No Doors, No Windows

I'm iffy on this one. It has a good premise; I am a sucker for horror novels involving failed/struggling writers (like The Killing Circle by Pyper, which I recently read), though having the failed writer stay in a creepy, isolated old house is pretty standard genre stuff. I liked the way Schreiber worked with the idea, though; Scott, the protagonist, finds his father's unfinished horror novel about the Round House and decides to complete it. As expected, Scott's writing suddenly flows, but as a result he starts to have trouble discerning reality and fantasy (well, reality and horror, really), compounded by the fact that he goes off his meds, and oh, yeah, the house is kinda haunted and his family is kinda cursed. Scrieber quickly builds show more and then sustains the dread and tension throughout. The Round House is an intriguing setting and I like how Scott's family history was woven into its history. The ending is what fizzled, for me. The climactic battle felt rushed, but what really bothered me was that it didn't "feel" right. Maybe I just didn't like how it all worked out -- it's difficult for me to explain. show less

Scott Mast comes home to his New England hometown for his father's funeral and ends up staying when he strays across a horror story manuscript his father started and never finished. A failed writer himself, Scott stays in Round House, the house that the book is about, in order to finish the manuscript. But his writing awakes strange happenings in Round House (the house that apparently drove his father crazy) and now that he's off his antidepressant medication, he's wondering if he's crazy, too. Complicating matters is his five-year-old nephew, Henry, who desperately wants to come live with Scott in Seattle due to his own father (Owen) being a lush. The death of Scott and Owen's mother fifteen years prior in a fire haunts the two men and show more overshadows their relationship, but Scott soon learns that nothing in his life—including his brother—is what it seems.

If you like haunted house stories, this could be your thing. Schreiber lays on the pathos a little thick, but that doesn't make for any less of an engaging read, and there's nothing too gruesome. (I tend to dislike books that overdo "the grossout.") I read the book in two days—always a good sign for a book in the horror genre. show less

Back in his small New Hampshire hometown for his father’s funeral, want-to-be novelist Scott Mast discovers the unfinished manuscript of “The Black Wing,” a horror novel written by his father. Though part of Scott wants nothing more than to head back to Seattle, fleeing his alcoholic brother Owen; long-lost high school sweetheart Sonia; and a wealth of painful memories relating to his mother’s death in a cinema fire 15 years previously, another part of him feels compelled to spend some time in town, finishing his father’s novel. When Scott discovers that Round House, the house completely without angles or corners that served as the setting for his father’s book, actually exists and is sitting vacant just outside of town, he show more decides on impulse to rent Round House and finish the manuscript there. Meanwhile, he tries to take his young nephew Henry under his wing and away from the drunken Owen, and begins getting closer to Sonia despite their painful history. At first finding the writing stalled out, Scott begins researching a tantalizing bit of local history mentioned in the novel and begins to unearth evidence of some very disturbing goings-on involving his family that date back to the 1880s at least. As he uncovers more and more, the writing begins to flow. Despite…or perhaps because of…his unblocked creative impulses, Scott finds himself gripped tightly by what he first assumes are paranoid delusions and hallucinations…but he soon begins to believe that the situation he’s found himself in is very real indeed, and very deadly.

Chilling and genuinely creepy, “No Doors, No Windows” is sure to please any horror or ghost story fan. Recommended for those who can’t wait for Joe Hill’s next novel. show less

When I saw that this was by the guy that wrote "Star Wars: Death Troopers" I was hesitant, but I have to say that this is a pretty creepy book. There's a good ghost story, complete with a decaying old house with secret rooms. A couple of scenes gave me chills; I won't explain at the risk of being a spoiler. If you like horror fiction pick this one up.

I picked up the book because the author was local to central Pennsylvania. This is an old-fashioned ghost story complete with a spooky old house. The main character Scott Mast, is a writer, home for his dad's funeral. His brother, a single parent, has a young son, is unemployed and spends his days in front of the TV drinking beer. The son longs for the attention and companionship he is getting from his uncle. When the boy breaks the window in the toolshed playing baseball, they find an unfinished manuscript written by his grandfather in the toolshed. Scott decides to stay to try to finish the book when he finds the house described in the manuscript. This is a quick read but it holds the readers attention throughout.

This is a good haunted house / ghost story. the pacing was great and it had some real chills in it.