I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes Published by Tor Nightfire on April 9 2024
Genres: Adult, Horror, Science fiction
Pages: 377
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: S.A. Barnes proves once again she’s the queen of space horror, in this atmospheric story set on an ancient alien planet.
Ghost Station is S.A. Barnes’ follow-up to her 2022 debut Dead Silence, which I loved, and I’m happy to say her sophomore book is just as tense and exciting. The space horror subgenre is just so much fun. There’s the secluded setting of deep space, where no one can save you except yourself, and in Ghost Station Barnes adds in a creepy element involving an ancient alien species. Round that off with lots of human drama and you have a story that’s creepy and unsettling.
Ophelia Bray works for the Montrose company as a psychological and behavior evaluation specialist. In other words, she’s trained to recognize symptoms in deep space crews that could impact the safety of their mission. Her specialty is working with ERS—Eckhart-Reiser syndrome—a deadly condition that leads to suicide and violence. Ophelia’s personal life isn’t that great at the moment, since she’s struggling with a work related tragedy as well as a terrible event involving her high power family. Looking to put distance between herself and all the drama, Ophelia jumps at the chance to join a deep space exploration team as a psychological advisor, keeping an eye on the six crew members for any signs of ERS.
But once Ophelia wakes up from cold sleep, she discovers that the team members want nothing to do with her. Ophelia’s wealthy family is known for their cut throat business practices, and the health and safety of their employees always comes last. Not to mention the fact that Ophelia’s father contracted ERS and went on a killing rampage, cementing the family’s bad reputation. But Ophelia is determined to help the crew, who are also experiencing trauma from the recent death of a beloved crew member, so she ignores the unfriendly glances and unkind words and gets to work.
Their arrival on the planet Lyria 393-C starts out as a typical research/exploration mission but quickly turns deadly, as one by one, each crew member starts to exhibit signs of distress. Something on the planet is affecting them, and Ophelia must try to stop the threat before anyone is lost.
Ghost Station is a slow burn thriller where the horror creeps up on you, and I loved the way Barnes takes her time setting things up. Right away there’s tension when Ophelia wakes up on the ship and is confronted with a bunch of people who don’t like her just because her last name is Bray. Birch Osgoode, the pilot, and Suresh Patel, the inventory specialist, are particularly nasty to Ophelia, refusing to give her a chance and simply lumping her in with her family. The others aren’t quite as bad, but all of them have preconceived notions about her, which makes gaining their trust almost impossible. Ophelia refuses to give up, though. She would rather be here with a bunch of hostile strangers than back home dealing with her family. Eventually Liana, the ship’s scientific coordinator, starts opening up to her, and she’s hopeful the others will follow.
But that success is short lived, because when they arrive on the planet, things start to go wrong, fast. Barnes does a fantastic job at creating a creepy atmosphere as the crew members set up camp in an abandoned “ghost station” and prepare to explore the planet. An ancient alien civilization colonized it centuries ago, and the remains of strange, black structures still jut out of the earth, like crumbling skyscrapers. Adding to the weirdness is the terrible weather, an icy landscape and non stop howling winds. Instead of an alien monster threatening the crew, Barnes’ horror is much more subtle and terrifying. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but I will say if you’re a fan of body horror, you’re going to love this story. I’m getting chills as I’m writing this, remembering what happens to the characters, and now every time I feel an itch, I flash back to those scenes.
Equally entertaining is the friction between the characters, which adds lots of tension to the story. I felt so bad for Ophelia, who is actually a smart, caring woman, and she didn’t deserve to be hated so much. She’s caught in the middle, wanting to help the others despite their rudeness. Eventually the tables turn, though, and the others begin to lean on her when things start to spiral out of control.
Then there’s the tension between Pinnacle—the Bray family’s empire—and Montrose, the company sponsoring the mission that Ophelia has joined. When they arrive on the planet, they know that a Pinnacle team was the last group to explore it. Ethan and his crew figure they must have been up to something shady—like gathering and selling alien artifacts that might be buried there—and their goal is to document everything they find so they can make a case against them later. But something terrible happened to the Pinnacle team, as they’re about to find out, and this puts them in danger as well.
The pacing really takes off in the last few chapters as the characters try to escape the horrors on Lyria 393-C. I wasn’t sure how Barnes was going to wrap everything up, but she includes a satisfying epilogue that did a pretty good job of explaining things. Space horror fans shouldn’t miss this book, and I can’t wait to see what S.A. Barnes does next.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Thank you so much for this review! I was more than looking forward to it, in the hope that Barnes could offer her readers another intriguing space mystery, and from your words I can see that she delivered again a story that is both chilling and gripping. I will have to completely forget whatever tentative reading schedule I had in mind, because I need to read this book ASAP! 😉
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…CALAMITY (Uncharted Hearts #1), by Constance Fay
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts:-)
Yet another book that I’m itching to buy now. I love (and fear) a slow burn thriller where the horror creeps up on you. It sounds really exciting and thrilling and scary. I’m super intrigued with the story so gonna add it to my wishlist right now!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Emerald Bruises by Pepper Winters
It was so well done:-)
Space horror is fun hu? Well I don’t think it would be for me LOL I am a real scaredy cat!
LOL maybe not for you:-)
Great review, Tammy:)). I do enjoy the occasional space horror (which I seem to be able to deal with – unlike the Earth-based variety…) but right now I want more upbeat reads. That said, Barnes is an author I think I’ll enjoy when Life starts to play fairer – especially in the light of your excellent review.
Yes, definitely keep her books in mind for the future:-)
I don’t know. I like scfi but not so much horror. Maybe?
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Series on Saturday: Texas Edition @ilona_andrews @atticalocke @kidell @donna_grant #MaryBurton #CarolynBrown #SeriesOnSaturday
It might work for you?
I know I’ll never get around to reading many of the books you review (just too many books and too little time), but this is one of them I’d really like to read. I love space horror and covers can be a big factor in buying a book (pretty shallow reason, I know). This cover almost looks like a movie poster. And speaking of movies, seems this story might make for a good one.
It does look like a movie poster, good call
Well, I hope you’re happy, you’ve made me curious about this, *deep sigh, adds to tbr, shakes fist*
Lynn 😀
Lynn Williams recently posted…The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé
LOL I know what you mean:-)
I’m so excited to read this one! I loved Dead Silence and have been eagerly awaiting this newest book. And my library hold of it has finally come in! Now you know what I’ll be reading this weekend. 😀
Lark recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday…
I hope you enjoy it!
Wonderful review, given how badly I flinched at the medical scene in one of my most recent reads I’m not sure I’d cope with body horror too well but I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed the authors previous book too, which I remember being excited about (even if I can’t remember what it’s about now). I’ll probably start with that one then maybe be brave & try this if I enjoy it.
They are both pretty scary but the first one doesn’t have the body horror that this does.
I am so glad you enjoyed this one so much! And you reminded me that I have still to read the first book by this author!!
They are both so good!
Great review! This sounds like a slow burn in the best possible way.
It was a good slow burn:-)
This worked so much better as a space horror novel than her last book. I agree the pacing was perfect and it really sold the ending for me!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
She already has her next book up on GR, so excited.
I think all the reviews of books by this author have made me want to give these books a try. Especially what you’ve said. Great review!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…ARC Review: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
I’ll read anything she writes:-)
I do like the sound of a slow burn space horror, I don’t think I’ve read anything like that before. I never got around to this author’s previous book but remember thinking at the time that it also sounded good. Looks like a couple more titles for the endless TBR list 😀
Pages and Tea recently posted…Reading Review: April 2024