Richard Matheson’s haunted house novel begins with a commission from a dying Rolf Rudolph Deutsch, a wealthy man determined to acquire conclusive evidence of whether the soul survives death. He offered $100,000 to Dr. Lionel Barrett, a level-headed physicist and parapsychologist, to investigate the now deserted house once owned by Emeric Belasco. If Barrett could survive and prove what follows death by staying in the house for one week, the money was his. He accepted, and joining him was his wife Edith, and two spiritualist mediums Florence Tanner and Benjamin Franklin Fischer. Tanner chose a life of celibacy to focus on using her powers to help others, while Fischer had previously stayed in the house and nearly died.
Belasco is described as Nietzschean, believing solely in the will to power: “He believed in will. ‘That rare vis viva of the self, that magnetism, that most secret and prevailing delectation of the mind: influence.’”[1]
“The power of the mind to dominate…. The control of one human being by another. He obviously had the kind of hypnotic personality men like Cagliostro and Rasputin had.”
He invited many to his house for the sole purpose of controlling them and enjoying his ability to watch his influence cause them to mentally and physically degenerate. Because of his activities, his residence eventually gained the fitting name Hell House.
Belasco did not immediately introduce radical depravity to his guests; it was a gradual process: “In 1920: ‘un peu,’ as he referred to it. A soupçon of debasement. The introduction, bit by bit, of open sensuality—first in talk, then in action. Gossip. Court intrigues. Aristocratic machinations. Flowing wine and bedroom-hopping.”[2] Further, “It was subtle, though, engineered with great finesse.”[3] C. S. Lewis accurately observed that “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”[4] Only then could the masses be controlled.
But the greatest danger of controlling others is finding one’s self succumbing to the same vices used for manipulation:
“Did Belasco take drugs?” asked Barrett.
“In the beginning. Later on, he started to withdraw from all involvement with his guests. He had it in mind to make a study of evil, and he decided that he couldn’t do that if he was an active participant. So he began to remove himself, concentrating his energies on the mass corruption of his people. “About 1926, he started his final thrust. He increased his efforts at encouraging guests to conceive of every cruelty, perversion, and horror they could. He conducted contests to see who could come up with the ghastliest ideas. He started what he termed ‘Days of Defilement,’ twenty-four-hour periods of frenzied, nonstop depravities. He attempted a literal enactment of de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. He began to import monstrosities from all over the world to mingle with his guests—hunchbacks, dwarfs, hermaphrodites, grotesques of every sort.”[5]
Dr. Barrett correctly added the description of Euripides’ play: “How could all this … bacchanalia take place without repercussions?”[6] The author answers this question by saying that Belasco was too threatening a person to go up against. But Augustine has a more profound explanation: “By servitude to passion, habit is formed, and habit to which there is no resistance becomes necessity,”[7] and man has “as many masters as he has vices.”[8] Belasco’s guests were eventually “delving into mutilation, murder, necrophilia, cannibalism.”[9] Without self-restraint, man seeks greater pleasure as their tolerance quickly diminishes their ecstasy. Finally, murder is the last trial to overcome, at which point there is no new high to attain, and depression and realization sets in for the uninhibited debauchee.
The alleged conflict between faith and science also makes an appearance in the novel. Dr. Barrett is a man of science, rejecting all premises of faith and spirituality. For him, paranormal phenomenon can be explained through explicitly scientific means. He views hauntings as remnants of electromagnetic radiation from deceased individuals, and a countercharge of EMR is the solution to drive out the paranormal oddity. His solution is correct, but he does not grasp the ultimate reality of ghosts. Tanner fills in the gap of his skeptical mind:
“Doctor,” Florence said.
“Yes?”
She seemed to brace herself. “Nothing you’ve said contradicts what I believe.”
Barrett looked astounded. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Of course there’s radiation—and, of course, it persists. Because its possessor survives after death. Your radiation is the body it survives with.”[10]
But Barret disagreed: “The residue I speak of has nothing whatever to do with the survival of personality. The spirit of Emeric Belasco does not prowl this house. Neither does that of his son or any of the so-called entities you have believed yourself in contact with. There is one thing in this house, and one thing only—mindless, directionless power.”[11] The machine Dr. Barrett constructs to eliminate the energy is successful. All of the energy is removed: except for Belasco. Before the wicked homeowner had passed, he understood the relationship between electromagnetism and life after death. He sealed his body away in a hidden chamber covered with lead walls to prevent radiation from intervening with his soul after death. Belasco exhibited one final act of his indomitable will: he sat in a chair with a jug of water in front of him, refusing to drink from it until he died of dehydration.
Tanner was correct where Barret was wrong: EMR indicated there were souls which persisted after death, not “mindless, directionless power.” Belasco utilized Barrett’s unmoving materialist ideology to torment him. After Barrett was sure there was no radiation left in the house, his machine continued to pick up readings: “His mouth fell open as the EMR recorder started to expand. He stared at it in horror as it swelled as though its sides and top were made of rubber. No. He shook his head in disavowal. He was going mad. This was impossible.”[12] Barrett was plagued with disbelief before he was killed.
The house is also representative of temptation. Barrett was the only one whose will was strong enough to resist temptation, hence why Belasco used Barrett’s fear of his theory being incorrect to give him a particularly cruel death. But the other three were mentally weaker. All of them wished to conquer the house, but by doing so they were always at risk of being tormented, and eventually, killed. The Book of Sirach is especially relevant: “Flee from sin as from a snake; for if you approach sin, it will bite you. Its teeth are lion’s teeth, and destroy the souls of men.”[13] By exposing themselves to where sin resides, they are risking their very souls, which is why though four entered the house, only two survived. Tanner allowed herself to be consumed by lust, a fate which almost befell Edith, and once enslaved by the vice, it was simple for Belasco to manipulate and lead Tanner to her death. Both women were chaste, and Belasco exploited their weak will to corrupt them. Edith was provoked with pornographic images, and Tanner was coerced into sex with Belasco, but masquerading as his son Daniel, saying his soul could not move on because he never experienced true love, portraying himself as a victim of his cruel father. Fischer, who struggled to not let the house have its way with him, had to resort to drinking just to remain calm, even though he was a recovering alcoholic.
Belasco is truly a demonic figure, for his control extends even after death. His imagery of a devil is fitting, for his will was so strong that he refused to stop his domination of weaker wills though his body was lifeless. While alive among his depraved guests, Fischer said, “Belasco walked among them, cold, withdrawn, unmoved. Belasco, a latter-day Satan observing his rabble. Always dressed in black. A giant, terrifying figure, looking at the hell incarnate he’d created.”[14] He even amputated his legs and used prosthetics to make himself taller, adding to his terrifying intimidating stature. He wanted to make his victims feel powerless while he was alive and then as a specter.
Yet in the end, there is redemption. As Fischer and Edith leave the house for good, after burying Belasco’s remains to put an end to the haunting, December 25 arrives. They survived, and Fischer says, “Merry Christmas.” Christ conquered death, and so Hell House was defeated on the celebration of His birth.
[1] Matheson, Richard. Hell House (p. 57). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.
[2] Matheson, 57-58).
[3] Matheson, (p. 58).
[4] https://libquotes.com/c-s-lewis/quote/lbw7i6u
[5] Matheson, (pp. 59-60).
[6] Matheson, 59.
[7] Augustine, Confessions VIII.v.10.
[8] Augustine, The City of God, IV.4.
[9] Matheson, 61.
[10] Matheson, 228.
[11] Matheson, 228.
[12] Matheson, 266.
[13] Sirach 21:2.
[14] Matheson, 61.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.