Ok I love coming into a cult classic like this without a clue of the horrors within.

I know that it’s more of a classic movie than a classic book. In fact, when I posted about the book on Litsy, there were a few people who commented that they didn’t know that it was based on a book. Perhaps the rivalry of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford made the movie even more of a cult classic – there’s a TV series on that now! It’s called The Feud.

This book was destined for the screen. Even from the opening scene, which describes the young Baby Jane, precious spoilt jerk of a child, it’s all laid out so plainly that a reader can easily picture it.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? is a thriller, a psychological horror story set in Hollywood, in an aging mansion with two aging sisters, one in a wheelchair dependent on the other.

Jane or “Baby Jane” was a vaudeville child star. A spoilt rotten child (also a spoilt, rotten child). But somehow, as they became adults, it was Blanche, the younger sister, who became a movie star. A runaway success. And poor Baby Jane fades away from collective memory.

Even in middle age, Jane still resents Blanche and her success, even though her sister is now wheelchair-bound after a rather mysterious car accident. Blanche is pretty much stuck upstairs on the second floor, fully dependent on Jane for, well, for everything. And recently, with Blanche’s movies being broadcasted on TV, it seems like Jane’s jealousy is raging. She serves up revenge – on a plate!

 

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? is a rather fun read, albeit a bit of a disturbing one. I am really just dying to see the movie now….!

 

I read this for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2017 – A Gothic or horror classic