saw the play in london TWICE. found it so so. i started the book and expected it to be so so too but i enjoyed it, understood it better and was kinda spooked. he says many times that he's happy in his second life but i wonder or is it just that when we're old we wonder more about other lives. ( )

A classic ghost tale.A good read for a winter night ( )

This is the third book I’ve read for this years’ Halloween Read and is, so far, the least satisfying for me. Although I have no complaints about the writing, even from the beginning this book seemed somewhat flat. It was written in the 1980’s by an English author who seems to be attempting to write a ghost story in the 19th century Gothic style. At first I though maybe it was because it was more novella length without the time to really set up the atmosphere, but The Turn of the Screw was a novella and the atmosphere was skillfully built up to grab the reader and hold him breathless. It may have been that my problem was that I had just finished [The House of Seven Gables] with its heavy emphasis on atmosphere that develops much more slowly than in Hill’s story in which there seem to be sudden changes of both atmosphere and mood. I felt very detached as I read this book, almost to the point of analyzing why I thought it was "missing the mark!" Another problem may be that the first chapter of the story shows the protagonist many years removed from this part of his life, well and happy with his family around him at Christmas. It’s like feeling that obviously he managed to survive the experience and move on so there was not the sense of great urgency that catastrophe would befall him.
I also found that I was often able to anticipate what would happen and why rather than experiencing what the main character was feeling. This story might have been better told in third person rather than first person. The narrator was very analytical about himself and the strange occurrences going on, which made me also analytical instead of settling into the flow of the story. In spite of that, throughout most of the book I kept enough interest to want to finish the story. My biggest complaint is I felt manipulated by the ending. Even though I saw the final event coming I was still angry when it happened. Perhaps, because I did see it coming!

Bottom line: A lot of people have really liked this book and I can see the attraction, even though it didn’t work for me. I consider it a 19th century Gothic wannabe without the style and the ability to create an atmosphere that would draw me into the story. ( )

This is more of a novella than a novel. It has wonderfully whimsical illustrations which add to the sense of the book as a reproduction of an older tale & maybe that's the problem.

I really love a good ghost story, but this just didn't do it for me. I found the writing to be mannered to the point of distraction & the story to be a cliched set piece with nothing new to add to the genre.

I wanted to be scared by this book, but the ghostly happenings are just so predictable - the woman in black with the wasted face that pops up all over, the deserted house in the marsh that no one will visit, the ghostly sounds of pony trap & chair, the callow narrator's journey from youth to experience, etc., etc., etc.

I really like this author, but this isn't one of her better outings. I'd like her to write as herself & not in imitation of others. ( )

This was a good old-fashioned ghost story, the kind of story that gets into your head, the kind that makes you lock the door... at least it was for me, especially that night, when reading about the noises coming from behind the locked door, and the dog was growling scared, and the noises didn't stop, and the lights went out...

Gothic, Victorian-like story of a woman in black in the northern coastal marshes of England. Trust me... you don't want to see her. ( )

A beautiful and well told story. Dark and decadent without being over the top. Perfect for a fire side reading. Enjoyment without being too tense. ( )

Who doesn't love a good ghost story? The suspense and overall tone in this story makes for great fireside reading. Even when I could see what was going to happen, I was still shocked at some of the outcomes. Reminds me of The Turn of the Screw. Great read! ( )

Beautifully written with spooky, gothic, eerie overtones, Susan Hill portrays chilling happenings that held my interest.

A young solicitor travels to the marshlands of Northern England and seeks to tidy the estate of a deceased elder woman who previously resided in a very desolate, remote and foreboding house.

While there he experiences the sound of a child's voices crying in the marsh, the incessant rocking of a chair in the nursery and witnesses the apparition of a dreaded woman in black.

I didn't find the tale believably scary, rather, the power of the story is the writing style.

This is one of the creepiest books I've ever read. It was recommended to me on more than one occasion and I wasn't disappointed. Sitting in my garden on a lovely sunny day I found myself repeatedly looking over my shoulder. The descriptions were evocative particularly those describing the causeway - I could almost hear the tide rising and falling. The narrative has the feel of a Victorian novel and although references to cars, etc suggest it is not set during this era the novel has a timeless quality which makes it all the more effective as a ghost story. A breathtaking and haunting read. Thoroughly recommended! ( )

To me this rates up there with Dickens' Signalman or many of M.R. James best stuff. Really good ghost stories are so hard to find so all seekers of a supernatural chilling should throw another log on the fire and reach for The Woman in Black. ( )

I saw the play in London before I even knew there was a book. It's an old-fashioned ghost story that gets you in the mind and not with the more modern gore. I think that's why I love it so much. It's genuinely a very chilling book.

