Currently in its third season, the Sy-Fy (its still hard to write it this way!) series of mini-series’ second “season”, consisting of the six episode No End House, had the following intriguing trailer…

Originally published on the creepypasta website and distributed over the web, Channel Zero takes some of the more popular short stories posted and makes them into these mini-series.

No End House concerns a group of late teens (out of high school, just into college) who hear about the “No-End House”, a horror themed home that appears in random places throughout the world and which one enters and encounters six scary rooms before exiting.

But… do you ever exit?!

We start with Margot Sleator (well played by Amy Forsyth) who has had a recent tragedy in her life.  Her father (played by John Carroll Lynch, also quite good) recently died and she’s become something of a recluse, living in her home with her mother but, in the year since his death, not venturing out much.

Her best friend Jules (Aisha Dee, again, quite good) arrives in town after spending a year in college and re-connects with Margot.  She tries to get Margot out of her depressive fog and the two venture out to a nightclub.

There, they meet up with old school friend J.D. (Seamus Patterson, also… well, all the actors are pretty damn good in this film) and acquaint themselves with Seth Marlowe (Jeff Ward).

While Margot originally doesn’t want to stay, she’s attracted to Seth and changes her mind.  The foursome talk about all kinds of things, including the legend of the No End House, which is rumored to be stationed in their very town.

Few know exactly what No End House is about, other than the fact that it appears in random towns and those who enter it go through six scary rooms before emerging outside.  The experiences are vague as each person apparently experiences a different thing.

The four head out of the club and find No End House and enter… and then things change.

I don’t want to give too much away here but suffice to say that entering the No End House is a hell of a lot easier than exiting it, and what one finds within is eerie and life-threatening.

The series is quite creepy, offering interesting revelations about the various characters before reaching its climax.  Who is good and who is bad?  What does one gain and what does one lose upon entering the No End House?

Further, the acting, as I stated above, is uniformly good while the cinematography, sound effects, and editing are top notch.

As for the writing, most of the questions one has regarding the No End House are answered by the end.

Most, not quite all.

Worse, while the series goes on for six approximately 45 minute long episodes (the extra 15 minutes were for commercials, of course), it felt at times the story was being dragged out longer than it should have been.

One of the bigger problems I had at the very end is that I’m left with no real answers as to what the No End House is, and that wound up bothering me perhaps more than it should have.  Is it a force of good or evil or is it just “there”, corrupted by those who enter it?

In the end, I find myself in a very curious position.  While I like almost everything about the series, by the end it felt like a) it went on longer than it should and b) the answers given/the story told were interesting but didn’t constitute a world-shattering product.

When all was said and done my reaction was: “Eh… it was ok” and that’s hardly a ringing endorsement.

Still, there is stuff here to like and I don’t want to give the impression the whole thing was a waste of time.  Perhaps the problem lies in me and I was expecting more than I got and therefore was disappointed.

Still, it is what it is.  No End House is a handsomely mounted, well-acted, and for the most part well written mini-series that nonetheless ends with more of a whimper than a bang.