Ghost Station

by S.A. Barnes

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.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Space, Audiobook, Mystery

377 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2024

About the author

S.A. BARNES works in a high school library by day, recommending reads, talking with students, and removing the occasional forgotten cheese stick as bookmark. Barnes has published numerous novels across different genres under the pen name Stacey Kade. She lives in Illinois with more dogs and books than is advisable and a very patient husband.

Reviews

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 2 out of 5]

My thanks to Tor Publishing, S.A. Barnes and Netgalley.
So. This story really sucked the lifeblood outta me! It took me 5 or 6 days to read, which is way too long. Also, it was slightly juvenile in the way the author depicted the main character. She just meets the boss and he's kind of a jackass to her, yet she gets flustered? I mean really?
Moving on.
The story in itself is all kinds of lame and blah.
For shits sake! All the scares are in the title of this book. Ghost Station! Ooh, ahh! Yea, not so much.
I'm not sure how some asshat managed to make this shit bland, but Barnes somehow managed. Hey, kudos to you! Now fuck off and take your lame ass storytelling elsewhere.
Sheesh, you almost managed to kill "horror" for me.
This is not horror, it's lame.

[megs_bookrack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ophelia Bray is a psychologist specializing in the study and prevention of ERS, a space-based condition, similar to PTSD, that can lead to mental deterioration and violence.

Dr. Bray is assigned to join a small exploration crew as they journey to an ancient, abandoned planet. Unfortunately, it doesn't take Ophelia long to realize that the new crew isn't exactly excited to have her aboard.

They've never needed a Head Doc before, why now?



Ophelia is confident in her purpose though, so she just tries to do her best to fit in and help them to understand the reasons for her attendance. She knows better than most just how imperative her skills may become.

The rest of the crew have worked together before and feel more like a family than a team. Ophelia, as the only outsider, has a long way to go to endear herself to the group.



As they begin to establish themselves on the abandoned planet, they start discovering disturbing signs left behind by the previous colonizers, who apparently departed with haste.

It presents a real mystery for the crew. They have no idea what happened to the previous inhabitants, but signs are pointing to the fact that they didn't live happily ever after.

The longer Ophelia and the crew remain on the planet, the more unnerving things become, until Ophelia's worst nightmare starts to come to life.



Ghost Station is the latest from S.A. Barnes, author of Dead Silence, which I read and really enjoyed. I've been anxiously anticipating more from Barnes ever since. I loved the SF Horror vibes she delivered in Dead Silence and believe she succeeded overall here as well.

For me, Ghost Station is way more of a slow burn than Dead Silence, but the content is interesting enough that it really didn't both me. I enjoyed getting to know Ophelia and learning of her past, while watching her try to find a place within this new crew.



I also feel like you can see a maturation of Barnes writing in this one, which is lovely to see. We love to watch an author progress over the course of their career.

I really enjoyed the dangerous feel of the atmosphere that was created on the planet they were exploring. There was a sense of foreboding over every page that kept it compelling and also kept my pulse slightly elevated.

The audiobook for this was fantastically narrated by Zura Johnson. I highly recommend that as a format choice if you have the option available to you. The narration style was very soothing to me, in spite of this being an intense story. I really felt myself relaxing into it.



I was extremely satisfied with how Barnes wrapped this up. The conclusion surprised me in the direction it ultimately took. I wasn't expecting it and I was happy with that.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys SF Horror, or darker SF in general. As far as Science Fiction goes, I would consider this light, with concepts that are easily understandable to a wide audience. You aren't going to get bogged down in scientific jargon in this one, if maybe that is a concern for you.

This is an easily understandable, compelling story, with chills and thrills, as well as great characters throughout. Additionally, I think this could translate really well to film.



Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

As mentioned above, I was anxiously awaiting this one and it didn't disappoint. I look forward to seeing what Barnes comes up with next!

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-2.75 Stars
Well, that was disappointing...

Although I was looking forward to this novel, being a fan of the author's previous work, Dead Silence, I did find myself a bit let down. While the story had a lot of potential, it seemed to progress slowly and had some repetitive plot points that made it hard for me to stay engaged. Additionally, the main character, Ophelia, made some decisions that I found to be frustrating. Overall, I think this book has a lot of promise, and with some adjustments to the pacing and character development, it could be a great read.

***Thank you to NetGalley, S.A. Barnes, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

[ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

i have read a few of s. a. barnes’ works now and i always adore the concept (i love me a good sci-fi horror), however, i feel like they have all had very slow build ups and then (kind of) disappointing/short lived endings/resolutions. same can be said for this book sadly but still found the setting/horror vibes to be really cool, and will definitely pick up more of their books in the future!

