Ghost Beyond Earth

by Graeme Hague, David Hague (Illustrator)

In a present-day space station in a low-earth orbit where the astronauts are weightless, eat from vacuum packs and live a high-risk existence every minute of the day, Ghost Beyond Earth tells of NASA’s first attempt to bring a corpse back to life. A Cryogenics Module attached to Space Station Freedom holds four, frozen bodies and one is about to be revived. As the clock ticks down to the dead man drawing new breath, back on Earth on a remote cattle property the ghost of a little girl appears to wickedly torment her grieving family. Matthew Kindling, a lapsed priest, starts to be revisited by the terrifying demons that drove him from the Church. Then things begin to go horribly wrong aboard Freedom.
This is a ghost story set in outback Australia, in the affluent suburbs of a major big city and high above the Earth within reach of the stars–but beyond all help

591 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 19, 2010

About the author

I've been writing all kinds of books for many years, published in Australia, the UK, Germany and in the US. I started out writing horror, then crime thrillers and I've also written two historical war/romance novels. Nowadays I'm concentrating on my Lukas Boston series of detective novellas, which feature my sometimes rather black sense of humour which my friends have often told me to use in my books. The Lukas Boston books are proving great fun to create. I'm living with my beautiful wife in the south west of Western Australia along with three Great Danes and two donkeys.

Reviews

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mix of horror and intrigue

I first read this book years ago, and when I discovered it on Amazon, decided to read it again. It has several twists I didn't expect, and just the right amount of spine tingling, edge of your seat horror.

[Narelle McLachlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been many years since I've read this book. This was my introduction to horror. I was so unsure about this genre, but I couldn't put it down. It was great. The memory of a good read has stayed strong for this book. I often recommend it (something I rarely do).

[Graeme Hague · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author's Introduction: All my horror stories are based on a single, inspired idea and I start writing from there- writing the book is as much a journey into the unknown for me as it is for the reader. That’s kind of scary in itself! Ghost Beyond Earth was my first published horror novel by a major print publisher and the concept was born from thinking; what would happen if the Space Shuttle was haunted?

If what? Okay, the thing is I’m always trying to create a situation where my main characters can’t easily escape the dilemma they’re in. I used to get annoyed at ghost stories where people could simply leave the haunted house, the blood pouring from the wall- the cursed room... whatever- if they wanted, yet didn't (obviously, for the sake of the story). One day I saw footage of the space shuttle in orbit and figured it was a great place to be haunted. You couldn't get away, right? But the shuttles aren't much bigger than a Volkswagen with a jet engine bolted on the back, so after some research I came across Space Station Freedom, the forerunner to today's International Space Station (SSF was never built).

Similarly, the other half of the novel based on an outback cattle property also provides for a sense of dangerous isolation from where the characters can’t easily escape.

For readers who may be put off by the space station stuff- don't be. Ghost Beyond Earth isn't science fiction. The astronauts are in present-day conditions of weightlessness and eating out of tubes. Ghost Beyond Earth is a ghost story with a dash of witchcraft- and certainly a horror story.