Book Review: Ghost Station

S.A. Barnes, Ghost Station. New York: Nightfire/TOR Publishing, 2024. ISBN: 9781250884923.

Genre: horror, science fiction

Subgenre: space horror, psychological thriller

Format: e-book galley

Source: Edelweiss Plus 

I read horror, and I do like space horror stories, so when I read the description for this book it sounded interesting. A space crew investigating an abandoned station in a distant planet with horrors to follow. Sounded great, but in the end, it fell flat. 

The main character, Dr. Ophelia Bray, is a psychologist assigned to a crew of explorers who lost one of their own. They don't want her there, and they make that very clear from their asshole behavior towards her. In a horror story, that asshole crew are the people you want the upcoming horror to kill, but we don't really even get that satisfaction in this book. To complicate matters, the crew is hiding something, and they're not telling. 

Dr. Bray herself is quite the basket case with a dysfunctional family and a whole lot of baggage. She probably needs therapy more than the crew. She is constantly overthinking and seriously insecure to the point of being annoying. 

As for the plot, some may describe it as a slow burn. About five chapters in, and all we get is the doctor's insecurities and the bitchy unwelcoming crew. By the time the one murder that triggers events happens, you want the book to be over. This novel, which reads more like a psychological thriller than horror, just drags on and on. At various points I just wished the author would get to the point already. As for the ending, where they escape, go to cryogenic sleep, get cured and rescued in the future, it is a way too neat and tidy ending. I guess the author wanted a happy ending, or at least a tidy one. It just seems trite. 

To be honest, this type of plot is not new, and it has been done better elsewhere. I did some research after reading the book, and some readers mention the author's previous book Dead Silence. Reviews on that book are mixed, but some say that if you did not like that one you probably would not like Ghost Station. Well, I did not like Ghost Station, so I won't be looking for Dead Silence or any other book by this author. I will note that, again based on description, I had requested a review copy of their later book, but it is likely I will not read nor review it based on having read Ghost Station. 

I do not recommend this, and I would not order it for our library. 

1 out of 5 stars,, which is a rating I rarely give, but I was just annoyed that I plowed through this to review it when I should have dropped it. 

This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: