The Uninvited

Currently rehearsing the play version of this. Had never heard of it so decided to read the original book. Great read. Also got the film, but didn't enjoy as much.

This wonderful book recalls a time when men were known as "urbane" and women could be though of as "damsels in distress". It's even better than the classic movie from which it was made in 1944.

This is a wonderfully-gripping ghost story. The writing is exquisite, and the characters, motivations and landscapes authentic. It is a little dated in terms of language and references - but don't let that put you off; this all adds to its charm and its sense of the past. It's a long read, but I devoured it. My correct guess at the outcome (no spoilers here) didn't spoil my enjoyment of it. I also enjoyed the sub-plots, especially Roddy's playwriting. The tongue-in-cheekness of am author writing about the absorption of writing was an added layer of sophistication. Highly recommended.

An interesting story of hauntings which is lost among the unexplained fascination of the brother and sister duo with the character of Stella and the main character's grandstanding of himself and his theatre friends.

Loved it. Super spooky, atmospheric haunted house story :)

The movie made from this book is one of my favorites. The book is a very good read and, as is common, adds so much more to the story.

The film version is a classic and i'm pleased to say that the book does not disappoint.

I'm so glad that Tramp Press decided to re-release this book. The Uninvited is a classic, gothic ghost story. The writing is beautiful and there are some spine-tingling scenes. Pamela and brother Roderick relocate to the Devon coast to a bargain price property called Cliff End. They soon find that the price is so low because the property is haunted. The terror in this starts off light and builds steadily throughout the book. Like any great ghost story this is evocative and has a brilliant mystery at the centre. I loved it :)

I really enjoyed this novel. Having seen the movie, I knew what the ending was, but it didn't matter. The story was still worth reading.

It's atmospheric. You get the feel of the author and the world she came from. The characters are well drawn so you can relate to them. The language is very much middle class English from the 1930's and 40's, but that actually added to the charm of the novel.

If you liked the movie, read the novel!

A good read. Suspense. Interesting premise. Who is the good ghost and who is the bad ghost? What secrets does the house hold. Better than the movie which was considered a classic.

The Uninvited is THE great ghost movie of the 1940s. Nothing else made in that time quite approaches it. I saw it decades ago on TV, and later taped it (VHS) so I'd seen it a half dozen times and I knew the story before I finally bought the book. I thought that might ruin the book for me, but I was wrong. (For those unfamiliar, please do not reveal the ending to either the movie or the book.)

The book is better.

Hollywood did a good job. I still see Ray Milland as Roddy and Ruth Hussey as Pamela and Gail Russell as Stella. The wonderful production design and genuinely spooky effects (there was no CGI in 1944) still work. But most of the story and a lot of the people we encounter in the book are missing from the movie.

Dorothy Macardle was an Irish Republican known for her politics as much as her fiction. I haven't read anything else she wrote, but The Uninvited is a real masterpiece and comparatively, Lewis Allen's movie is abbreviated at best, simplified at worst. Macardle's work has such depth and emotion, mixed with charming 40s anachronisms, that it was almost impossible to put down.

So, if you've seen the film, read it anyway. You won't be disappointed. If you haven't seen the film, read the book first. And if you want the film later, (or just love it for itself) Criterion has an excellent Blu-ray restoration available right here on Amazon.

When Roderick and Pamela Fitzgerald (brother and sister) move into an old house called Cliff End on the north Devon coast, they are not worried by the rumors of strange occurrences in the past. However, it is not long before their nights become sleepless nightmares. And when Stella, a new young friend, visits the house, the horrible manifestations intensify. She had lived here as a baby, and her saintly mother died in a fall from the cliff, possibly pushed by a wild young Spanish girl who served as a model for Stella's artist father. Soon it becomes apparent that there are two spirits in the house, one warm and the other terrifyingly cold, and they seem to be battling over Stella. So it becomes a case of abandoning the house or taking extreme measures to determine the truth of the cause of the hauntings and of that tragic occurrence from Stella's infancy. The suspense and the terror build as the brother and sister, with the aid of friends, try to solve the mystery and to protect Stella from unknown dangers. This is one of my top 3 all-time favorite books, and I have reread it every couple of years since I was a teenager. Oh, I don't suppose that it is a classical masterpiece, but it is as believable a ghost story as ever was written. The handling of characters and atmosphere are exquisitely done. The movie is all right, but it cannot begin to capture the intensity of this excellent suspense novel.

I read this book for the first time around 30 years ago as an abridged version. Im so glad to have now tead the complete book. I have loved these charactrrs for so long and a rered will be on the cards