Product Description

Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2271 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Susan Hill was born in Scarborough and educated at King's College, London. Her novels include Gentlemen and Ladies, I'm the King of the Castle (Somerset Maugham Award), Strange Meeting, The Bird of Night (Whitbread Award), A Bit of Singing and Dancing, In the Springtime of the Year, Air and Angels, The Mist in the Mirror and Mrs de Winter. The Woman in Black has been adapted for the stage and has been running to great acclaim in the West End since 1988. Her children's books include Can It Be True? (Smarties Prize), The Glass Angels and King of Kings.

Customer Reviews

Chilling
Susan Hill proves that a superbly written ghost story is infinitely more chilling than any gore fest in film. This is by far the best ghost story that I have ever read. Ok, so the subject matter includes all the usual staples of a good horror yarn - mysterious, young, pale women, a strange and isolated delapidated house, a village of people who will not approach the house or its estates for all the money and love in the world, mystery, intrigue and the most frightening part of all - the involvement of spectral children...
Basically this book scared the living daylights out of me and I loved it. My local library had a waiting list the same size as that for Chloe's new Paddington handbag so I bit the bullet and bought my own copy. You will read this book time and time again so buy the book!!! We have two copies in our house - we keep them in teh study even though we each have bookshelves in our rooms... The fact of the matter is, none of us are keen to keep a copy in the same place that we sleep just in case.
If you like being frightened, I would definitely read this book. Also - if you can get to the see the play in london DO SO. Don't be put off it it starts a little slow - you WILL be SCREAMING out loud and you'll come out shaking...

Atmospheric read.
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.

A Strange Tale of a Lonely House
My first experience of 'The Woman in Black' was at the age of 12. It was Christmas Eve, and there was an adaptation of the story on the television that night. My family wanted to watch Legal Eagles on another channel, but I was firm in my resolve - I had to see 'The Woman in Black'. Eventually, I won the argument and we all settled down to watch the chilling tale on a cold Christmas Eve night. I have to admit at 12 years -old, this was a mistake; I was terrified. I had never seen anything quite as frightening before or since.

'The Woman in Black' is now enjoying a revival as a stage play being performed on the West End. With this knowledge, I recently decided to face my childhood fear and read the book...I was not disappointed.

The book begins on Christmas Eve (as all good ghost stories should!), when a family is gathered around the fire telling each other ghastly tales of spectres and spirits. The patriarch of the family, Arthur Kipps, has remained tight lipped as he listens to the frivolous and gratuitous fables that are pouring out of his family's mouths. When finally pressed to see if he has a story to tell, he reacts angrily, not wanting to tell the tale that has haunted his dreams for decades - for his tale is far more disturbing, far more terrifying and, most shockingly, his story is completely true.

The premise is far from original: Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor in a London law firm, is asked to attend the funeral of Mrs Drablow. While Kipps attends the funeral at the little, seaside town of Crythin Griffin, he has been asked to go through any papers that Mrs. Drablow has left behind in attempt to find a benefactor, as she has no living children. Kipps travels to the town, grateful for the opportunity, and not knowing what he will find there. And this is where the story begins to stand apart from its often-used classic scenario.

When Kipps reaches the town, he discovers the Ell marsh (Mrs. Drablow's house) is separated from the town by a narrow causeway and when the tide is in, anyone who occupies the house is totally isolated from the rest of the world and the safety and reassurance that the living offer. While there, the woman in black appears to Kipps only a handful of times, but each time more terrifying than the last, with the malevolence and sense of danger increasing with her every visit. Kipps' anxiety at seeing her increases until he is terrified of the harm she may do.

'The Woman in Black' is a gripping tale that will have its readers on the edge of their seat. If I have one criticism, it is the final appearance of the woman in black and that her sinister intentions seem rushed in the last few pages of the book. Otherwise, the book is paced to perfection, but the ending comes all too quickly as up until this point the book has built tension with every glimpse of this nefarious apparition. In the end, this robs the reader of the uneasy feeling that readers of this sort of novel crave!