While I was reading the nursery scenes the cat jumped on my feet and scared the hell out of me. I made this "WAH!" noise and threw the book. The cat was not impressed. ( )

The back cover of this short novel says: “What real reader does not yearn, somewhere in the recess of his or her heart, for a really literate, first-class thriller—one that chills the body, but warms the soul with plot, perception, and language at once astute and vivid? In other words, a ghost story written by Jane Austen?” How can you resist a hook like that?

I first read The Woman in Black in 2002 after seeing the play of the same name in London’s West End. The story features a young solicitor named Arthur Kipps who’s dispatched to the north of England to settle the affairs of the recently-deceased Mrs. Drablow, an elderly woman who lived at the remote Eel Marsh House.

The Woman in Black is a ghost story with all the requisite elements: a strange woman dressed in black, a locked room with a rocking chair that won’t stop moving; and the eerie sound of a pony and trap in the fog. It’s one of the creepiest books I’ve read in a long time—Company of Liars may be the exception. There’s no blood here, just a spine-tingling yet subtle mystery. There's really nothing more I can say; this book is perfect. ( )

The book begins with a family sitting around the fire telling each other ghost tales. The father of the family keeps silent as he listens to the stories that his family is telling each other. He walks out of the room when they ask him to join in and spin a spooky yarn, because he doesn't want to tell the tale that has haunted his dreams ever since he was a young man. The tale he has to tell is far more horrifying, chilling and disturbing than his family could imagine. Even more shocking is that the tale he has to tell is true!
This is a most beautifully told story with wonderful descriptions of the countryside, the haunted house and the marshes that surround it. At times I felt as if I were inside the house - cautiously entering the haunted rooms and creeping around in the dark with only a candle to light the way. It's full of surprises and unexpectedly heartbreaking too. A wonderful atmospheric read that kept me turning the pages faster and faster until all too soon I reached the end. ( )

creepy, had the feeling I'd read this before as a short story ( )

http://www.bartsbookshelf.co.uk/2006/... ( )

Written years before The Man in the Picture, this novel is also about a malevolent, vengeful ghost who destroys the lives of anyone who sees her. A perfect read for a stormy winter night. A classic "gothic" ghost story set in England. ( )

An atmospheric and creepy tale in the best tradition of storytelling. Susan Hill cleverly builds the suspense right from the start of this short novel. Set in a time where, in remote parts, motor cars are still rarities and located in a small town near the borders where strangers shouldn't ask questions, it has all the period character required for a good ghost story. A chillingly good read. ( )

This is the quintessential ghost story. The novel is narrated by a character named Arthur Kipps, now an elderly man, who recounts the eerie events that occurred decades earlier when he was a solicitor settling the estate of Alice Drablow.

As a young man, he was sent to a small town to attend Mrs Drablow's funeral and sort through the widow's papers. Although it was an ordinary task, Kipps' life was permanently altered by the appearances of a woman in black, the mystery he uncovered, and the strange occurrences in Eel Marsh House--Mrs Drablow's large home, surrounded by marsh and cut off from the mainland during high tides.

Author Susan Hill does a superb job of creating that foggy, damp atmosphere that's ideal for old-fashioned ghost stories. I saw the play which is based upon the novel when I was in England last year and actually jumped out of my seat a couple times. I went out to buy the book before the plane ride home. The book isn't scary in that same jump-out-of-your-seat-and-scream (as the group of school children in the audience did frequently) sense, but that's not to say that it's boring. If you enjoy subtly creepy stories, you'll devour this book. ( )

Probably one of the scariest books I have ever read, particularly when read on a dark and gloomy day in near darkness with thick fog outside the window...
The stage version is fantastic, VERY scary, be prepared to jump out of your seat, and probably yell too! ( )

I am a sucker for a traditional English ghost story and this short novel by Susan Hill incorporates all the right ingredients. We have a family celebrating around a log fire on Christmas Eve evening and a tale to be told. We have fog-bound London, an increasingly uncomfortable train journey into the eastern wilds, a small village with a cosy inn and nervous inhabitants, a funeral, a causeway across deadly sands and the isolated, spooky Ell Marsh House with its attendant hauntings. Super stuff. Go and see the chilling play in the West End too which is currently threatening to outrun The Mousetrap. Makes you wish someone talented and respectful would overhaul and retell M.R. James' dated ghost stories. ( )

I saw the play several years ago in Kansas City and after long searching, located a used copy of the book which served as the inspiration. Without a doubt, it is the best and most memorable play I have ever seen. With only two speaking roles, it is amazing how gripping and terrifying the story is. The book is enjoyable and atmospheric, but didn't give me the same chills as seeing the story played out on stage. It's apparently still playing in London, so if you're ever in that part of the world I do recommend trying to fit it into your schedule. ( )