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars
Video Review https://youtu.be/vANfnwA99y0

I love the sci fi horror genre so I have to try every novel in this brilliant subgenre.

However I went into this novel with subdued expectations because I had such a mixed experience with Dead Silence, I was curious what this author would do with their sophomore novel, but knew this one could suffer from the same mistakes.

Once again, this novel felt like a thriller hiding inside horror marketing. The narrative style and the meat of the story leaned too heavily into a tropey thriller narrative.

I would mind less if it was an engaging thriller but it was pretty forgettable without a lot of punch. I hoped to love this one and am ultimately disappointed that it turned out to be only fine.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love S.A. Barnes' brain. Full review after I get some sleep because I definitely stayed up till 4am just to finish this!

[Alexis Hall]

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work.  Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.

---

Spoilers ahead.

Billed as scif-fi horror, Ghost Station is set in ye hyper-capitalist, space-faring future, you know the drill. The rich live in luxury, the poor are but fodder for vast corporations, as they labour on the outskirts of space, where the danger, isolation and poor working conditions make them susceptible to Eckhart-Reiser syndrome. Basically, contagious PTSD. Our heroine is Dr Ophelia Bray, a scion of the rich and powerful Bray family, albeit one with a mysterious past, who works as a psychologist for one of her family's competitors. Her specialty is helping spacers who have been diagnosed with ERS but when one of her clients commits suicide unexpectedly she inveigles her way onto an active exploration vessel in the hope of being able to treat ERS in the field.

Needless to say the crew of said vessel, who have recently suffered the loss of one of their numbers, are less than receptive to having a psychologist on board, still less one with the surname Bray. But then their mission takes them to a previously abandoned planet--a ghost planet, do you see--and once strange things began to happen there Ophelia, her name and her history, are the last thing the crew needs to worry about.

So, Ghost Planet is a slow, slow burn which, for me, mostly worked, although I've seen some reviews where the reader grew a little impatient with the pacing and I can, in fairness, see that too. If, however, you like your horror creeping and your dread burgeoning, the book really pulls off an ever-escalating sense of unease, as questions about the crew--their interpersonal dynamics, what happened with their dead comrade--and Ophelia herself keep piling up. For at least the first half of the story, I was genuinely gripped, caught up in the succession of mini-mysteries, and appreciative of the way the narrative spins out the tensions inherent in its various themes: from the personal and abstract (like identity, family, mental health, grief and guilt) to the more political (like capitalism and commodification) to the very literal (being isolated on alien world where strange shit is going down).

It's ambitious and intriguing but, in the end--and, as ever, my judgement is subjective--I wasn't wholly sure it pulled it all together in a way that paid off the intensity of the build up. I think perhaps part of the, well, I hesitate to call it a problem because it's clearly a deliberate choice and may well work better for other readers, but something I struggled to balance for myself was the weight of more abstract horror themes with the whole scary alien planet side of things. Ophelia, for example, is the walking embodiment of this. She's a very vulnerable, very flawed character, and her training as a psychologist gives her a degree of self-awareness that allows her to articulate those vulnerabilities and flaws very directly (and, even, to be fair, relatably)

Wanting— needing— to be needed, relied on by authority, is her weak spot. It’s what both motivates and terrifies her, which, in psychotherapy world, makes her double the mess.

Or

She wants to be respected, needed, but at the same time she’s so fucking soft for the slightest display of affection. She despises that about herself. Being aware of it doesn’t help, either.

And while this, from a certain perspective, makes her the perfect protagonist of a horror novel (i.e. constantly falling apart at the seams, questioning her own mind a la the governess in The Turn of the Screw) it also makes her a slightly frustrating one, constantly locked in cycle of self-doubt, and solipsistically obsessed with her own insecurities. What's extra difficult about this, is that this is sort of the plot? Or at least the major emotional arc of the book: yes, it's about a weird empty alien planet, but it's also, in a more meaningful sense, about recovery from abuse. It's easy enough to guess Ophelia's history, from almost the second a Dark Event of the Past is mentioned, but there are interesting nuances to it. In this context, the Ophelia we're stuck with for three hundred pages makes a lot of sense, and I feel uncomfortable about my impatience with her.

By a similar token, I feel uncomfortable discussing Ophelia as ... I guess ... a professional being, because I feel that intersects with gender in really complicated, potentially problematic ways. Like, I think "professionalism" is mostly an arbitrary standard we apply to people who don't behave how we think we should, without really ever interrogating the why of those expectations. And in the context of a female character (or, y'know, an actual woman living in the world) it can often boil down to gender-coded nonsense like emotion = bad, or self-doubt is weakness, or talking < action.

