In the of tradition Stephen King, Alma Katsu, and Christopher Golden's evil supernatural twists, two strangers unwittingly volunteer for the ultimate haunted house challenge in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter. Nine rooms. Nine tests. One chance to get out alive. No one makes it to the end of The No-End House. It's the ultimate haunted house challenge. A crumbling stone mansion nestled in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, it may be the best-kept secret in Europe--a little-known attraction featuring nine escape rooms to explore, nine puzzles to solve, and a large cash prize for anyone who makes it to the end. There's just one catch: no one makes it to the end of The No-End House. . . . When Joe Hadfield hears about the house from a pair of backpackers, he's intrigued but not interested. He's trying to escape a nightmare of his own: the trauma of witnessing his wife's grisly death. Traveling the world to ease his pain and grief, he meets a beautiful stranger named Helen who convinces him to try The No-End House challenge together. Joe reluctantly agrees. But as soon as they enter its walls, meet its mysterious host--and sign an ominous contract--Joe begins to understand the seductive power of The No-End House . . . It knows his darkest secrets. It feeds his greatest fears. It makes him do things he would never do. And there is no end to what he will do . . . to make it out alive.
Props to the cover and the name of this book. Very nicely creepy and there are creepy and scary bits in this story. I enjoyed the mushroom house and when payment was collected to pay the price of the mistakes of Joe and Helen during the games. The slow unraveling of themselves as they tell each other their pasts and how it might be affecting the challenge was also quite dark. Though between that and the house, it was really hard to tell what the truth was (because oh boy, dark things supposedly happened to them both!). But then it hit the dinosaurs room and went wacky from there and was less horror and just plain odd. I will say the end redeemed it though and left me with a nice chill and questioning what might be real, what is the house and does anyone ever really escape its clutches.
So, in short, it had a good start with the finding of the house and the first few rooms, kind of muddled in the middle but a strong finish and to be honest it was exactly what Joe deserved, if it was true. Crazy story!
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