The Man in the Picture

By Susan Hill

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Sep 4, 2008
• ISBN: 9781590208267

Susan Hill

Susan Hill is a writer and Bible teacher with an MA in theology and a BS in journalism. She and her husband, John, live in Nashville, Tennessee, with two unruly goldendoodles. 

Reviews for The Man in the Picture

[trile1000 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quick, spooky, creepy, little tale. Good for a rainy afternoon if you're in the mood. Told from the perspective of four narrators, it centers on a painting of a carnival in Venice and its disastrous effects on those whose hands it passes through. Interesting premise, if a little predictable. Enjoyable regardless.

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another excellent spooky ghost story, this one reminiscent of M.R. James' wonderful "The Mezzotint." Read straight through with barely a pause.

[moonshineandrosefire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

On a particularly bitter January evening, Oliver visits his former tutor, Dr. Theo Parmitter. As the two men sit by the fireside in the professor's rooms at Cambridge - sipping brandy and reminiscing - Oliver notices an unusual painting hanging on the wall. The seventeenth-century oil painting of masked revellers at a masquerade in Venice draws his eye and utterly fascinates him. Although Oliver asks about the painting, Theo seems extremely reticent about revealing too much about the strange picture.In order to satisfy his former student's profound curiosity, the elderly professor decides to reveal the painting's dark secret. It seems that the ominously dark art of the Venitian scene - instead of imitating life - has the power to entrap it. In fact, the picture is capable of such malevolence, that Dr. Parmitter feels the need to issue a stern warning.According to his esteemed former tutor, Oliver is dabbling in something he doesn't understand. Indeed, to even stare at the picture for a prolonged period of time is to court danger. Staring into the painting can be viewed as an invitation to all manner of unseen demons, and to become a victim of the painting's enthralling and macabre beauty.This is actually the second book by Susan Hill that I have read. I must say that as much as I sincerely enjoyed reading The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story, I also enjoyed reading this book just as much. In my opinion, Ms. Hill is a tremendous writer. She creates such a wonderfully eerie atmosphere with her writing style; I found the plot to be intricately woven and chillingly satisfying. I give this book a definite A+!

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Now, it was the last week of the vacation and the college was quiet. We had eaten a good dinner, drunk a bottle of good claret, and we were stretched out comfortably in our chairs before a good fire. But the winter wind, coming as always straight off the Fens, howled round and occasionally a burst of hail rattled against the glassAfter dinner with his former tutor Theo Parmitter in his rooms at Cambridge, Oliver agrees to listen to a strange story about a painting of the Venice Carnival hanging on Theo's wall, and the scene is set for a very Jamesian ghost story. It's a pity that nobody has the sense to burn the picture. Even Anne, who wishes she had destroyed the parcel without opening it, seems resigned to the picture's curse continuing into the next generation.

[jessica_reads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a nice ghost story to pick up. It combines ideas in art, mystery, thriller, and an eerie sense of being watched from portraits you have. But still, with all the good, there was some places that lagged because of too much back story talk and not enough action. I liked the main characters and the overall flow. The ending, although standard, was a nice open one that all ghost stories need.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not one for horror, but this sounded interesting and I gave it a try. Well, it's terrific: psychological horror with a bit of the supernatural in it. Chilling.

[cahallmxj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Cursed Painting Brings Tragedy To Any Man Who Owns It._*_Oliver is on a holiday visit to his old college stomping grounds when he decides to visit one of his favorite professors, Theo. They talk about the old times and catch up on the new. During these conversations Theo talks about his time as a moderately successful buyer and seller of paintings. One of these stories concerns the auction of a ordinary but compelling picture of a carnival and the strange story of the woman who wanted back at any price, even though Theo refused. Oliver and the Professor laugh off the strange chill that seems to come from the painting as they discuss it's strange history. Soon after a tragic series events places the painting in Oliver's possession. Little does Oliver know that hatred is timeless and ever in search of a new victim....This is a short book that grabbed my attention and didn't let go until I finished it. In one sitting. When I started it I knew something bad was coming and the story builds it up bit by bit until there is, I won't say shocking, but definitely a bit chilling climax that leaves you wondering if the painting and the person behind it were finally thwarted. Saying much more would give away a great ghost / suspense story. So if you like ghost, suspense, mystery stories that build up the dread slowly and leave you wondering a little bit at the end I would definitely give this one a read. m.a.c

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is another gripping short ghostly novel from this author, based around a mysterious painting of a masked ball in Venice. Really creepy, and as usual from this author, with a twist at the end. If I wanted to be picky, I could question why some of the characters make or accede to decisions that seem bound to (and do) lead to dire consequences, but that moves the drama on.

