Monday, September 1, 2014

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Susan Hill is one of my most beloved authors, I have a couple of other books penned by her on my to be reviewed list. 

The Woman in Black is a story about a young solicitor, Mr. Arthur Kipps, that is sent out by his superior to finalize Alice Drablow estate after her death. Eel Marsh House, where Mrs. Drablow lived, is out past the moors on a causeway alone in it's own ghostly world. The contentious villagers shy away from talk of the woman that lived there and the mystery behind it. Mr. Kipps finds a villager to take him to the edge of the causeway so he can get inside and gather all the paper work despite the sly words to the wise. He has a job to do.

What happens next is terrifying.

Children crying and screaming, flashes of movement in the woods and faces appearing in windows make for those rare incidences where I wanted to close the book and say, "Okay, they all lived happily ever after, I am so done with this." But it's too good to pass up. You have to know what happens to Mr. Kipps and the woman in black. 

Terror and death enters the village while Mr. Kipps tries formidably to solve this nightmare as  quickly as he can before another child dies.  

His night at Eel Marsh House is a harrowing one not just for him but for the reader, I knew that this was going to be a heart pounding ride. And it was the suspension of disbelief, my own,  that rocked the house on this one. (no pun intended)
Rating: Buy it
Published: 2001
Going through Netflix for the millionth time with my H,  I saw a flash (how ghostly) of The Woman in Black. I  yelled STOP!!!! ADD THAT TO OUR LIST! He did and we watched this moody, chilling horror movie last night.  It was like the director stepped into my head  when I had read this a while back,  saw my own imaginative brain  images and took a video camera to it. Outstanding atmosphere. Creepy, but outstanding.

 Daniel Radcliffe was perfect as the formidable Mr. Kipps.They stuck to the story like glue leaving out a few things but in the end you will feel like you watched one of the best ghost movies in a long time.

Rating: Rent it, Stream it. Go. Now. 


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You made me want to read this, Leigh! I saw the trailer for the movie last year and thought it looked frightening. Now I know why! Adding this to my TBR list...

Cheryl Musgrove said...

The good news is that it's a fast read! I liked the movie, it really followed the book closely which is always a treat. I say read it, Mary Jo, in between your TBR books. ;)

EStella Allender said...

Ok... you hooked me. Now I have to add The Woman In Black to my already long TBR list. Nice blog!

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