3.5 Thank you to Netgalley who allowed me to get my hands on this arc.

I haven't read a Jeremy Bates book in a few years but I have always enjoyed how he takes a place such as the Suicide Forest or the Island of Dolls orrr the No End house and writes a whole story around it using the lore.

This book was sooo much fun. The part with the mirrors and blackness literally made me Claustrophobic and able to feel what that situation would be like if I were in it.. The rooms and their stories were all so creative.

The ending was the only fault for me because I don't tend to love this type of ending but that is a me thing.

There are addictive books, and there are “I know I have to eat/work/sleep but I can’t stop” reads. This is one of the latter. Bates writes the kinds of horror that I truly enjoy. It starts with normal, adds a little dread, gets creepier and ends up all-out “inbred cannibals” territory (not a spoiler from this novel). This explains how the characters don’t say “hey, maybe let’s go back to the hotel” immediately. His characters are also somehow relatable. They are not the stereotypes that usually star in these novels. Joe is devastated by the stupid loss of his wife (it was a silly, preventable accident) and is walking around the world to get over it. He meets Helen, a mysterious woman, and overhears a conversation about a contest in a haunted house. Joe and Helen head toward the titular No-End house. Now, one of the things I love about Bates’ novels is their settings. This time it’s a haunted mansion, one of my favorite tropes. And boy is it creepy. Yes, the plot keeps getting more and more over-the-top by the chapter and of course it’s not believable in the real world. And that ending! I will keep thinking about the implications long after finishing. I had a blast and loved, loved loved it.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Kensington Publishing.

౨ৎ | ‘so, sure, fear can save your life… but it can make you do some crazy shit, too.’

— ★ 3/5

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review!!

i genuinely don’t know what to think of this. the concept was so cool! but i found myself bored throughout most of it. it wasn’t scary, or mysterious, or sad or anything really.

the last 10% grabbed me though hence why this is three stars and not two. the ending did leave me with more questions than answers though which is a bummer.

i did like the writing style though, and i feel like it’s definitely a book i’d recommend to people who like mystery/thriller it just unfortunately wasn’t for me.

The No-End House was a fever dream from start to finish. Joe left his home 2 years ago to walk around the world. Yes literally walk around the world. He's doing alright all things considered after the death of his wife until he and a new friend Helen find the No End House. What they think is just a game to win some prize money quickly turns real and scary.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending but it was an overall fun read. I'm not sure the author was going for this but it ended up reading a little campy for me; although that's not a bad thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC!

I must express my surprise regarding the unexpected developments within the narrative. This book is truly exceptional, characterized by its original plot. The characters, though few, effectively engaged my attention to the extent that I found myself moved to tears at one point. I anticipate providing this book with a five-star rating and will share my thoughts across all my social media platforms upon its release. With over 3,000 subscribers on Goodreads, I am eager to inform my audience about this remarkable work.

3.5 stars rounded down. ⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Jeremy Bates has quickly become a horror favorite for me. I’ll never forget my husband surprising me with “The Sleep Experiment”. I was so excited to start it. Little did I know it would scare the hide off me. I still have nightmares featuring the creature at the end of the book. That started a deep dive into Bates’ novels. Since then, I’ve read at least three more, each twisty and full of horror.

This one promised to be a cross between Saw and Eli Roth’s Hostel, with plenty of horror filled supernatural elements. Fun fact about me, Saw is one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite horror movie. It was one of the very first ones and I’ve always loved the psychological aspect of it. So when this book promised lots of Saw-isque elements, I was completely sold.

This wasn’t, in my opinion, Bates’ best work. The psychological element didn’t really appear until the very end. I still don’t know what pills Joe was taking, if he had made the whole thing up or the truth about his wife. Bates made in obvious throughout the entire book that the rooms could/were an invention of their subconscious but it was weirdly done. I didn’t get the twisty feeling of my mind being messed with as I had in other works such as “Suicide Forest”.

The characters were also a bit one dimensional. Was Helen even real or was she a figment of Joe’s imagination? Or was it some poor woman he killed? Very little was known about the characters until they got into the rooms and information was revealed as to why the room was the way it was. I would have loved to seen more character development before they entered the Gothic Square because as it stands, I wasn’t even fazed when they entered room 9 and what happened to Helen happened.

The ending was a bit twisty in true Bates fashion. Did Joe ever really leave the No End House? Or was he still in its depths, doomed to repeat the rooms over and over again? There were aspects to the book that literally took me out of it (prime example, the dinosaurs) and I couldn’t wait to get past that room. Not because it was scary; none of the rooms were honestly that scary. To me the dinosaurs was a bit cliche and I was over it.

Overall I did enjoy the book but I don’t view it as Bates’ best work. It felt a bit subpar in a few ways. Maybe I went into it with the wrong expectations and that’s why I was a bit disappointed in the novel. Would I recommend it? Yes with warnings that in my opinion there are better Bates’ works.

When the blurb for the book mentions Saw and Hostel, I thought I would be in for a very different story. I feel duped. That is nowhere near what this story is about. There are definitely supernatural and fantasy aspects to the story that I enjoyed but I with those components were blurbed instead. These characters also just were not very likable. I really didn’t like the derogatory term that kept getting thrown out so freely. There were also some other pejorative words that just felt unnecessary. I think this premise was great and if the story was fleshed out more and heavily edited, it could have been so much more enjoyable.

