No Doors, No Windows: A Novel [Paperback]

"No Doors, No Windows" is intense, chilling, and at times hallucinogenic; a story of madness carried down through the generations. In many ways, it tells the classic Gothic tale of a house stained by a decades old evil, warped by the lingering spirits of the dead. Debuting alongside Schreiber's "Star Wars: Death Troopers", "No Doors" adds to an impressive resume, making him a name to watch in horror.

After his father's funeral, Scott Mast can't run away fast enough. Being back in New Hampshire brings up painful memories, and it's hard being around his failed brother Owen and his only son Henry. What Scott wants most is a return to his ordered life writing Hallmark greeting cards in Seattle; to leave the wreckage of his family behind.

When he discovers his father's partially finished manuscript, however, Scott refuses to leave without digging for answers to questions he hadn't even known existed. His father, the stoic Frank Mast - a writer? Not only that, the story appears to be horror, about an old house back in the woods, a place called Round House because of its strangely shaped interior.

When Scott learns the house actually exists, he becomes obsessed with uncovering his father's secrets. In his search, Scott discovers dark things hidden in his family line. An obsession with creation is a Mast curse, as they are doomed to re-tell a recurring dark tale that has no end...and no mercy. In a moment of foolhardy inspiration, Scott resolves to finish his father's story, but as he moves into Round House, so do the ghosts haunting his family.

In many ways, "No Doors" is the archetypal haunted house story: a place tainted by evil and family secrets, dangerous snows that lay siege to those haunted, and a failed writer who not only becomes obsessed with finishing a dangerous story, but also goes off his medication to do so. However, Schreiber tells the story well, and he layers his twists and reveals his secrets with the controlled pacing of a seasoned writer, making this an excellent take on a traditional tale.

Deep in the lonely, cold woods of Milburn, New Hampshire there is a strange mansion called Round House. It has many rooms and many secrets. A young author, Scott Mast, has been drawn there to complete a horror novel that his dead father began writing years ago. Scott discovers a curse that burned the town's theatre, killing many, and has tormented his family for generations. A curse that involves the ghost of twelve-year-old Rosemary Carver and her monstrously evil father.

Joe Schreiber's "No Doors, No Windows" is a genuinely creepy ghost story. There are scenes that actually made me shiver. Of all the haunted house novels that I have read in the past ten years, this is one of the best. An atmospheric gothic soap opera, this novel has a tremendous amount of drama, tension and suspense that is fueled by supernatural phenomena. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that made it nearly impossible for me to lay the novel down until I had discovered the curse of Round House. The same curse that had trapped the novel's characters had also trapped me.

A novel within a novel. A house within a house. Ghosts that transcend time and space to haunt generations of a family. Secret rooms. Buried corpses. Disappearing bodies. Mysterious music coming from behind the walls. Disembodied voices pleading for help. Children in danger. Insane relatives. Schreiber is clever at writing nightmares. He knows what scares us.

Most of the characters in "No Doors, No Windows" are untrustworthy, shifty and as cold and unpredictable as the blizzard that ravishes Milburn during the novel's climax. Amidst the populace of substance abusing ex-football players, ex-beauty queens and other washed out has-beens, there is the main character, Scott Mast, who is sympathetic and admirable as the hero. He is protective of his younger, alcoholic brother Owen and his adorable, five-year-old nephew Henry. However, even his behavior is sometimes irrational. Ever since his mom's death at the Bijou Theatre, he's been taking antidepressant drugs. He ceases to take them upon his arrival in Milburn. He attributes Rosemary's ghost to withdrawal symptoms. In any case, Scott maintains a semblance of moral fortitude which most of the other characters do not.

"No Doors, No Windows" is highly recommended reading for fans of haunted house novels. It is perfect for Halloween. The enormous Round House, with its maze of corridors and rooms, gave me fond memories of Collinwood on the gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows." It also reminded me of the haunted Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's classic "The Shining" where there is a nightmare in every room. Scenes of Rosemary Carver's ghost terrorizing Scott Mast reminded me of the films "The Grudge" and "The Ring."

Other highly suspenseful, supernatural horror novels that Joe Schreiber has written are: "Chasing the Dead" and "Eat the Dark." He has recently written the science fiction horror novel "Star Wars: Death Troopers." If you enjoy reading "No Doors, No Windows," you may also want to read the following novels in the haunted house genre: John Saul's "House of Reckoning," Christopher Ransom's "The Birthing House" and Pierre Magnan's "The Murdered House." Recently published novels in the haunted house genre include John Saul's "House of Reckoning," Christopher Ransom's "The Birthing House" and Pierre Magnan's "The Murdered House."


Joseph B. Hoyos

Greetings card writer Scottie Mast leaves his Seattle home to attend the funeral of his father in their hometown Milburn, New Hampshire. Already entrenched inside their parents' home are his brother Owen and his five year old nephew Henry. A wannabe novelist, Scottie finds a partially completed manuscript The Black Wing written by his late dad buried in a shed. His high school sweetheart, Sonia Graham persuades him to stay in town to finish the horror thriller.

Scottie soon finds the location Round House that his father set the story line in. He is unsure why he rents the abode that doesn't inspire him to finish writing the tale. At the same time he worries about Henry under the neglectful care of his drunken father. Scot begins to find information that frightens him of evil doings in the late nineteenth century and recently. When the theater where his mother and uncle died in a fire fifteen years ago is being torn down Scottie finds his muse to complete his dad's horror thriller, but nothing seems quite what it appears.

Exciting and filled with a foreboding atmosphere of doom, NO DOORS, NO WINDOWS is an entertaining ghostly amateur sleuth. Scottie is an intriguing loser until he finds his muse only his inspiration is not quite what he anticipated. Although the atmosphere overwhelms the plot at times, fans will enjoy Joe Schreiber's horror thriller as Scottie seems to CHASING THE DEAD.

Harriet Klausner

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