The Hearse

by Henry Clement

The barrier between Life and Death is no greater than the thickness of a door.

And now ... the door is open!

A supernatural thriller that escalates to a shattering crescendo of unspeakable horror.

Genres: Horror, Ghosts

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover is pure horror (one of the ultimate horror covers actually) but what about the story? Jane Hardy moves into the haunted house of her deceased aunt on the countryside. People of the village try to be distant to her. Her aunt's lawyer want the house for himself. Then there is a mysterious black hearse scaring her. What was her aunt Rebecca Martin into? What about her new friend Tom? Why can't he be rung by the telephone?Can Jane be saved at the end from the evil trying to get her? Will her nightmare ever end? Eerie novel with the right amount of uncanny elements. Not into violence, gore or sex but with a good dose of atmosphere. Really liked it though the cover was promising even more... Recommended!

[audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tom Sullivan was standing against the open screen door. His brown suit was curiously old-fashioned. It was years since Jane had seen a man's suit cut that way. He held a bunch of yellow wildflowers in his hand. For a moment Jane wondered where she had last seen flowers like that. Then she remembered: it had been beside her grandparent's tombstone in the cemetary.

She stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her.

Tom held out the flowers. "I picked these at my place," he told her.

Synopsis: Jane inherits house from dead aunt, is menaced by everything. Unfortunately, she is not smart enough to notice until a demon is in her living room.

An Open Letter to Jane Hardy from Her Brain

Jane? Jane Hardy? Peanut, it's your brain calling. Look, I know we haven't been in touch a lot these past few years, but I'm really starting to worry about you.

Why? Well Jane, there's no easy way to put this, but: ever since you inherited your dead aunt's house, you know, the aunt who was into witchcraft? Aunt Becky? Ever since you inherited her house, you've been acting a little strange.

..What? No, I'm sure. Believe me, I'm sure. Look, here's a partial list of--

C'mon Jane, focus. Yes, that is a pretty dress. Yes, I'm sure you look just as good as your aunt did in it, but--

No, Peanut, come on, focus, follow my finger, follow my finger, we're talking about your aunt's house, and all the weird things that have been happening there, so I really need you to focus. Okay? Now, ever since you moved in, I mean, from the very evening you moved in, there have been some things going on in that house that should've rung some alarm bells, but here you are trying on your dead aunt's dresses and pretending like everything's normal.

What do I mean? Well:

The night you moved in, you heard strange music coming from your aunt's bedroom. When you went in, the music suddenly stopped and you didn't give it a second thought, what with finding shiny earrings on the dresser.

Then the next morning you noticed a music box you'd put on the nightstand was on the dresser. Didn't that strike you as a teensy bit odd, Jane?

The next time you found the music box open and playing, you also found that your bed had been moved to stand at a 45-degree angle to the wall. That really should've struck you as strange, Peanut.

("She stared at it, then shook her head in bewilderment and shoved it back into place. The only possible cause for the moving of the bed was the electricity in the air, she reasoned. Hadn't she read that in a book someplace?")

No, Jane, I'm fairly sure you didn't read that in a book someplace, for oh, about a thousand reasons starting with the fact that as your brain, I can tell you that you last read a book in 10th grade and My Friend Flicka doesn't cover supernatural furniture juggling.

Jane, I know we haven't had That Talk yet, despite the fact that you were married, but inviting a teenage boy into your home to do chores, then getting into soap suds fights with him, letting see you undressing for a shower, and finding his temper tantrums cute is a seriously bad idea. I know, it is flattering that he has a crush on you, but the kind of teenage boy who responds to being turned down for a date by breaking a vase in your kitchen is possibly not one you should have in your home in the first place.

Also, when the teenage boy erects an elaborate rope swing prank to get your attention, and the prank goes mysteriously awry, snapping the rope and cannoning him face-first into the ground, you should see if he's all right. It's just good manners, Peanut.

Speaking of That Talk, this Tom fellow you've been seeing--

("'Out here in the country, Tom, I seem to be really learning for the first time what it's like to take care of myself. And I must say that it feels good. In fact, it feels great.' She smiled at him through the light of the candles. 'So long as I don't get killed in the process!' She broke out into low laughter.

Tom stared into her face for a long moment. 'You are very beautiful when you laugh, Jane,' he told her gravely.")

Yeah, that Tom. Um, isn't there anything about Tom that strikes you as a little bit weird? Like the fact that no one else can see or hear him? Or that you thought he was going to push you out of that rowboat? Or the fact that HE HAS A PET GHOST HEARSE THAT DOES HIS EVIL BIDDING AND IS JEALOUS OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP?

Jane, I'm starting to really worry about you. Please call.

Love, Your Brain

[Unsolved ☕︎ Mystery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style was easy to understand, which I liked.

The ending left me wanting more; I wanted an epilogue of what happened after.

I'll have to re-watch the movie; I remember liking it.

[Venusa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este foi um livro que li apenas por pertencer ao programa bookcrossing (http://bookcrossing.com).
Para mim, não é que o livro seja horrivel, em certas situações até conseguiu captar a minha atenção. E a sua história, um pouco mais desenvolvida e com uma maior profundidade poderia ter pontencial. Esta história é demasiado direta e superficial, para além da sua pouca profundidade, pouco conhecemos da caracterização psicológica das personagens. No entanto, se a tivesse lido há uns anos, aquando da minha adolescência, poderia ter gostado bastante e teria, talvez, dado 4 ou 5 estrelas.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

🦚Genre: Thriller
🦚Themes: Inheritance & small town
🦚Page #: 213
🦚 Author: Henry Clement
🦚Series: No

Synopsis
Jane has inherited an old house in a small town and she’s decided to spend the summer there to decompress. Only the small town is not so friendly and there’s nothing chill about the old house.

Review
Well this was ok. It’s one of those books that you would find at an old cabin and it would satisfy that itch of a creepy book.

It was written in the late 70s and there’s some weird sexism but I suppose it’s to be expected. The chapters are also hilariously short- one chapter is just a tiny paragraph 🤷‍♀️. I thought the protagonist’s mental health subplot was going to be hashed out but it turned out to be inconsequential 🤷‍♀️.

Oh well - this was good enough I suppose. Though at the end of the day I love the comfort of holding a well-read little pocket book.

[Nicole N · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this gem up at a local bookshop! It was a quick, entertaining read that really had potential as a good little horror-mystery story. Unfortunately, it lost steam about halfway through.. the ending was abrupt and really left me wanting more. Overall, 2.5 stars.

[Susana Dias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gostei bastante. Uma história de terror de acontecimentos rápidos e constantes. Uma história de terror como gosto e poucas vezes encontro nos livros mais recentes.

[Иосеф · Rating 1 out of 5]

Paul you poor precious boy

Jane you raging fucking imbecile

Tom you’re weird.

[Manuel Cardoso · Rating 2 out of 5]

A história até tem algum potencial e até se lê bem, mas não está muito bem desenvolvido, a ação acontece toda muito rapidamente, tanto as partes mais como as menos importantes. E as personagens são muito diretas, falta-lhes algo. Uma história mais desenvolvida e com personagens mais humanas, mais focadas nas emoções presentes (é um livro de terror, certo?) teria recebido 3 ou quem sabe 4 estrelas da minha parte.

[Bernice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I ever read, I remember it being creepy. I don't remember a lot of the details and would like to read it again. The ratings are not that good so not sure if I would still like it but as a first time horror reader, I liked it!

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a kid. It scared me half to death. I'm definitely going to have to read this again.