The No-End House by Jeremy Bates is an enthralling and extra scary novel. It is not for the faint of heart but I believe most horror fans will enjoy it.

We follow Joe, a widower, who, while walking around the world to cope with his grief, meets a woman named Helen in Barcelona. They hear about a local haunted house with a cash prize and decide to go together. The house challenge seems simple- get through 9 rooms, get the money.

The pacing and imagery in this book are incredible. I’m familiar with other “no end house” tales from Creep Pasta and Channel 0, but this take felt unique enough to still be a real page turner. Each room is very scary; some rooms have high prices to pay to get through.

I am rating this 4 stars instead of five because I did not find the characters incredibly likable, and felt like I wanted to yell at them to make better choices! Joe is a very realistic depiction of grief, however. Since we are mostly with Joe and Helen in the book, this stands out a little.

All in all I throughly enjoyed this. Thank you to NetGalley, publisher, and Bates for the ARC!

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one. There were things that l liked about it, but it did not live up to the hype.

LIke a horror book with trials?? I never thought I'd find or even read a book like this but I had such a great time! The No-End House is original and plays out like a fever dream! Very enjoyable!

This novel completely blew past my expectations...
...it wasn’t just a book, it was an experience.
Hands down the most entertaining read I’ve had all year. I was in it from start to finish, fully hooked. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed flipping through a novel this much. Every room was just as wild and captivating as the last. Sure, some were a little more “out there” than others, but honestly? That just added to the fun. I loved every part of this book and I’m absolutely diving into more of Jeremy Bates' brilliant brain (aka his books) ASAP.

I’ll admit, I went into this one a bit hesitant... some of the reviews had me doubting, which I know I should stop doing (note to self: stop reading reviews before starting books!). A few folks really didn’t vibe with certain parts of the story, especially some of the rooms, and I was bracing myself... but I ended up loving the very things others didn't. To me, those moments showed just how expansive and imaginative Bates’ storytelling is. The twists and turns kept me guessing right up to the end.

I genuinely enjoyed the layered storytelling, the character backstories, and the whole creepy premise. If you're thinking about picking this up, do it, Just go in with an open mind and buckle up for a ride. I felt like I was right there with Joe, every step of the way.

Five stars from me!

The no end house is a horror/thriller novel. I could not put it down. I jumped so many times while reading this novel.

"The No-End House" by Jeremy Bates is a heart-pounding thrill ride! Set to release in June 2025, this horror novel takes the haunted house concept to a whole new level of terror. The story follows Joe Hadfield, a man trying to escape the trauma of his wife's death, who gets lured into the ultimate escape room challenge in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter. Alongside a mysterious woman named Helen, Joe enters the No-End House - a crumbling mansion with nine rooms, nine tests, and a tantalizing cash prize. The No-End House isn't just a building; it's a malevolent entity that knows your darkest secrets and preys on your deepest fears. Drawing comparisons to "Saw" and "Hostel" but with Stephen King-esque supernatural twists, this book promises to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you're a fan of intense, mind-bending horror that blurs the lines between reality and nightmare, "The No-End House" should definitely be on your pre-order list.

I persevered with this book in order to give it a fair review. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. The plot was underdeveloped and the characters were rather flat. The idea sounds great. I just don't think it matched the promise of the blurb.

Extraordinarily complex, convoluted, complicated, and implacably terrifying, THE NO-END HOUSE is a globetrotting, time-and-space-traveling Nightmare of Mythology, Metaphysics, and Psychology; a Soul-bending, Soul-Stealing, Reality-Warping, Labyrinthine Design. I think I shan't soon recoup my routine perspectives.

this one was not for me. I didn't love the pace or the concept. I will pass on this author. I felt like the premise should work but it didn't. I didn't like the characters so felt no connection to them at all.

Decent book with some twist and turns. Good atmosphere, characters were okay, felt more like a thriller than a horror but that could just be my taste. Overall, wasn’t bad but wasn’t great.

Nah… just nah. I think the writing needs polishing. Character development is almost non existent. There was too much small minded bigoted language in here. I’m sure this book is for someone, but that someone is not me.

2/5. This book to me read like a gothic fever dream after about the 1st half. It really sucked me in at first with the main character being in another country at a hostel and overhears about the No End House, but then it became more of a what the heck is going on here. It reminds me of a horror movie along the lines of Enter the Void. The main characters are annoying to the point you want to scream at them through the book just hoping they can hear you and the ending left me confused.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. Thank you!
The synopsis immediately caught my attention. The setting is Barcelona, and it's a pretty creepy escape room theme. The protagonists, Joe and Helen, visit the house mentioned in the title the day after they meet, hoping they can solve the mystery of the nine rooms and win the cash prize. Initially, they view the tasks with skepticism, but when it becomes clear that the stakes are the salvation of their own souls, events start to escalate rapidly. I liked how the characters' past secrets are gradually revealed, and the secrets of the rooms are also very creative. And the ending… A real wow! I kept pondering afterward about what reality might have been.
Why I gave 3,5 *? Because there was a part in the middle with which I was really struggling... A bit boring and a bit confusing :/