[foolplustime · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pleasing enough but rather too predictable to be truly enjoyable: the tension felt overstretched in places.

[bluesgal79 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It isn't hard to imagine that the spirits of Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde were present when Susan Hill was putting pen to paper with "The Man in the Picture." This masterful novella drew this reader in as powerfully as the mysterious, eerily malevolent painting referred to in the title drew in those unlucky enough to hang it on their walls. Highly recommended for reading on a dark and stormy night.

[hollandy2k · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An extraordinary ghost story from a modern master, published just in time for Halloween. In the apartment of Oliver's old professor at Cambridge, there is a painting on the wall, a mysterious depiction of masked revelers at the Venice carnival. On this cold winter's night, the old professor has decided to reveal the painting's eerie secret. The dark art of the Venetian scene, instead of imitating life, has the power to entrap it. To stare into the painting is to play dangerously with the unseen demons it hides, and become the victim of its macabre beauty.


I liked this story. It is kind of a ghost story you would tell around a campfire at night.

[jannes_16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A damn-near perfect ghost story: Atmospheric and genuinly creepy. It's short length is also great- no atrificial padding, no useless exposition. The language economic without being barren. A lot of popular horror writers I could mention might learn a thing or two here... It also have this timeless quality i find really appealing. It might take place last year, or thirty, or sixty years ago.In my opinion, this adds to the story rather than subtracts from it.Susan Hill is doubtless one of the finest writers of horror alive today, taking the traditional victorian ghost story and gently ushering along into the 21st century without making much fuss about it.

[christinelstanley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Susan Hill's concise writing style is a pleasure to read, and her ghost stories are a perfect balance of creepy, sinister and just about believable. She packs more story-telling into 150 pages than many novelists manage in an epic. The Man in the Picture is the third Susan Hill ghost story I’ve read and every bit as good as the others

[elliepotten · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I heard that this novella was loosely inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, possibly my favourite book of all time, I was eager to give it a try! It's my first Susan Hill, but knowing her reputation for chilling writing I reckoned I'd be in safe hands. Happily, I wasn't disappointed, and found The Man in the Picture a thoroughly absorbing little read.It is really a story within a story within a story. The first narrator is Oliver, a Cambridge alumnus visiting his old professor Theo in his college digs. One cold night, sitting by a roaring fire, whisky in hand, Theo tells Oliver how he came to own one of the art works in his collection, a macabre painting depicting a crowded Venetian carnival scene. Within his story, in turn, is the bizarre experience of the Countess who owned the painting before him. Between these three Hill conjures a tale of menace and vengeance, peeking into the sinister corners of Venice and the history of a terrifying picture with a life of its own, the entire novella suffused with the theatricality of the Carnivale and the scent of oil paint.This is a quick read, but a wonderfully atmospheric one that I think pays an interesting kind of homage to The Picture of Dorian Gray without trampling all over it. Hill handles her Russian doll trio of narrators beautifully, so that each is distinct from the others and I never got confused - which could easily have happened given that everything hinges on one work of art. I wouldn't say it is a surprising novella, because I could see where it was all leading, but it was still delicious to just sink into it for a day and immerse myself in the spooky story and the darker side of the masked celebrations whirling through the streets of Venice. Recommended!

[skwoodiwis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Again another short novel by Ms. Susan Hill. And again like The Woman in Black that insistent pull toward fate. There this poor young bride was, looking at her husband’s image in the picture and what could she do? Burning it came to mind. And I must say that the story was predictable. I knew where we were going even when the professor was telling us his tale. I was not surprised when the young man started talking marriage. But let’s go to Venice? Really, you are told about this creepy picture and you convince yourself Venice is the thing to do. But of course if we didn’t go, there wouldn’t be a story. Or maybe we should have gone to Edinburgh and the man get carted away in the picture anyway. The picture could have change to Scotland and the wife could have stood there, scratching her head and saying, hey I thought for sure that was Venice…wasn’t that Venice…same frame…Just a thought.

[bibliobeck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely perfect for an evening by the fireside. Susan Hill really knows how to pull the reader into her gothic world. She writes novellas to relish and I love lingering over every creepy word, because for me it's this amazing way with words that is the secret to the growing unease rather than the actual storyline. The story by and of itself is very good, but the way she paints the horror with her words is what makes it the perfect spooky read. Please don't speed read this little book - savour every word and let yourself succumb to Hill's creepy tale.

[fordbarbara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A chilling ghost story that lingers in your mind for awhile. Hill really can do spooky

[catherinestead · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oliver's former tutor tells him the story of a strange painting hanging on his wall - a scene of the Venice carnival, cursed by a former owner and still exerting a powerful influence over all who have contact with it.This is a subtly spooky Gothic novella, eerie and atmospheric, and very well written. Thoroughly recommended (although possibly not for reading late at night or shortly before a trip to Venice).

