No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill

Stephanie is desperate - she's got very little money, no real job prospects, and nowhere to go. Her latest rental was a place she jokingly called "the cell," so the room for rent at 82 Edgehill Road is a bit of a dream come true. Sure it's a little rundown and the landlord something of a creeper, but it's well within her budget and spacious to boot. And the ad said women only, which sets Stephanie's mind at ease at least a little bit. 

But when Stephanie begins to hear and see things that are beyond explanation, she knows she has to get out of the house on Edgehill Road. Even when the landlord refuses to refund her deposit, she gives herself until the end of the weekend to find a friend who will let her crash. But making it through the weekend is a tougher order than she thought it would be. 

You can probably tell by my reviews and reading taste that it takes a lot to shake me up reading wise, but Adam Nevill did manage to do so with No One Gets Out Alive. Holy moly did it freak me out! Honestly, I was reading LATE at night and had to force myself to set it aside with just 150 pages to go because I thought it might actually give me nightmares.

Stephanie's story is bleak and dark. She's young and fairly well educated but has had to leave school because of lack of money. Her parents are both gone and her stepmother was a step monster she was glad to leave behind, so there's really no one she can turn to in her time of need. And this is a time of need if ever there was one!

The landlord at Edgehill Road immediately rubs her the wrong way but she takes the room anyway, that's how desperate she is. But even she has her limits - and weird noises in her bedroom, a crying neighbor, and a complete lack of sleep as a result are it. Things only get worse the longer she's in the house, which does turn out to be both haunted and extremely dangerous.

And then the story takes a turn. A really unexpected turn, to be honest. And it's fabulous!

As much as I enjoy horror, haunted houses are by far my favorite but it's usually a lot of same old same old. Any time an author can surprise me they get super major points in my book and Nevill gets LOTS of points for this one. LOTS! Even I was a little concerned, though, that this one was going to end up being just a bit too dark for my taste given what goes on at Edgehill Road, and it very likely will be for some readers, but this beast of a book ended up being an almost one-sitting read for me and even when it was majorly creeping me out I could not put it down. Well, except for my own sleep's sake, as I mentioned above. But I did literally pick it straight up as soon as I woke up. Didn't even shower or start my day until I was done!

I could probably go on and on fangirling over this one but let's recap real quick:  No One Gets Out Alive is a unique spin on a haunted house story that kept me up all night and freaked the crap out of me. Yeah, this one's definitely one I happily recommend for horror fans and the 4th entry on my 2015 favorites list!

Rating: 5/5

No One Gets Out Alive is out tomorrow in the US.