The Woman in Black (Vintage Classics) - Cover May Vary

Susan Hill's transmogrified into many media The Woman In Black remains a wonderful, atmospheric ghost story, still holding its own after its 30 plus years in print. Though I'm - amazed/amused/shocked to find that it is now listed as a best seller on Amazon in the CHILDREN'S ebook category. I don't believe it was initially written, or published for that market. So I'm not quite sure what this shows - the literary sophistication of children? Sure, post a film starring Daniel Harry Potter Radcliffe, probably new audiences are coming to the book, but it is quite a slowly paced, literary piece of writing (hence its standing the test of time on a re-read for this reader) It's a properly paced, slow-burn, atmospheric piece of writing, with a wonderful sense of lonely place - set on the North-East coast, much of the horror arises from Hill's ability to create an eerie, beautiful, mysterious and isolated tidal estuary landscape, complete with the suckings and soughings, the glimmers, glistens and dankness of wind, water and sea-frets.Arthur Kipps, now a middle aged man on his second marriage, is immured in a family Christmas. His teenage stepsons embark, in high spirits, on the telling of ghost storiesUnwillingly, the years roll back memories of a quarter of a century and more ago, when Kipps, then a young solicitor, was sent to deal with the estate of a recently deceased reclusive woman in her eighties, who had lived in isolation in a house at Eel Marsh, some distance form a little market town called Crythin Gifford. Eel Marsh can only be reached when the tide is out, and is then completely cut off from the outside world, and the outside world from it, once the tide comes in again. There was some unexplained horror to do with Eel Marsh. Locals drop veiled hints, but Kipps, a pragmatic, modern young man, not given to flights of fancy is of course dismissive..............until.This is a proper Victorian Gothic style story, even though set in a modern era. Everything is done through its effect on Kipps, the slow drip drip of fear and horror into his psyche. It's a superb ratcheting up of horror, and there is nothing to cynically laugh at, no crass clankings of chains and slamming doors, opening graves and the like. Hill takes normalcy and just progressively makes it go wrong, chill and definitely evil."We had travelled perhaps three miles, and passed no farm ofr cottage, no kind of dwelling house at all, all was emptiness. Then, the hedgerows petered out, and we seemed to be driving towards the very edge of the world. Ahead, the water gleamed like metal.....I realized this must be the Nine Lives Causeway.....and saw, how, when the tide came in, it would quickly be quite submerged and untraceable........we went on, almost in silence, save for a hissing, silky sort of sound. Here and there were clumps of reeds, bleached bone-pale, and now and again the faintest of winds caused them to rattle dryly"And that's BEFORE the sea-frets come!A short, chilly, chilly read. Hill is a writer who understands less is more and has no need for crude schlock effects.

I saw the stage show years ago and it terrified me. I was confident that such a wonderfully crafted play would have translated well from the original pages, but doubted the pages would invoke the same chill and sense of dread that the theatre lighting and effects could force......well...we all know what happens when one assumes!The book is short, but the correct length for a ghost story. Characters are consistent and, whilst perhaps TOO brave on some occasions (I'd have run on the first sight of the ghost), they are still believable. The book doesn't try to force fear into the reader. There are no attempts to frighten or shock unexpectedly, but the pace and style carry the reader effortlessly. The constant sense of dread and looming tragedy, even when all seems safe and quiet, serves to grip the reader from start to finish. I find the best way to describe it is that it's not so much 'scary', but rather 'very VERY creepy'.The greatest a achievement is the idea it puts into your head. The book is creepy; the fear comes later! I read this book whilst in Paris with my girlfriend. After a long day we returned to our flat only for me to be sent out moments later to get the wine for our evening meal. On the way back up the creaky, 6 flights of stairs, lightning struck and the power went out. FYI - when you're alone in an old, pitch black building, stranded on a collapsing staircase with nothing but the musty smell and the moonlight shining through the small window, this is NOT the time to think of the Woman in Black standing right behind you......

