The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Rating : 3 / 5
Goodreads : A classic ghost story: the chilling tale of a menacing specter haunting a small English town. Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor who is sent to Crythin Gifford--a faraway town in the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway--to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Mrs. Drablow's house stands at the end of the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden behind its sheltered windows. The routine business trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn when he finds himself haunted by a series of mysterious sounds and images--a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black.

My review : First I have to confess that I picked up The Woman in Black when I saw Daniel Radcliffe was going to be starring in the movie. I was really surprised by this book. I didn't expect that kind of story. I thought that it was going to be a much more scary and haunting (especially after the comments on my blog on my IMM post) story. I was even afraid to read it at night so I was only reading it during the day. Actually most of the book is really slow and without much actions. We're following Arthur Kipps and discovering with him Eel Marsh House. I was really starting to wonder when the story will speed because except seeing the women in black three times and hearing a pony and a child screaming there isn't much for most of the book. For me it was much more like a novella than an actual book. I was also a little disappointed because it's set in a victorian era and I love this period but the book didn't focus on that. However I did give 3 stars because of two things. First Suan Hill's writing. I really liked her writing. It was really poetic and she describes the setting and atmosphere in a beautiful and bone-chilling way. This is a classic horror story, there was no surprise at the begining it was really cliché but the writing was really refreshing. And the second thing that I really liked in this book was the big climax at the end. When Arthur was staying for a few days in the house at the end it was terrifying (especially the dog's reactions) but I was even more afraid when everything is explained and I was truly scared when I read the end. Even if the beginning is quite slow she managed to build suspense. I am concerned with their being enough content material for a full length movie. I think they have added some things otherwise most of the movie would be really boring. But I still want to watch it even if I have to wait because it's going to be released in March in France !