Film vs. Novel: Will Woman in Black Come to Life At the Theater?

Daniel Radcliffe is making his first post-Potter debut on February 3rd. He’ll star as Arthur Kipp, a London lawyer circa the Victorian-era, in the film The Woman in Black based on the 1983 novel by Susan Hill (and additionally, a revival of the 1989 TV adaptation) of the same name. In anticipation of the upcoming horror-thriller, I got my hands on a copy of the novel to see what audiences have to look forward to.

At 164 pages, the novel makes for a quick read while moving steadily through the plot. It begins with Kipp, the narrator of the story, describing a Christmas Eve many years removed from his terrifying encounter with the Woman in Black. He decides the only way to exercise her ghost from his mind, is to tell his haunting tale.

Truthfully, I think the book could have began on page 20, omitting the dragged out overture and frustrating hints at past horrors from Kipp. He describes in excruciating detail “the sparkle and glitter and color of the Christmas decorations” while his step-children tell ghost stories by the fire (something I find quite odd, but Kipp refers to it as an “ancient” Christmas Eve tradition). Kipp becomes overwhelmed by their merry-making, which causes him to remember the horrors of his past, and storms out of the house.

After much wordy explanation as to how he feels, how he felt, how the wind was blowing that evening and a lot of bogged down description, the plot finally picks up again with Kipp telling his story of the Woman in Black.He takes us back to when he was a young man of 23, and how he worked as a lawyer for a prestigious London firm. He is sent out on assignment to investigate the death of one of their more mysterious clients, Mrs. Drablow. He takes several trains out to a remote countryside village called Crythin Gifford where Mrs. Drablow’s quiet funeral takes place with only Kipp, another solicitor and the pallbearers in attendance. This is where Kipp first sees the Woman in Black; a widower dressed in black mourning clothes, her face pallid and partially wasted away.

When Kipp asks his fellow funeral guest Mr. Jerome who the woman is, Mr. Jerome nearly passes out, giving him no answer. In fact, the entire village either gives only half-answers or ignores Kipp altogether when he inquires about the identity of the strange woman.

Carrying on with his tasks of going through Mrs. Drablow’s old papers, he travels by “pony and trap” to the Eel Marsh House, her estate. The estate sits on an island that can only be reached by the Nine Lives Causeway, and only at low tide. This is the perfect set-up for Hill’s spooky story, allowing Kipp to be isolated from the secretive Crythin Gifford citizens while he experiences the eerie and ominous aura of the estate.

Within the next few chapters, the Woman in Black as well as other disturbances such as frets of fog, screaming and creepy bumps in the night are sighted and heard by Kipp. Despite the spookiness throughout the novel’s latter portion, I felt unsatisfied when the story reached its end. It felt as if I had been cheated, only given short shocks of thrill without any real explanation or backstory to the ghosts in the tale. I think part of the problem was how Hill began her novel with Kipp as narrator. While the first-person view helps to add to moments of rising suspense, in the back of my mind I knew that Kipp had survived whatever horrors he hinted at, taking away from the ending.

By the last paragraph, everything tied up into a messy and extremely disturbing little bow, histories revealed and Kipp’s horrifying ending leaving me distraught. Besides the handful of events which made me jumpy after reading, (I nearly leapt eight feet in the air when my phone went off halfway through the book), I can only hope that the movie adds more oomph to the story.

I don’t often look to Hollywood when it comes to novel-to-film adaptations with anticipation, or even hope, however The Woman in Black will certainly be an exception. The subtlety of the book’s chills and thrills shock you without having a ghost jump out and shout boo, but that same scary quietness is exactly what left me unsatisfied.

I felt the backstory was resolved too quickly, the Woman too subdued. The ending is abrupt, but shocking enough to leave you haunted for a while afterwards. In terms of the movie, I look to Radcliffe’s skills as an actor, as well as director James Watkins’ guidance, to bring this novel’s rigid vernacular and half-hauntings to life.

Amanda Sieradzki can be reached at minaret.arts@gmail.com.