is a remarkable feat that Hill manages to chill the self-professed voracious reader of modern horror novels. Her poetic descriptions of sentiment and landscape are as sliver flashes of half-buried diamonds that one uncovers while traipsing amid the grave ruins of her Gothic-esque Victorian horror 'novella'.

3.5

Dark gothic academia. A perfect horror mystery and one of the best.

This was one of my GCSE English Literature books and I have to say that it was the one of the worst books I've ever read. Susan Hill has an obsession with making the main protagonist the most hypocritical character alive. For example, he will visit the house and be terrified, says he will never return there. A few lines later (literally after a bike ride), he decides the house is absolutely fine to visit and will go there again!!!! Wow, good job. Granted, there's some good scenery descriptors and a very atmospheric vibe, but that's it. Most of the novel is not good. One of the funniest things is one of the questions I got set for this book in my exam: "How does Arthur's characterization develop across the course of the novel?" I actually laughed, because he doesn't develop. If I were you, I'd watch the movie. It's much better. (And I don't say that a lot.)

After really enjoying the film, I decided to read the book. Disappointingly short and unscary, the film did a much better job of bringing this ghost story to life. It is obvious at times that the author tried too hard with the writing style and the story only properly developed towards the end, which made for an albeit obvious climactic ending, there wasn't much in way of a build up. For all those interested in discovering the hype behind this novel, I'd recommend watching the film rather than reading the book. Even though I did find it a page turner, the film does more justice to the story than the book itself.

I remember loving this when I read it at school and it’s definitely solidified its place as one of my all-time favourite books. It was so creepy, gothic, eerie, and gripping. I love this story! I loved the experience of re-reading this book so much. I recommend it 100%.

Very well-written with a creepy atmosphere and an ending that I saw coming, but it still managed to get me emotional. A classic ghost story for people who like ambiance and don’t need jump scares to feel spooked. Also, how cute is it that the dog is named Spider, of all things?

My review on my blog: https://auxmotsinsatiables.wordpress....

I borrowed this, after hearing about the movie based on this book. I'm sure there are many who can say the same thing. Anyway, I enjoyed this book for the suspense but didn't enjoy it for the simple fact that there wasn't enough suspense. And when I got to the end, I had no urge to start over. I'm glad that I didn't waste fourteen bucks on it, and I don't think I'm ever going to.

This book continues to be one of my favourite books of all time. Although generally slow and over descriptive, there's something about the atmosphere and build up that gets to me. In particular chapter 9 always creeps me out. The book is very different from the film but I like both for different reasons.

3.5⭐

Instead of the lonely moors, this ghost story takes place in an isolated house in the middle of the marshes: a house only accessible by the causeway at low tide, so that when the tide comes in and covers the path, the house, and any of its occupants, is cut off from the mainland for several hours til the tide recedes again. Having grown up on the salt marsh, I loved this aspect of the book. Hill's descriptions of the marshland, the tides, and the estuaries, was worth every scare. There was a point in this, about halfway through, that though I was in a very public place, with plenty of (live) people around and in broad daylight, I had to shut the book because my heart was racing so fast with fear I thought I might pass out. I didn't know if I'd have the nerve to pick it back up. I did, though, and finished the rest of the book in one sitting. After that one really scary point, I was fine, and was happy I read it. Several friends had told me that the movie was terrifying, and I can see how it would be. I can see the movie being even more terrifying than the book, actually, because the imagery and suspense could be teased out a little more on the screen. I don't think I'd have the nerve to watch the film version.

This is a book where I can say that I honestly liked the movie adaptation 100x more. The movie was filled with tension, horror, and fear. The book was filled with slight discomfort (for the second half or even quarter of the book). The first half to about three quarters of the book, were both quite unsubstantial and boring. It wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the film adaptation was, and for some that may be a good thing.. but for me, it just wasn’t enough.

Meh.

But although ghost stories lack hard shocks and appear initially milder their outcomes can have more devastating effects. - Christopher Fowler I don't know if it was the well written language, the setting, the characters or the beginning but The Woman In Black chilled me all the way to my bone. There is no doubt that my brain will haunt me with the wasted woman whenever I am too tired or that a rocking chair never will feel quite as cozy and safe again.