Book Reviews of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red

Very interesting and provocative look at both the life of a young rich wife and the posessed house in which they lived. I kept rereading the book jacket to make sure it was not a novel, but a true and accurate accounting of what her life was like. A real page turner, stayed up WAY too late on the 2nd night, just to finish it!

I actually saw the start of this movie and loved it so much I ran right out to get it so I could see the end. I ended up getting the book because I didn't want to wait for it to come in! =-) This is a good, creepy tale about a woman named Ellen who marries a wealthy man and comes home to a house he has built for her. Strange things begin to happen in the house, disappearances (including her daughter) and the house seeming to have a life of its own-it literally changes its own walls! Now in modern time, Dr. Reardon decides to take it upon himself to discover the secrets of the house once and for all. LOVED the story. Save it for a stormy night!

Spook from the first page. The house is posessed and the young wife is keeping a journal of happenings. I am still a bit in the dark as i'm still not sure if this is fiction or nonfiction. There was a scandal at the time Rose Red was being built and the happenings became public. The book is edited by Joyce Reardon PH.D. and as part of her research the diary is being published as preparations are being made by the Dr. to enter Rose Red and fully investigate it's disturbing history. Very good read. Fiction of nonfiction it's scary.

After watching "Rose Red" on TV, I wanted to get this book. It took a while before I saw it in a used book store. I was slightly disappointed since the movie took place mostly in current time while the book took place in the early 20th century. After I got past that, I read it and watched the movie again. Made it more enjoyable!

I couldn't put it down knowing that it was a true account. I stopped reading all the other books I was in the middle of when this came in the mailbox, and I was even late for work two days! Ellen's account of ths dissapearances and the entrancement of their marriage kept me reading every second I had free. A must read for those who enjoy true life ghost stories. Knowing in the back of my mind that she was crazy for the last half made me more inept to keep reading. Who knows what others really thought of Ellen...

Very good book. I had already seen the movie and it seemed to follow right along. I had a hard time putting it down. Written in diary form and you felt like you were right there with Ellen Rimbauer.

Hard to put down, so good!

First of all this is tripe. Secondly it is FICTION. The fact that it is sold as a "true" or "based on true" story only makes it more offensive.

This book was a little hard to get into but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Fascinating.

This book is great. It is about a lady that lives in a house that was built over an indian burial ground in Seattle WA and the house takes on a spirit of its own. This is a very intriguing read and will keep you hooked.

Interesting true story of Ellen Rimbauer and her haunted house in Seattle. From her diary and written by researchers researching paranormal activities.

I loved this book. Read it the night it arrived. A woman in victorian times moves into a grand home her husband built. Strange things happen there, people go missing IN the house. I had to read it just for that. Well worth the read. Via Ellen's diary, you found out how the house almost seems to have a life of its own.

A book so good that you can't believe it's not real.

This book provides the backstory for the Stephen King mini-series "Rose Red"

not the best book in the world, but it does keep you reading it!

True Story! Diary entries by a Seattle socialite in the early 1900's whose haunted mansion becomes the research topic of a paranormal investigator. Limited editting by researcher to reduce the graphic sexual content. Story turned into a TV movie by Stephen King.
Unlike any other "ghost" story I've read! This story has seances, seers,mental instability, sexual abuse of servants, violent deaths, suicide,appearances or moving of objects in the house, disappearances/abductions by the mansion itself! Researcher's further writings need to be explored!

Wow! Couldn't put it down. I'm not going to add anything to the cover blurb except that I really want to see if the upcoming move/TV show does the book justice. I highly recommend this one.

From back cover: At the turn of the twentieth century, Ellen Rimbauer became the young bride of Seattle industrialist John Rimbauer, and began keeping a remarkable diary. This diary became the secret place where Ellen could confess her fears of the new marriage, her confusion over her emerging sexuality, and the nightmare that her life would become. The diary not only follows the development of a girl into womanhood, it follows the construction of the Rimbauer mansion -- called Rose Red -- an enormous home that would be the site of so many horrific and inexplicable tragedies in the years ahead.

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red is a rare document, one that gives us an unusual view of daily life among the aristocracy in the early 1900s, a window into one woman's hidden emotional torment, and a record of the mysterious events at Rose Red that scandalized Seattle society at the time -- events that can only be fully understood now that the diary has come to light. Edited by Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. as part of her research, the diary is being published as preparations are being made by Dr. Reardon to enter Rose Red and fully investigate its disturbing history.

I wish there was more too it, but he did seem to cut a lot out. I haven't gone to the website to see if anyone of the rest of it is still up. But It was great. Now I am renting the movie to this one, and the rose red movie too. Watch them both in a row, get the full affect. :)

Pretty good story! Not big horror fan but this one will keep you gripped throughout the book. This copy is a used copy from a used copy place so it's a reading copy not a collectible copy. Worth the read (hey it's free) and then pass it on...

Good book. Easy read. If you've seen the movies(s) based on this book you won't be disappointed.

This is the diary keptby Ellen Rimbauer about her life at "Rose Red".

I loved the movie, Rose Red, and I loved this book.

This book is so scary, and is awesome!

I enjoyed this movie and the book.

I think the movie Rose Red was based on this book. Creepy, if this is a true story.

a good thriller

great book

I liked this book good addition to the movie Rose Red.

based on a true story, made into a movie by about the haunted house called "rose red" by stephen king

This book is an awesome addition to the movie Rose Red. It's very interesting and I loved it!

This book kept me reading it from cover to cover.

Nice back story about Rose Red.

i loved this book and have read it many times.

Loved it!

Very good book and the TV Movie was good too.

I found this book to be very crazy like. Much like the movie.

Atmospheric and spooky.

Is it true? Is it fiction? It's a good read!

A mysterious and haunting spirit lurks within the walls of Rose Red, the setting for Stephen King's upcoming ABC miniseries tie-in by the same name. Built on a Native American burial ground in early 20th-century Seattle, the mansion which is constantly under construction sets the scene for a multitude of inexplicable disappearances and ghastly deaths. While moody oil tycoon John Rimbauer refuses to acknowledge that the house has a mind of its own, his young wife, Ellen, dramatizes these eerie events with great detail in her diary, often personifying the house as if it were a living being. (Or, perhaps, a non-living being?) While the evolution of Ellen's character from innocent and submissive to frighteningly powerful is a slow process, the language and questioning nature of her entries entice the reader as the mystery of Rose Red is brought into full bloom. Ellen also reveals frustration and disappointment with her marriage namely her husband's unfaithfulness and alarmingly frequent involvement in voyeuristic activities as well as a growing confusion about her sexual identity and attachment to her friend and African handmaid, Sukeena. In addition to extensive dialogue that makes the diary seem a tad more like a novel than someone's personal confessions, Ellen's entries are accompanied by a handful of explanatory notes put in by the "editor" and supposed professor of paranormal studies, Joyce Reardon. The people mentioned in the diary, as well as Reardon, are all characters in Rose Red, which was created directly for television by the bestselling author. As to who penned the actual text of the diary? That remains as much of a mystery as Rose Red herself.

Excellent horror story.