This is a story that is told from the perspective of Arthur Kipps, he recounts his visit to Eel House when he was younger and a junior solicitor. His boss Mr Bentley had asked him to go to sort out the affairs of Mrs Alice Drablow who had died and it was up to the solicitor to put her papers in order.The story is a fabulous one that has so much atmosphere. The author has injected so much eerie and chilling scenes into this story. A mysterious house that is only accessible at low tide by way of a causeway. The old woman lived alone and had no family. The locals won't talk about her and don't visit the house. It is an unmentioned place and one that worries everyone for some reason.The arrival of Kripps to finalise the affairs does not bring any sense of relief, the locals worry and they are quite right as it turns out. The mystery of the owner is realised when Kripps discovers some letters, but it does not hold all the answers and there are still some things that are left unknown.Having a ghost story that is not totally finalised leaves the reader with a certain suspense. I did enjoy this book a lot and having such a mysterious presence adds to the suspense. It definitely has that Victorian Gothic horror feel to it and there are events that leave the reader a little unnerved.I do like the classic style of this story and I am so glad that I finally got around to reading this book. It had been sitting on my kindle shelf for far too long.If you are a fan of stories that have that classic literature feel and of course ghost stories then this is definitely a book for you. I thought it was brilliant and I would definitely recommend it.

Like a lot of people on here recently, I bought this book because I wanted to read it before going to see the film. I must confess that I'm not a massive fan of being scared by `obvious' horror or spooky, jumpy things, which is why I enjoyed this book so much: it allows you to let your imagination run away with you. The real scariness is in the things that are only hinted at and that *aren't* shown but merely suggested and the sinister atmosphere created as the story slowly unfolds, which is why I enjoyed this novel so much.For fear of inadvertently spoiling the tale, I won't say too much about the plot. I will say though that this wonderfully wordy tale is atmospheric and creepy in the style of true `classic' ghost stories as the tension is built gradually, inch by inch. The scene setting is excellent and the narration flows beautifully. I genuinely felt as if I was right there beside Arthur Kipps and living out his nightmare with him. The author adds a really heightened sense of claustrophobia and tension just by some of the foreboding prose used as well- it's really wonderful.The pace is slow, admittedly, but I think that only adds to the drama. By the time I reached the end of this novel (and what an ending), though I feel a bit silly to admit, I was left feeling a bit wary and wanting to sleep with the lights on- the book will stay with me in that respect for quite a while I think!Though this novel is quite short it is definitely worth a read- particularly if you are a fan of gothic horror stories or enjoy being scared. I am now eager to see the stage version of this, as well as highly anticipating the film- I only hope the movie does this book justice. Great stuff!

The Woman in Black and its long-running play in London is apparently a common choice for English Literature at the secondary level in England. I had actually never heard of it until a friend of mine linked me to the US trailer of the film adaptation, set to be released in February 2012. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, and as a promotion, there was a chance to be able to attend the premiere and meet Daniel himself, so long as you wrote a bone-chilling ghost story and posted a video of yourself acting it out or reading it on camera. Sadly, I didn't enter the competition, but that's probably because writing a ghost story is ridiculously difficult. Especially one of this calibre.Anyway, this book gave me a few shivers. It's about a junior solicitor called Arthur Kipps, who refuses his step-children's request for a ghost story, too traumatised by what went on all those years ago, when he was summoned to Crythin Gifford, a small town far away in the English countryside. As a city-boy, when told an abridged version of the story of Eel Marsh House, he assumes that the country folk are just superstitious bumpkins and it would be a normal case of arranging his late client's affairs. However, he ends up very isolated in a large house that can only be accessed during low tide, and has its fair share of bumps in the night.Oh goodness, this book was just fantastic. Finding out what had happened to Ms. Drablow really gave me the shivers, and that ending. Oh, that ending. Gave me the creeps, because it came completely out of nowhere. This is just a wonderful book, and a rare breed of ghost story: one that will have you reading deep into the night and biting your lip as you imagine the setting... then to be confronted with pretty terrifying images. I actually got through about 10% of the book in one night, and was a startled by a creak somewhere in the walls of the house.However, the book does have its problems. While it is very immersive and does all the things a good ghost story should do, the parts where Arthur temporarily leaves Eel Marsh House are a little bit dull in comparison. The book also contains a slight overkill when it comes to the terrible things that happens to Arthur, but that was probably just me. I also found the other characters in the story somewhat bland. For example, Mr. Daily is just a local man who comes around every now and again to fill in local knowledge or tell Arthur that the house is haunted, and Keckwick is just a bumpkin who owns the pony and trap that ferries Arthur to Eel Marsh House, and brings him back to the village every once in a while.It's a brilliant book, but with just a few hitches when it comes to any parts outside of Eel Marsh House, as well as side characters being a bit dull for my liking. 3.5/5

