This was my first book by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo and boy did it ever start off with a bang!! Twisty, a bit gruesome at times and creepy AF, this horror story was fast paced and great on audio narrated by Michael Crouch. It had me on the edge of my seat wondering where things would head next with a great last line!! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!!

Reviewed for NetGalley:

When a phone consumes a child, the story can only get wilder.

Some real leaps of imagination, with a nice twice at the end.

I definitely enjoyed Nesbo's style of writing as well.

Blurring the boundaries between originality and absurdity…..

Book Information

“The Night House” by Jo Nesbo, is a 256-page horror novel scheduled to be published on October 3, 2023. It was translated by Neil Smith. Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book for review.

Summary

Following the tragic demise of his parents in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote town of Ballantyne. He becomes an outcast and is accused of a classmate's disappearance. Only Karen, another outsider, believes his claim that a mysterious phone booth sucked Tom into a horror movie scenario. Richard investigates, leading him to an eerie house in Mirror Forest and unsettling voices foretelling doom. As more classmates vanish, Richard must clear his name and battle the dark magic gripping Ballantyne.

My Thoughts

"The Night House" by Jo Nesbo is a book that skillfully weaves between reality and the paranormal, delivering a story that is very odd, sometimes absurd, yet anything but predictable. While it has its moments of genuine creepiness, the narrative can be hard to follow in some parts, making it a bit like R.L. Stein without the charm that often accompanies such tales.

One of the standout aspects of the book is its originality. However, it sometimes leans a bit too deep into the bizarre, testing the boundaries of what readers may find acceptable. The writing style, though not necessarily intended for young adults, reads like middle-grade fiction, which may affect its appeal to some readers.

The novel is divided into three parts, with the first part being the strongest in terms of storytelling and engagement. Unfortunately, the second leans heavily into the bizarre, and not necessarily in a favorable way.

Part three didn’t resonate with me. Nesbo makes use of a trope that I just don’t appreciate—others’ opinions may vary. It felt to me like an attempt to salvage a disjointed and implausible narrative, coming across as a shortcut in the writing process rather than a satisfying resolution.

This is a hard book to review. I read it all the way through. There were certainly parts I enjoyed, but also lots of “come on—really?” parts.

Recommendation

"The Night House" offers a blend of the paranormal and reality, with moments of genuine creepiness and originality. However, its unpredictable nature, young adult writing style, and occasional disorientation may leave some readers with mixed feelings about the book. Recommended if you enjoy quick but bizarre reads.

Rating

3 Killer Phone Stars

This was a clever little retro horror read. It definitely starts out that way, a bit like 'Nightmare on Elm Street', where you are thinking, 'is this really happening, or a dream'? We meet Richard, who now lives with his aunt and uncle in Ballantyne, a small town. He lost both his parents in a house fire, and his father was abusive and schizophrenic. He's a bit of a bully in school, to everyone, then one day a phone prank goes wrong and he witnesses his friend Tom, get eaten by the receiver. Shortly thereafter, another friend disappears mysteriously and due to Richard's explanations of what happened, he becomes a prime suspect. Since he's only 14, he gets sent to a rehabilitation home for troubled youth.
This is where the supernatural events continue to occur when he finds out a former resident there might be responsible for both his friends' disappearance. You might be wary to answer a ringing phone at night after reading this one! It reads like a young adult novel, but still has enough interesting elements to entertain older adults as well. Just when you recover from one twist, another one quickly comes on it's heels and you are really taken aback. Nothing is what it seems. I didn't find it scary at all, since all the events are implausible, but very imaginative. For an author who strictly writes crime novels, this is a big change and a refreshing entre into the horror genre.

This is a book in three parts. It started off strong, and then I disliked each part more than the previous.

The premise is very interesting. A haunted payphone swallows up a kid and the only witness (with a troubled past) because the prime suspect. But this book quickly devolves into something I did not quite love. I think it has all the elements of a great story, but some additions of not so great storytelling overshadowed them.

I think if this was a novella with only part one of the story, it could have easily been a 3.5 (maybe higher) rated read for me. The premise is interesting and although we follow the MC and know what happens, the negative reactions that he receives are pretty plausible. You want to root for him because we know the horror, and it makes for an overall likeable MC.

What didn't work for me is that the second and third part seem to try to keep building on the initial part but in a way that overly complicates (and me eventually ruined) the initial part. This book also pretty heavily leans into negative stereotypes of mental illness, in a way that seemed completely unnecessary to the plot of the story.

Disclaimer: I received a gifted print ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Knopf for letting me read THE NIGHT HOUSE early. This book publishes on October 3.

This one started super scary and I got super into it but then it just lost me as it slowly slowed down. I just didn't have the patience to stick with it. There was nothing that made me want to keep reading, so I didn't.

.

Thank you for the ARC from Netgalley.

This is my first book by this author and I started out a bit bored by the ridiculous storyline but parts 2 and 3 made up for it and made more sense. It has a campy young adults vibe. Quick read if you want something ridiculous and unbelievable.