For very good reasons, and as already discussed, Ophelia is very in her feels for basically the whole book, the downside of which we never really see her do very much actual therapy or actually help anyone ever. To be fair, she doesn't get much opportunity (the crew are openly hostile to her initially and then shit hits the fan, so therapy kind of naturally becomes a low priority) but we also see her continually make choices driven by selfishness and guilt, choices that often directly negatively affect the people around her, like going on the mission in the first place (since she's not qualified or experienced in space exploration type stuff), and hiding her past from the crew when it turns out her past might be very, very relevant to what's happening. Again, these choices are understandable, and driven by trauma, but that doesn't make them right. And while I absolutely do not expect fictional characters to always do the "right" thing, nor do I see a character's choices as reflective of the author in any way, I do wish I'd seen Ophelia maybe considering the whole life-or-deathness of the situation a bit more?

And, again, it gets complicated because the protagonist being a hot mess is a trope of certain kinds of horror, and Ghost Station, even though it's firmly in SF space, also has some gothic vibes to it. Plus, off the top of my head, I can list reams of fictional therapists who happen to be men who are fucking dreadful at their job (the guy from In Treatment, Shrinking, Hannibal, the list goes on): therapist overwhelmed by their own frail humanity is ALSO a trope. With Ophelia, however, I kept struggling. And, y'know, maybe that's, um misogyny which I am, at least, currently trying to examine. But I also felt that, between her history, her trauma, the mission being a disaster, and her last patient having committed suicide, the book had, maybe circumstantially more than anything, stacked the deck against her.

It doesn't help that she is the also the, err, victim of an extremely juvenile-feeling romance arc. Well, arc might be too strong a word, since it's mostly Ophelia staring dreamily at the mission captain (a sexy-gruff bloke called Ethan Severin) and then chiding herself for being unprofessional. As attraction dynamics go, it's not my favourite, especially because it starts off with Severin being fairly harsh and impatient with Ophelia (for understandable reasons--he doesn't want a shrink on the mission, and she's kind of a liability since she isn't trained for the work they do) and she continues to think he's the sex. Like most of the emotional themes of the novel, this is tied into her trauma (she has daddy issues and wants to be approved of by people in positions of authority) but it still grated on me.

Of course, I'm a romance reader, so I probably want more from a romance arc than is necessarily accommodated by non-romance genres, but I genuinely felt that this brought nothing to the book, or to either character. We have enough examples of Ophelia being compromised in her priorities/decision-making, it undermines Ethan coming to respect and understand her because maybe he doesn't, in fact, respect and understand her, maybe he just fancies her, and is only going out of his way for her because of that, and it basically substitutes what feels like a relatively clichéd romance-ish dynamic for what could have been a more meaningful platonic/collegiate one. I think part of the reason I'm grumbling about this was that, by the time we reach a point that Ethan and Ophelia are being honest with each other, I felt the book--and the characters--had some interesting things to say about trauma and privilege and survival. It's just it was over-shadowed by all the "he's so mean to me but he's so hot" that had preceded it.

And this maybe brings me round to why Ghost Station didn't hit for me quite as hard as perhaps it could have? There's such a lot going on that all it ended up feeling quite abbreviated--like there isn't time for Ophelia to establish herself as, um, useful? good at her job? before they're at alien planet panic stations, the attraction between Ophelia and Severin feels surface-level and fairly dull, and we barely have time to meet the crew (there's the hot captain, the nice one, the annoying one, the angry one, the dead one, and the other one) before things are going wrong and everyone is falling apart. Which feels like a weird thing to be complaining about in a story that is also such a slow burn. But I think I would have been more engaged in the second half of the book, if I'd been given more space to care in the first half. I mean Birch (the angry one) is probably the most significant character outside of Ophelia and Severin. He has genuine reason to hate Ophelia, or at least Ophelia's family, and his backstory is important thematically as well as just as a means of conveying information about the setting. But he and Ophelia have maybe two private conversations and, while I'm definitely not saying she should have been able to win him over with her leet therapy skillz, it makes it hard to differentiate between Birch Is Furious For Legitimate Reasons That Could Maybe Be Acknowledged In Some Way and Birch Is Furious Because Creepy Shit Is Going Down And Everyone Is Losing Their Marbles.