This is really an excellent read, I would strongly recommend it to all readers, fans of ghost stories or haunting fiction and general readers alike.The story is delivered in the form of a first person narrative, opening on a Christmas family scene which provides the pretext for the relating of the tale itself. The story itself is a private chronicle of the traumatising experiences and trials of life of the narrator.The pace is fantastic, it is an absolute page turner and the style of writing is absorbing and very quickly draws the reader in. The narrative itself is beautiful, the choice of words are at once literary but not too splendid as to interfer with the pace, plot development and characterisation. Which are all done really well.I was glad to find this, on the random recommendation of a friend, because I had begun to believe that with The Ring, The Grudge and The Eye, even video games such as Project Zero, that Eastern/Asia ghost stories had eclipsed the west altogether. This book in many ways reminded me of M.R. James classic ghost stories but it has its own style too and is by no means a mocking bird piece.Infact what impressed me the most was not simply the over arcing ghostly tale but some of the description of life in between the more dramatic events. The author is able to make these moments in reprieve extraordinary despite their mundanity, the sign of a great writer. I also think that there is some of the greatest description of traumatic stress from the point of view of someone experiencing it in a novel in this book.

I enjoyed this ghost story - it's creepy, atmospheric and also quite a short book so you'll rattle through it pretty quickly. It's the novel that the movie of the same name starring Daniel Radcliffe was based on, so if you've seen that you'll know the gist. A lawyer in Victorian England is handling the estate of a recently-deceased woman who lived in an isolated, lonely old house - but soon stumbles upon an old mystery, a tragedy, a curse and a community living in fear. Pretty soon the ghost is after him too ...As I said I did like this book, but my only criticism is that I didn't find it actually all that scary. I could quite happily read it late at night without being nervous about turning off the light afterwards! I can't really explain quite why. It might have been partly because the whole premise was quite cliched - lonely house in the middle of nowhere, historical setting, fog on the marsh etc. - whereas I think often the most effective ghost stories are set in more conventional places, making you think there could be a ghost anywhere, even where you are ... whereas this is set comfortably far away in both place and time. Unless you actually read it in a deserted old house on the edge of a foggy marsh, in which case it might seem closer to home ... I mean, as I said it's well written, but the setting and ideas aren't exactly original.Probably the most disturbing scene is actually at the very end - and I won't spoil the surprise, suffice to say that the ending was different from that in the film, and darker I'd say. Overall, though, I think I slightly preferred the film to the book, and I don't often say that. It's worth a read, though, especially if you're partial to a ghost story like me.

I got this book based on the good reviews it had, and I agree! Its a small slip of a book and tells a fairly neat little story spanning only a few days (with a little jump to a bit later in the main characters life near the end) but it certainly packed a few good scares into such a discreet, succinct little package. I like how its written in just slightly post-victoria times and the characters language is a lot more descriptive with none of the offensiveness that can be a trait of many modern horror/thriller types. The first person perspective makes it all the more real and disturbing to the main character (you!). While some of the "moments" in the book are pretty tense and scary (the poor little dog in the bog!) most are eerily chilly and you are really drawn into the setting and the spooky atmosphere. When it all unfolds and you realise why the reason for the hauntings, the story is actually quite a sad one and you find yourself feeling sorry for the main ghostly perp (or at least I did!). There is a great twist near the end of the characters time dealing with the series of events that really is very sad - sometimes im amazed what authors dare do to their characters! So, hopefully without giving too much about the storyline away, its a great book, lovingly written and really draws you in and gets you involved with the characters and the scenery. As its quite short it would also be a good book to pick up if youre just getting yourself back into reading, or newly trying the genre. Buy it!

Melhor preço, excelente produto.

A marvelous ghost story. I don't scare easily. This book had me concerned. Susan Hill's, The Woman In Black, ranks with any of English literature's classic ghost story masterpieces. She gives both M. R. James and Henry James a run for their money. By the way, there exists a British1989 television film adaptation vastly different from the 2012 cinema release. This latter movie adaptation is of very poor quality. Completely lacking in imagination. It shows no understanding of the story in any way. Central Independent Television for ITV (1989), on the other hand, did a marvelous job of bringing the story to life with psychological and atmospheric horror. They did Susan Hill a great honour.

Ich hatte zuerst die Verfilmung mit Daniel Radcliffe gesehen und da mir der Film sehr gut gefiel, wollte ich unbedingt das Buch dazu lesen. Klar, die Storys weichen voneinander ab, das war zu erwarten, aber das Buch ist dennoch total spannend und gruselig. Mit nur 200 Seiten hatte ich es ruckzuck durch. Der Schreibstil von Susan Hill gefiel mir sehr gut, es herrschte die ganze Zeit so eine düstere und bedrückende Atmosphäre. Ich werde auf jeden Fall noch weitere Bücher dieser Autorin lesen.

Good

Good