Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book. I really wanted to like this book but honestly found the "creature" so dumb. I couldn't do it.

The Night House tells the creepy, campy tale of Richard Elauved, a 14 year old boy who has recently lost both of his parents and moved to the small town of Ballantyne. Soon after his arrival, his classmates start to go missing in horrifyingly supernatural fashion, and it doesn't take much for the town to quickly turn on Richard.

I've read and been a fan of Nesbo's writing in the past. His familiar writing style is certainly present here, and he tells a fast-paced, twisted tale from start to finish. It is gory in a very slasher film sort of way, so if you're looking for that sort of book, this might be a good one for you.

For me, personally, the book was difficult to get through and get lost in, because the story was riddled with casual instances of fatphobia, homophobia, and misogyny. For example, our narrator continuously refers to one character only as Fatso (and then Fat Jack, once he bothered to learn the boy's actual name). As one scene between Richard and this character (just Jack) plays out, the constant use of this 'nickname' made me want to put the book down more than once. Maybe this could be attributed to the narrator being a 14 year old boy, but I still did not enjoy it as a reader. I pushed through it and, upon reaching the twist, I'm not sure that it was worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book.

I found The Night House a seemingly a Horror Book because it was written 3 different ways and you could chose which one you thought seemed to be the scariest one. Or not, if that is you answer. I read them as if they were in order, they seemed to be. But the main heroine seemed to change in every account. We didn't get the answers to what happened to the characters in the second version, they just appeared. Jo gave us the choice to choose which version we were willing to accept. In the third version he actually had our hero become a writer. He does in all his stories.

What the heck did I just read!?! The Night House is horror/thriller book that will definitely have you second guessing and feeling a little bizarre and freaked out. It doesn't take long at all for the story to suck you right in and takes you somewhere you most definitely did not expect!

I got a nice classic horror feel to this story. Maybe something from the 80's or early 90's.
This thriller continues at a great pace as people start disappearing. And you spend as much time trying to come up with your own conclusion as you do getting involved with the characters. Great character development.
It's a little on the light YA side and a little predictable at times, but still very entertaining.

I was given this ARC from Netgalley and will give an honest review.

I have read every Jo Nesbo book that features an alcoholic washed up detective named Harry Hole. He has been through a lot and has a solid group of people that go to bat for him and choose to work with him.

This book did not disappoint. It continues with Harry fighting the demons from his past. He struggles to move forward and helps solve a case, but he is employed but the prime suspect. Girls are being found, decapitated and no one knows the connection tying the deaths to one killer.

Harry relies on his usual crew to assist him brainstorm and run lab tests until they finally have the answers to not only who did it but why.

It is a fast paced read and often graphic in detail. Again, Nesbo has secured me in line to read the next one in the series.

The Night House pulled me right in from the cover and its campy vibes..I really love pulpy imagery and the book was pretty cool in that sense. Will give it a second read just to fill some gaps.

I have long been a fan of Jo Nesbo, mainly for his true crime novels. This book was a surprise because it is basically a young adult horror novel. It is well-written and moves at a brisk speed. It wasn't really something I would normally read but the four stars are for the high quality and fans of the genre should be pleased.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This is my first novel by Nesbo, and it certainly will not be my last. I really enjoyed the way the horror was written, and the way that the atmosphere really put you in the novel. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

In The Night House thriller author Jo Nesbø takes a turn at writing horror. As it's marketed as being adult horror, I was surprised at how the first 2/3 of the book really felt like a YA novel. And then the narrative took a turn into unexpected territory. And soon after another one, that cemented it as not being YA after all. The book ended up being very peculiar and anything but predictable, but also pretty odd in the way everything panned out. Still not exactly sure how I feel about it overall, but I'll call it 3 of 5 stars.

I love Jo Nesbo's crime novels, but this is so different it fooled me at first. I think the characters are great, but I didn't like the reveal. I would try others from the author.

4 stars

This was my first Jo Nesbo. I didn’t realize he wrote horror and his other books didn’t really appeal to my tastes. Lord this book was good. I really hope he has more, or plans on more in the horror genre because his writing style is superb. I was fully invested from the very beginning and throughout the entirety of the book as well. I highly recommend this one.

Jo Nesbo never fails to draw me in entertain me.I did not realize that he wrote horror book this is as tense and chilling as can be another page turner.#netgalley #The Night House.

A big thank you to Knopf Publishing for being gracious enough to gift me a digital copy of The Night House in exchange for an honest review of the book.

The Night House pulled me right in from the first chapter. I am a sucker for campy 80’s horror vibes and that is EXACTLY what this book is giving! This story begins with Richard, an adolescent who begins to start witnessing kids his age go missing in extremely strange ways. No one believes him, and when he starts to dig into their disappearances himself, things go completely off the rails from there.

I didn’t anticipate any of the twists specifically, which is always a huge positive to me. This was like reading some elevated R. l. Stine Goosebumps books, with a lot more gore and substance to the story. There was even some dashes of romance sprinkled throughout. Fans of Riley Sager will swoon over this one.

The Night House publishes in October, just in time for Halloween - so don’t skip adding this one to your TBR!

I have read most of Nesbo's books and this one felt a bit more YA to me, and more of the supernatural, horror genre. I actually hope he writes more like this. Reminded me a lot of King's earlier work. It's not really YA, just has kids as main characters, there's a big difference.

The Night House is a gothic thriller.
Richard survived a fire that killed his family when he was a child. He has been sent to a rather insular town, Ballantyne. A classmate, Tom, is sucked into a telephone at the edge of the woods. Richard is the only one that saw it and no-one believes him except for one woman, Karen.
When someone else vanishes all eyes are on Richard and what many perceive as his false tales.
Can Richard trust his own eyes? Can Karen save him?

This started right off the bat and sucked me right in, pun intended. It was completely out there, reminding me at times of some of Stephen King's older short stories. There were so many odd, surreal moments where I was wondering what I just read but then it came together so brilliantly in the end, leaving behind any critique I had. This is completely out there, yet genius. Four Stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this ARC.

Love everything by Jo Nesbo. Great story, great suspense, a great beach read for a lazy summer afternoon.

This is a little too magic heavy for me. It had promise to compare to Stephen King or Joe Hill but it came up short

I received an arc of The Night House! Thank you NetGalley!

The Night House is a haunting, beautifully written novel that sucks you in from the first page. I was worried that the translation might lose some of the emotion but that is not the case. Richard is such a rounded, grounded protagonist and every action he takes you understand. My only main issue was while this is a very character driven work, the pacing could have been a little faster. I know this book will be all over BookTok when it comes out and it will be great to see what others think of such an enticing and thrilling novel.