I feel a little bad for having spent so long picking at this book; in all honesty, some of it is me trying to figure out why I didn't, end up, responding to Ghost Station as positively as I wanted to. This doesn't mean there isn't a lot to admire here, though. Ophelia, irrespective of my personal feelings, genuinely came across as a complex and nuanced portrait of a person living with trauma both acknowledged and unacknowledged. The writing, in general, is crisp, clean and engaging. The atmosphere is deliciously ominous and the world, with its corporations and space PTSD, fascinating. Just to dive fully into spoiler territory, this is ultimately one of those situations where capitalism is the true horror, ah do you see, and the ways the book goes about exploring that--the consequence of reducing people to a resource--felt both plausible and genuinely chilling. In light of this, I still haven't decided if, for me, the ending was a bit of a cop-out. But then again, perhaps not. After all, those most capable of exploiting capitalist systems to their own advantage--or on this occasion to save their arses--are those already benefiting from them. Which, for all her guilt and trauma, Ophelia is.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Space exploration can be exciting, it can be dangerous, it can be lonely, it can feel claustrophobic, it can be exhilarating, and it can be deadly. Ghost Station has that trapped feeling which I enjoy in books. I found this book to be enjoyable and I can see this being made into a movie.

Ophelia Bray is a psychologist who signs up for a mission hoping to make a difference. She has spent her entire life trying to escape her past and the crimes her father committed. When she and her crewmates arrive on the planet, they have been sent to obtain artifacts, Ophelia is uneasy. The previous crew appears to have left in a hurry and have left some personal items behind.

This book was gripping and succeeds in creating the trapped something-is-not-quite-right feeling. This book had an eerie, cold, and unsettling feel to it. I thought S.A. Barnes did a great job setting the stage and creating the mood in this book.

This book is a slow burn, which normally does not work for me, but for some reason that did not bother me with this book. I found myself transported with the crew to the planet. I felt like a fly on the wall watching as they discovered some troubling things. Readers get Ophelia's POV and a glimpse into her thoughts and motivations. We got to know some crewmembers better than others but none as well as we got to know Ophelia.

Things in this book become horrific but are never scary (at least to me). I enjoyed Dead Silence and was highly anticipating reading another book by S.A. Barnes. I found this book to be enjoyable, gripping, and dark.

Atmospheric, chilling, horrific and gripping.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious. The recipe sure has: alien ruins, mystery, a lot of death, paranoia and a sprinkle of corporate lies.

[Kaitlyn Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

From S.A Barnes, the author of Dead Silence, comes another thrilling interstellar isolation horror story primed to cryogenically chill your blood and eradicate your confidence in a predictable and safe reality. Dr. Ophelia Bray is a specialist on Eckhart-Reiser Syndrome (ERS), a poorly understood condition characterized by heightened paranoia, sudden onset psychosis, and terminally, murderous rampaging. She fatefully requests an assignment to go on her first space expedition exploring an abandoned planet. She desperately wants to demonstrate her capabilities in the field to diagnose and administer experimental prophylactic treatments before it has a chance to kill again. First impressions between Ophelia and the space crew are abysmal and the very fresh death of crew member, Ava, weighs heavily on everyone. They are clearly hiding something big surrounding how she died, but Ophelia has her own secrets she’s holding close to the chest. As they all begin to survey the bizarrely abandoned station on an unfamiliar planet, they become more and more concerned with solving the perplexing mystery behind the ghost station, disregarding Ophelia entirely. At the same time, Ophelia starts to become increasingly unnerved, detecting that something is horribly wrong inside their deserted post. Despite failed attempts, she continues to try to build rapport with her crew members, but then, very inconveniently, another patient dies, flooding Ophelia with swelling terror. Calamitous circumstances will coalesce to create an environment where no one can be trusted, least of all Ophelia herself. One by one each member of the expedition starts to display symptoms that could be early signs of ERS—hallucinations, paranoia, and escalating violence. Ophelia must work quickly to diagnose the root cause for the spreading symptoms to hopefully rescue them from certain death. She undoubtedly has her work cut out for her since the killer could be hiding in plain sight inside close quarters. Someone---or something---is on the hunt.

Frightfully compulsive, darkly atmospheric, and psychologically thrilling, this horrifying story will consume the reader with finger-gnawing anticipation and unnerving curiosity the whole way through. I thought the compounding tensions between crew members mixed with forced proximity and a contagious mental illness made a dreadfully explosive combination. I seriously doubt I could have put this book down for longer than I did (a few hours). I really connected with Ophelia’s journey of self-discovery, understanding, and ultimately, absolution. I also really liked the building tension (the good kind, wink wink) between Ophelia and Ethan Severin, the commander of the expedition. We witnessed some emotional intimacy between these two, and it makes sense that this would be a struggle since they appear to have much in common. Vulnerability is not particularly appealing to either party, but I still found myself wishing there was just a bit more time spent exploring their obvious chemistry and probing deeper into that emotional connection. I highly recommend this book or anything from this author! As I said before about Dead Silence, this was fantastically spine-chilling and galactically unforgettable! Barnes’ next novel is to be released this April; it will be another sci-fi/horror fusion entitled Cold Eternity! I think fans of the TV show, Dr. Who, or avid readers of either genre will find many things to delve into here. Happy reading!