[tymfos · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Susan Hill is a master at creating atmosphere, painting living pictures with words. And the images she creates in this book are as eerie as the title painting, which seems to be a living, growing, menacing thing. Perhaps not since Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray has the story of such a sinister painting been penned by an author.What to say without spoiling the rich surprises? This is a storyteller's book, a volume of stories within stories. By the firelight on two winter's nights, Oliver's old professor, Theo Parmitter, tells Oliver the eerie story of a painting which hangs in his rooms at Cambridge -- including the story told to him by a previous owner, whose life the painting cursed. Indeed, this painting seems to be a pox upon anyone who has contact with it -- as Oliver will learn all too tragically in the end.This short (145 small-sized pages) book packs a powerful punch. Five stars!

[drneutron_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very nice gothic novella from Susan Hill, The Man in the Picture is spooky without being shocking, creepy without being bloody. It's a familiar sort of story - we've read this one before - and there are no surprises. But it's the atmosphere and that very familiarity that make it so good.

[extrajoker · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

first line (of the prologue): "The story was told to me by my old tutor, Theo Parmitter, as we sat beside the fire in his college rooms one bitterly cold January night."first line (of the first chapter): "My story really begins some seventy years ago, in my boyhood."This is a brief little book with the feel of a ghost story despite the absence of any actual ghosts. I enjoyed it, though not as much as I seem to recall liking Hill's The Woman in Black. Both books pull off a wonderfully creepy mood, though, such that I may have to give her other ghost stories, and possibly her crime/mystery/suspense series, a go.

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Man in the Picture is a small book. As in, it’s only 142 pages, and its trim size, according to Amazon.com, is 6.9 x. 4.5’’. It’s more of a short story than a novella. Therefore, it only took me about an hour to finish. The story revolves around an 18th century painting, of a scene at Carnevale in Venice, and the deep, dark secrets hidden within. The Man in the Picture has four narrators. One is Oliver, a medieval scholar. The second is his old professor at Cambridge, Dr. Parmitter. The third is the Countess, and the fourth is Oliver’s fiancé, Anne. This is a tale of revenge and obsession, and it works to a certain extent. However, the story is so short that there’s very little room for character development. The story and the method of telling the story aren’t very original—Hill has used it several times in her ghost stories (The Woman in Black comes to mind). And you could see the ending coming from a mile away. Still, I enjoyed the premise of this little ghost story, and I definitely recommend reading it on a cold autumn day.

[edundatscheck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Susan Hill quickly takes you back in time into a dream-like atmosphere. Starting with the current owner of a painting, Theo, you find that there is a painting which has certain unusual characteristics. In the painting is a man that appears to be staring directly at its owner begging for help. Theo tells Oliver the history of the painting, but Oliver is not totally sure what to make of it initially. He will soon find out first hand how the picture can take on a life of its own. This "ghost" story is a quick read, but there are times that the changes of voice can be confusing. Susan Hill does wonders with creating the dark, haunting back drop, which places the reader in this world from the beginning.

[craso_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An elderly professor at Cambridge tells his young friend of the events surrounding an oil painting of a Venetian carnival. The story is one of heartache, obsession and tragedy. This was not a scary story, sinister and foreboding, but not scary. You basically know what is going to happen before it happens. I prefer stories with more twists and turns. This is pretty much; the picture is cursed and you can’t get away from it.It was written extremely well and reminded me of gothic ghost stories. I couldn’t tell the actual time of the events. It sounds Victorian until the narrator talks about cars and other modern conveniences. Once you start reading it you will not want to put it down.

[jillmwo-74323 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyable! Susan Hill has mastered the genre of the literary ghost story in the modern era. (Note: You can't say very much about it or else you'll ruin the story.) But The Man in the Picture employs masks, crowds, darkness and paintings in a delightfully gothic manner. Scary, just a little twisted, but handled with a delicate touch.

[huntersun9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very enjoyable, if too short, gothic mystery and I look forward to finding more of Susan Hill's books. I thought the fact that the reader doesn't know the exact time frame, reflected the timelessness of the painting and the evil worked through it. It put me in the mood to read more Wilkie Collins.

[isolde100_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very well written, classic ghost story by a contemporary writer. A perfect read for a cold winter evening. It's short, so you can read it in two sittings.

[candyschultz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I finished The Man in the Picture a few moments ago. Like her first ghost story, this one is short - just 145 pages. It feels slicker than the first one but is structured similarly. Again the period is left completely unspecified. The story involves a very evil painting, a very jealous and vengeful woman and takes place in Venice and Cambridge. Not quite as creepy as The Woman in Black it is nevertheless perfect for October.