Ghost Station

384 pages

English language

Published March 5, 2024 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-88492-3

(1 review)

A crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet in the latest space horror novel from S.A. Barnes, acclaimed author of Dead Silence.

Space exploration can be lonely and isolating.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS—a space-based condition most famous for a case that resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. When she's assigned to a small exploration crew, she's eager to make a difference. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that crew is hiding something.

While Ophelia focuses on her new role, her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer's hasty departure than opening up to her.

That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental …

A crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet in the latest space horror novel from S.A. Barnes, acclaimed author of Dead Silence.

Space exploration can be lonely and isolating.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS—a space-based condition most famous for a case that resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. When she's assigned to a small exploration crew, she's eager to make a difference. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that crew is hiding something.

While Ophelia focuses on her new role, her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer's hasty departure than opening up to her.

That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental deterioration from ERS? Or is it something more sinister?

Terrified that history will repeat itself, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out what’s happening. But trust is hard to come by… and the crew isn’t the only one keeping secrets.

2 editions

enne📚 reviewed Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes

4 stars

I enjoyed the suspense and tension in this slow creeping mystery in this scifi horror novel. Ophelia, a psychiatrist from a rich family with quite a bit of buried trauma in her past, tries to save her name by joining a remote planetary reclamation crew as a therapist. The crew is tight-lipped and grieving a past crew member's death, and resent her presence (and her family). They all land on a planet to explore an abandoned station, and things quickly start to fall apart. It doesn't help that Ophelia is involved in trying to prevent ERS, a sort of "space madness" syndrome that causes people to get violent and paranoid.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was its slowly building tension. Traumas and secrets from the past intersect delightfully with mysteries in the present. There's a lot of delicious ambiguity in all of the creepiness. Are events just …

I enjoyed the suspense and tension in this slow creeping mystery in this scifi horror novel. Ophelia, a psychiatrist from a rich family with quite a bit of buried trauma in her past, tries to save her name by joining a remote planetary reclamation crew as a therapist. The crew is tight-lipped and grieving a past crew member's death, and resent her presence (and her family). They all land on a planet to explore an abandoned station, and things quickly start to fall apart. It doesn't help that Ophelia is involved in trying to prevent ERS, a sort of "space madness" syndrome that causes people to get violent and paranoid.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was its slowly building tension. Traumas and secrets from the past intersect delightfully with mysteries in the present. There's a lot of delicious ambiguity in all of the creepiness. Are events just pranks or hallucinations or truly real? Are strange physical symptoms a sign of impending ERS? How much can Ophelia herself even be trusted?

This was just a solidly good horror book for me. Nothing world shattering, but all the threads are woven together satisfyingly.