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451st out of 764 books
—
203 voters
No Doors, No Windows: A Novel
When madness is your inheritance, how do you escape it?
Scott Mast thought he got away–first from a family haunted by a dark fate, then from a dull career writing greeting cards in Seattle. But now he has come back to his New Hampshire hometown only to find that his family is in ruins, his nephew needs a home, and a shattering truth is clawing its way into the light.
Fifteen...more
Scott Mast thought he got away–first from a family haunted by a dark fate, then from a dull career writing greeting cards in Seattle. But now he has come back to his New Hampshire hometown only to find that his family is in ruins, his nephew needs a home, and a shattering truth is clawing its way into the light.
Fifteen...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
October 13th 2009
by Del Rey
(first published October 5th 2009)
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After having read "Death Troopers" and "Red Harvest" I decided to read an earlier book of Schreibers. Now this one I only gave 3 stars which may be undeserving, may deserve a higher rank. I say this because as I was reading it, I came down with a pretty bad cold and was somewhat in and out of it all while trying to read the story. That having been said, the story here is great. Right away I got attached to Henry as he was playing ball with his uncle Scott, shortly have the passing of Scott's fat...more
A book full of promise and a really great premise, yet it lets you down in the end.
It's a ghost story about how the past always haunts you and how you can never simply forget where you came from. It starts with a greeting card writer/author-wannabe who returns to his small hometown for his father's funeral. There is tons of atmosphere and genuiune creepiness as the little town is slowly falling into decay and you get the feeling it's not simply because their economy is in ruins. The main charac...more
It's a ghost story about how the past always haunts you and how you can never simply forget where you came from. It starts with a greeting card writer/author-wannabe who returns to his small hometown for his father's funeral. There is tons of atmosphere and genuiune creepiness as the little town is slowly falling into decay and you get the feeling it's not simply because their economy is in ruins. The main charac...more
There are two horror novelists whose books I avidly await. The first is Sarah Langan and the second is Joe Schreiber. Both write spooky stories that disturb not by creating revolting images, but by creating moods and suggesting terrible things. They are young and have just a few (solid) books to their credit, but Schreiber has two new books out. The books are in different genres, so I expected some variation, but I found the differences between them to be startling.
One book, Death Troopers, has...more
One book, Death Troopers, has...more
Scott Mast returns to his home town in northern New Hampshire to attend his father's funeral. Officially his dad died of Alzheimer's, but unofficial accounts were that he had just plain gone mad. While retrieving a softball from the locked tool shed, Scott and his brother, Owen, find a book manuscript that his father apparently had written. It is about a strange house with no corners on the inside, called appropriately Round House, and it is unfinished. Being a writer himself, Scott takes on the...more
I was in a horror book type of mood for the month of October so when I came across this book I grabbed it only for that reason. The summary seemed quite interesting and a bit scary, so I gave it a try.
This book was about a son who came back to his hometown for his fathers funeral and the day of he comes across a story written by his father that is uncompleted. He feels the need to finish this story, so he decides to stay in town for a month to complete it. The story he found was based on a hous...more
This book was about a son who came back to his hometown for his fathers funeral and the day of he comes across a story written by his father that is uncompleted. He feels the need to finish this story, so he decides to stay in town for a month to complete it. The story he found was based on a hous...more
I liked this book quite a bit. Very creepy and scary. Greeting card writer/failed fiction writer Scott Mast comes home for his father's funeral. He finds an unfinished manuscript written by his father and becomes obsessed with finishing it and with the "Round House" that the story is about. I happened to be reading it when stranded in another city. Why was I reading a scary book when I was all alone stranded, you ask? Because I'm an idiot. Anyway, I thought the book was very well written. The te...more
I enjoyed the clean, efficient prose of this story. Unlike some literary authors, Schreiber makes a virtue of subtle metaphors and descriptive language that enhance the reading without shouting: "hey, look at me! Aren't my metaphors clever?"
I did notice a little factual confusion regarding the names of Scott Mast's ancestors (is Joel Townsley Mast his great-great-grandfather or his great-grandfather?), but overall, the story flows smoothly. LOVED the twist on the "failed writer" and "stories co...more
I did notice a little factual confusion regarding the names of Scott Mast's ancestors (is Joel Townsley Mast his great-great-grandfather or his great-grandfather?), but overall, the story flows smoothly. LOVED the twist on the "failed writer" and "stories co...more
I loved the authors use of imagery. His metaphors and similes really brought the book to life. The book had promising creepy factor and there were definite moments where I was freaked out, but he would take you to that point and then get distracted. Overall, I found the book fragmented, like it was trying to do too many things and couldn't quite pick a point and stick with it or tie the disparate pieces together. It was sort of explained when I read the afterword where he said he'd been working...more
Good. Not great. While Schreiber's novel starts out with the fairly unique setting of the Round House (which has both doors and windows, so I'm not sure where the title of the book comes from) and an interesting cast of characters the more that is revealed the less interesting it all gets until it becomes a pile of derivative mush that ends up resembling the ending of a 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movie rather than the tense haunted house story you were promised in the beginning. A noble effort, b...more
It’s been recommended that writers should stick to writing what they know when it comes to writing, and what better character can a writer write about than him- or herself . . . a writer. But the writer in Joe Schreiber’s new novel, No Doors, No Windows, is one with a dark, disturbing past that even he doesn’t fully understand until the last few pages of the book, and has worked hard to forget and stay away from. One hopes that Joe Schreiber isn’t anything like his character, Scott Mast.
Scott Ma...more
Scott Ma...more
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No Doors, No Windows is by Joe Schreiber, who writes short, smooth little horror thrillers with a really crawly creep factor.
No Doors, No Windows finds Scott Mast back home in small town America for his father's funeral. His alcoholic brother can barely take care of his precocious nephew, but Scott's about to go back to his succesful job writing greeting cards on the coast when he finds pages from a novel manuscript written by his assumedly unimaginative father. The manuscript leads Scott to a h...more
No Doors, No Windows finds Scott Mast back home in small town America for his father's funeral. His alcoholic brother can barely take care of his precocious nephew, but Scott's about to go back to his succesful job writing greeting cards on the coast when he finds pages from a novel manuscript written by his assumedly unimaginative father. The manuscript leads Scott to a h...more
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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....more
This is early Stephen King-class horror rendered even better by it's manageable length---just shy of 300 pages! Greeting card writer Scott Mast returns to his New Hampshire roots to reconnect with relatives after his father dies. When he discovers a murder mystery manuscript his father seemingly began, and takes up residence in a remote and creepy old house with a life of its own, a long-buried secret curse is resurrected. I bravely read this book after sunset, but never while alone in the house...more
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...more
Hmmm. I really liked the premise of this book, the setting, and the atmosphere...right from the start. BUT, there were too many loose threads and convenient contrivances that left the reader with unnecessary frustration at the end. Too bad, it could have been really great. I actually re-skimmed the entire thing the day after I'd finished it, just to make sure I hadn't missed something...that's how unfulfilled I felt at the end. But alas, I hadn't missed something. Apparently the author had.
I picked this up because I lived across the hall from Joe, the author, my sophomore year at the University of Michigan, and was thrilled to see he'd realized his dream of becoming a writer. This a great, creepy page turner in the spirit of Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House and similar stories set in scary, old abandoned houses. My only criticism is that some of the questions raised in earlier chapters aren't really answered by the end.
Joe Schreiber's third book (not counting the Star Wars Death Troopers) and he just keeps getting better. There were two instances in this book alone that I gasped out loud and my pulse picked up! This is the best ghost story I've read since "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub. All of Joe's books are quick reads but you may wan to read this one in the day light hours because it clings to you long after the last page is turned.
Fantastic.
This book had me on the "edge of my seat" so to speak.
I 'needed' to finish it. I needed to know what was going on and why.
Really descriptive and some very clever metaphors that didn't disrupt the flow but kept it moving very nicely.
The ending was a bit lacking, which is why I would've liked to be able to give this a 4.5 .. but, the writing and the brilliance use of language makes up for it.
This book had me on the "edge of my seat" so to speak.
I 'needed' to finish it. I needed to know what was going on and why.
Really descriptive and some very clever metaphors that didn't disrupt the flow but kept it moving very nicely.
The ending was a bit lacking, which is why I would've liked to be able to give this a 4.5 .. but, the writing and the brilliance use of language makes up for it.
I loved this book! It kept me at the edge of my seat as I read every chapter. I couldn't put it down for one second, I wanted to know what was going to happen next after every page. The suspense behind the story kept me going until the end. The twist and turns of the story feed my curiosity of wanting to know what was next for Scoot Mast. I think this was the best horror/suspense story that I have ever read.
The story starts off well enough, and you can feel the creepiness and the atmosphere of the small town. However for what is essentially a horror I didn't feel as gripped as I would've liked - especially towards the end.
There are 2/3 twists as you get to the end, one of which is so obvious to spot it should be just pointed out at the start.
Overall it has a lot of promise but seems to let itself down.
There are 2/3 twists as you get to the end, one of which is so obvious to spot it should be just pointed out at the start.
Overall it has a lot of promise but seems to let itself down.
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.
Schreiber does it again! This is one heck of a cold ride through a cursed, not haunted, house in the back woods of Vermont. The characters, the prose and the storyline crackle with that magical energy that makes you feel as if there are cold fingers running down your spine as you read. Read this book and you will be hooked on this author. As an aside his other book, Chasing the Dead, is another example of the far reaches of his talent. Enjoy, oh and don't forget to leave all of the lights on whe...more
Great set up, build up, starts ominous, then creepy, drifts to scary and speeds along to the climax - which then becomes a huge plane crash of half-baked storylines, cliches and convenient resolutions all thrown together with a sappy denouement on top. Whew.
An excellent book until the last 30 pages or so. I really enjoyed the writing, again, until the last 30 pages or so. I'd like to read more by this author and would recommend this book even though I didn't care for all the goings on at the end...more
An excellent book until the last 30 pages or so. I really enjoyed the writing, again, until the last 30 pages or so. I'd like to read more by this author and would recommend this book even though I didn't care for all the goings on at the end...more
what was called the round house because of its odd shaped interior, was the stage of a multi-gennerational psychsis which involved the whole town..the novel of the grandfather was awsome. & a great couple of suspenseful moments makes this good but not great..
This was one of the scariest most engrossing books I've ever read, but the last twenty pages or so kind of ruined it. The mystery's resolution was kind of rushed and half-assed, and the ending was really unsatisfying. It did keep me up a few nights, though.
I didn't know what to expect, but didn't expect much. I've been having a difficult time finding 'engaging' books lately. This book, however, was really good! Probably one of the best ghost stories I've ever read. Would it make a good movie? There are NEVER enough good ghost movies!
Super eerie and fun in a very dark way :) Got me reading horror again. Very well paced, just enough character history to be interesting but not overwhelming. Will reread again. It's on the keeper shelf.
This book was very well written... but a little weird. I think it is what Ted Dekker would write... if he didn't love Jesus. Good suspense... but creepy... and not in a good way. I don't really recommend it.
This book had some chills: a haunted house with no corners, an unfinished manuscript describing a murder, and ghosts. But I just finished it and I can't really remember what the whole thing was about.
Very scarey! Well written tho - not usually my kind of book. If I am going to be scared in reading I would rather be scared by an intellegent vampire (not Edward thanks anyway!).
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