Started off strong with all the spooky vibes, however sadly it started to fizzle out shortly thereafter. The story felt like it meandered without much plot or action happening for a whiiiiiile.

I couldn’t find myself being invested in this unfortunately, or being compelled by the mysterious murder phone.

I love a good spooky season read, and this one was entertaining but not exactly what I was hoping for I’m sorry to say. I just could not connect with the very unlikeable main character. The action never picked up enough to hold my interest sadly. This one was enjoyable but not a favorite.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I received a gifted audiobook copy of THE NIGHT HOUSE by Jo Nesbø - thank you to the author, Knopf and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THE NIGHT HOUSE follows Richard Elauved, a teen who has been sent to live with relatives after the death of his parents in a house fire. He's an unhappy young man, for good reason, and he establishes himself as someone who really doesn't fit in with most of his peers. He is present when his classmate Tom goes missing in a very bizarre way and almost no one believes his story of what happened.

Richard looks into the phone number that Tom had been prank calling and connects it to a creepy house in the Mirror Forest. The house is abandoned, but known to the locals even so. When he sees a face in the window and voices begin to taunt him, he is not sure what is going on.

This author is best known in my mind for writing nordic noir which is a very hit or miss genre for me, so I was excited to hear they had a horror book coming out which was completely different. Unfortunately, I wound up struggling with this one quite a bit. There are many positive reviews for it, so I would definitely suggest looking up other reviews, but I did want to share my concerns.

The book does have some really good creepy moments. The book opens with the very strange and horrific disappearance of Tom and I thought that this was really well done to set the tone for the book. We get a few of these creepy moments throughout as well and I did enjoy that part.

My struggles with the book started pretty quickly after the opening and I think there are quite a few things that could be triggering for others as well. Richard was a difficult character to pull for. He is fatphobic and homophobic and we hear a lot of bullying language from him. While the author isn't necessarily portraying him as being 'good' for these things, it did make it challenging to read since we're stuck in his head throughout. The book as a whole also did not have good mental health rep. This would be hard to describe without spoilers, but I didn't appreciate the way mental health was portrayed.

The twists in the book came a bit out of the blue (possibly would have felt less so if I had read the synopsis ahead of time which promised that Richard is not a reliable narrator). The book ends with a trope which I do not at all enjoy. I won't give spoilers (feel free to ask if you'd like them), but I did not find the ending at all satisfying.

I am really sorry that this book didn't work for me, but I did want to share the triggers and concerns. As I said many others have given positive reviews so it is worth checking them out for different opinions. THE NIGHT HOUSE is out 10/3/23!

When I started reading this book I was instantly transported to my teen years and the horror books I fell in love with in the 90s.

Jo Nesbo has written a truly great horror read with all the aspects I love- young characters who encounter something unexplainable, a small town setting, a return to the scene years later, and creepy nightmarish creatures.

This is a perfect read for the upcoming spooky season.

Okay this was so not what I was expecting!

Richard has come to live with his aunt and uncle after his parents die in a fire. He is a teenager full of anger and he doesn’t care who knows it. Suddenly the “friends” in his new life disappear one by one in the most outrageous ways. The police think he is responsible and don’t believe him when he tries to explain what really happened.

Immediately I disliked Richard because he seemed so nasty and rude. But as the book went on I learned why he was behaving this way and grew to like him.

This is a book that can’t be easily explained and definitely not without giving away what happens. I was pleasantly surprised with how the story unfolded. I’m still not entirely sure I understand every single aspect of it but I enjoyed the ride!

Thank you NetGalley, Jo Nesbo, and Knopf for the opportunity to read The Night House. I have written this review voluntarily.

The main character in this book is extremely problematic to the point where I couldn't even finish the book because I wasn't enjoying it at all.

I understand the value of having unlikable characters in horror novels, but this just felt completely over the top. Fatphobia on page 2 was a bit of a shocker.

DNF on page 5 :(

The 80s horror vibes this one gave off plus the plot twists I didn’t see coming made for a pretty fun read. This is my first time reading something from this author but will definitely be adding more of their books to my TBR. Lots of unsettling imagery that is perfect with spooky season upon us and it made me laugh a few times because of some of the outlandish things happening. Really liked and really recommend! I would like to say that Part 3 threw me off and I didn’t initially like it until I realized it was yet another plot twist.

This book kept me guessing. It hits the gas and doesn't let up the entire time! I really enjoyed that the story was keeping me guessing and it had many homages to classic horror, but also was totally unique. I highly recommend this even for those who don't do horror - the storytelling is that good!

Fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved is a bit of a bully. He’s an orphan whose parents died in a fire and has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle (Frank and Jenny) in a small town (Ballantyne) far from the big city he’s used to. Needless to say, he’s unhappy and angry and, thus, takes his angst out on classmates who are farther down the social ladder than he is. One of these is Tom who meets his end in Chapter One in a fairly gruesome and unusual manner – he’s eaten and sucked through a telephone receiver! But who is on the other end of the line? Richard believes it’s a citizen. Imu Jonasson, the town constable says doesn’t exist. Jonasson, whose name Richard plucked from a phone book in the same booth where Tom met his demise, is no longer listed in that book. And, even though Richard tells the police the truth about what happened to Tom, they don’t believe him. That, of course, is natural. Who would?

