I saw the movie version of this, The Legend of Hell House, when it first came out in the early 1970s and remember it being a very good ghost story although I don't remember details of the movie.
The story is about a group of people consisting of a physicist, Dr. Barrett; his wife, Edith; and two mediums, Florence Tanner, and Benjamin Fischer, who agree to investigate the notorious Belasco House at the request of a rich man, Deutsch, who promises them each $100,000. Deutsch is dying and wants to find out if there is in fact life after death. Fischer had participated in a previous investigation of the house and was the only survivor. The house belonged to "Roaring Giant" Emeric Belasco who promoted orgies in the house and had mysteriously disappeared after a massacre occurred there in the 1920s. Florence believes that there are many ghostly entities in the house but Dr. Barrett believes that all the disturbances are merely electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and can be explained and removed by a machine he has built. But who is right? Are the ghosts and hauntings real or only leftover impressions caused by the EMR?
The novel has several very intense scenes where the investigators are attacked by the spirits or poltergeists. When the house was previously investigated, several people ended up dead or insane. I think Belasco was probably based on the real-life Aleister Crowley, who was considered the "wickedest man alive" during his lifetime. Overall, this was a pretty good supernatural thriller but it seemed to go over the top in some places and I would only mildly recommend it.
The story is about a group of people consisting of a physicist, Dr. Barrett; his wife, Edith; and two mediums, Florence Tanner, and Benjamin Fischer, who agree to investigate the notorious Belasco House at the request of a rich man, Deutsch, who promises them each $100,000. Deutsch is dying and wants to find out if there is in fact life after death. Fischer had participated in a previous investigation of the house and was the only survivor. The house belonged to "Roaring Giant" Emeric Belasco who promoted orgies in the house and had mysteriously disappeared after a massacre occurred there in the 1920s. Florence believes that there are many ghostly entities in the house but Dr. Barrett believes that all the disturbances are merely electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and can be explained and removed by a machine he has built. But who is right? Are the ghosts and hauntings real or only leftover impressions caused by the EMR?
The novel has several very intense scenes where the investigators are attacked by the spirits or poltergeists. When the house was previously investigated, several people ended up dead or insane. I think Belasco was probably based on the real-life Aleister Crowley, who was considered the "wickedest man alive" during his lifetime. Overall, this was a pretty good supernatural thriller but it seemed to go over the top in some places and I would only mildly recommend it.
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