The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

I finally finished it...  I decided to continue my horror story summer by reading The Woman in Black.  I thought it would be a good mysterious, suspenseful book but it really was full of a lot of unnecessary drivel.  It took over 100 pages to get to the point and only 50 pages to see the final outcome.  I think the author spent way too much time sharing information about the whereabouts, the marshes and less about the nitty gritty of the story.   The ending arrived to quickly for me.  I would have loved to see a few more serious incidents take place on the island, maybe something creepier than sounds and seeing the woman.

I appreciate the beginning of the book, the starting chapter where our main character Arthur Kipps freaks out and decides to write a horrific ghost story in which he lived.  And then, poof, too much talk and not a lot of action, at least at the midpoint.  I love the sound effects on the island.  The clanky sound in the bedroom and seeing that actual woman in black.  Hill's description of the the Woman is eerie.  Thinking of how she looks gives me chills. The outcome of the book horrified me.  I was heartbroken, and in all accounts I should be.

When I read a good horror story, I am pulled in and creeped out from the start.  I still get chills when I read books by Steven King, this did not give me constant chills.  Don't get me wrong, it was a decent book, but I don't think I would keep it to read again.  It will be one of my books to resell to the local Indie.