After these shocking opening scenes, author Nesbo takes the reader down a path with his young protagonist to discover who and what the illusive Mr. Jonasson is. This quest will carry Richard and some of his classmates to Mirror Forest and a gloomy estate known as “The Night House.” It is here that Richard will discover things dark and terrible that may have the power to destroy him and, more importantly, the young lady he loves.

The Night House is a tale of supernatural terror and also a journey of discovery. It contains, as the reader will find, a story within a story within a story. The opening scene of young Tom’s demise was, as I have mentioned, gruesome and, for a moment or two, I considered closing the book and not continuing with it. But, I steeled myself and read on and I’m glad I did. A very entertaining read, The Night House is not for the faint of heart, but for fans of horror, supernatural suspense, and coming of age sagas. Highly recommended reading.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, for providing me with a free ARC copy of this novel. The Night House is set for publication on October 3, 2023.

I loved this wild book! Coming-of-age, unreliable narrator, man-eating phones, haunted houses, libraries and books!

Broken into 3 parts, each part was crazier than the last. All tied together by our narrator and hero Richard. The first part had some great coming of age horror and had lots of 80’s/90’s vibes.

My favorite character was Mrs. Zimmer, the librarian. The library itself was an amazing place full of disappearing staircases and books on magic words. I love books about books!

This was the most fun I’ve had reading in a while and I will definitely recommend to anyone who loves nostalgia and coming of age horror.

Spoilers ahead....



It only took me one day to read the book. It was alright. The first half of the book was fairly engaging. I read through the first 100 pages or so really quickly. Then things started to go downhill. I began wondering if I was reading a book meant for pre-teens. The whole "black word", "white word" magic was silly. The final explanation for Imu was typical. I had a hard time believing these kids were 14-16 years old. They behaved like 11-12 year olds or younger. I have 3 boys and 5 nephews. Boys don't typically continue to play with action figures when they are teenagers. There were a lot of things that happened that I was confused about and not because of the storyline. I don't know if some things got lost in translation, but the writing felt jarring at times. For example, Richard is running from the thing in the house. He never says that it is a werewolf. He never said anything about seeing werewolves. I believe he only mentioned a werewolf like howl earlier in the story. Then he says he can hear the werewolf coming closer, but it was written in a way that made me go back and read the last couple of pages to see if I had missed something. There are a lot of incongruous moments like this. Characters appearing or disappearing abruptly, with no transition. Adults acting unlike adults. I had more than a few moments where I thought I had missed something and had to backtrack. Only to find that I had not missed anything.

I struggled to finish after the first half. It became clear that Richard was an unreliable narrator. I almost thought that he mentioned that in the beginning of the book, but I can't find anything like that now. This meant I couldn't believe anything he said. I lost interest in the characters and what might happen to them. At this point I didn't even know who was supposed to be real or not. I've read books that have an unreliable narrator and turn out to be awesome, but I think it's hard to accomplish.

Part two was so bizarre and lost the thread of the Imu guy being behind everything. There were a lot of things that said without saying that either the author or Richard had never been to a high school reunion. At least not one in America. Again it was more like a Junior high school dance than a bunch of 30 year olds reuniting after 15 years. Then they go to Oscars house and everything falls apart, not only in the story but the entire storyline. I knew at this point what the ending was going to be, so part 3 came as no surprise. Richard being put into an asylum right after having lost both parents was odd. There doesn't seem to be any explanation of how that happened. Schizophrenic or not you still need to show symptoms that warrant being institutionalized.

Personally I would have liked if the story was the one that the author started with and not the "dream within a dream" trope. Overall I say 3 stars for the first half and none for the second. I don't honestly know who I would recommend the book to. It's not scary and not original. I know that is really harsh and I haven't ever written a book myself, but it's my honest opinion as an avid reader.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to read and review this arc. All opinions expressed in my review are my own.

This wasn’t for me. It was weird and at times felt awkward.
I like Nesbø’s thrillers but this was missing the suspense in horror.
Personally, Nesbø should keep trying. One of these days he’ll get it. In the meantime I will stick to reading his thrillers.

Thank you for this ARC.

This story kept me intrigued from start to finish with lots of twists along the way. This is not the typical Jo Nesbo book. The Night House takes us in a different direction as a twist on the classic horror story. Richard Elauved arrives in Ballantyne after his parents pass away in a fire. There he lives with his aunt and uncle. After 2 teens disappear under mysterious circumstances fingers are being pointed at him. The story is told in 3 parts with Richard being the narrator in each one, as we learn more about Richard. This story kept me on the edge of my seat, it was weird and creepy and just when you think you have it figured out, Jo Nesbo delivers another twist. It was a story within a story. This is a story I'm going to be thinking about for a while.

Thanks to Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a chance to read an early release of this book.