[Deeksha Bhardwaj · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛
Ghost Station follows Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray, who is assigned to help the crew members of a space exploration ship cope with the trauma of losing a fellow passenger. However, she soon discovers that the crew is more fascinated by an eerie, ancient planet than in seeking her help—until one of them is found dead. Now, they must work together to unravel the mystery of what is happening..

𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
I can’t forget the feelings I had while reading S.A. Barnes’ debut novel “Dead Silence”. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s my review to convince you!

Because of that, I was so excited for this one too! A space setting, an abandoned planet, strange occurrences, loneliness, and isolation—everything about this book sounded perfect and right up my alley. And I had such high expectations going in, only to be disappointed.

Ophelia was supposedly the professional psychologist hired to help the crew with their trauma of losing a crew member. But, it felt like “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬”. The depth of Ophelia’s history and its emotional-traumatic effect on her was overwhelming and detracted from her role.

“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵.”

The majority of the plot is focused on Ophelia—her past, her identity, and her trauma. There were pages and pages of her inner monologue, filled with thoughts of her troubled past and the nightmares attached to it. This made it difficult to get into the plot..

Not going to lie, the atmosphere was spot on—the creepiness of the abandoned planet, the eerie silence, strange occurrences, hallucinations, and physical symptoms affecting people. It was bizarre and unsettling…. But that’s about it. While there were some standout moments, the book felt bland. The plot failed to be engaging, and the reveal of the mystery was anticlimactic, leaving me wanting more.

Moreover, the plot was heavy with technical jargon, and the way Ophelia’s character transitioned from psychologist to surgeon to engineer left me questioning her authenticity as the main character.

The side characters had such minor roles in all of this. Liana, her pawn; Ethan, her crush; Birch, her enemy; Suresh and Kate, mere crew members. The characters lacked depth, and the romance added to the plot felt unnecessary..

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”….. just no.

The mystery surrounding the ghost station and strange events, along with the hidden secrets fell short of expectations, resulting in a less than satisfying ending.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐓𝐋;𝐃𝐑)
Overall, I’m extremely disappointed with this one. Despite its atmospheric space horror setting and few creepy moments, this book falls short in delivering an engaging storyline, well-developed characters, and a satisfactory ending.

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Barnes’ Dead Silence, I was eagerly awaiting their next Science Fiction novel. Ghost Station is it and here we are!

Dr. Ophelia Bray’s latest assignment is as a sort of Ship’s Counselor,” (a la Deanna Troi), to a crew traveling to an abandoned planet to “take samples.” Ophelia wants to get away from her family, (LOTS of background there), and welcomes a chance to prove her usefulness aboard ship and on the planet. Her task is to be sure that everyone remains in good mental health. Unfortunately, the crew view her, (or any psychologist), as the enemy- any hint of mental illness might render them a risk and therefore unemployable. Upon said crew’s arrival on the planet, it soon becomes obvious that something strange has happened there. Why were they sent to this particular planet? What are their bosses hoping to find in this crew’s samples? What will Ophelia discover? You’ll have to read this to find out!

I find myself struggling to put into words how I felt about this novel and here’s why. The first half of the book is almost all taking place in Ophelia’s head. There’s an abundance of family secrets she’s dealing with, as well as what she sees as a major failure in regards to her work as a psychiatrist. I believe she’s dealing with PTSD from more than one incident in her life. Frankly, she’s a bit of a mess. I enjoyed the arc of her character but I also had issues with the length of time it took to relate all of the above. Seriously, it takes up the first half of the book. Yes, a lot of the information came into play later in the book and was eventually important, it just seemed like an extended period of time before any action began.

Once it did, there was a lot of Ophelia questioning herself, is this real, or in my mind? Once Ghost Station’s secret is revealed, the action takes over from there on out and for me, that was where this story lived. The last quarter of this novel hummed right by, with all becoming clear and the reader rooting for the crew to escape the horror. I just wish we had gotten there a bit sooner.

The narrator here, Zura Johnson did a great job, and she “felt” real as Ophelia cycled through one emotion after the next. She narrated the various crew voices in easily distinguished accents and timbre. I enjoyed her performance immensely.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this. The narrative was intriguing and exciting, I just felt it got bogged down in the first half. I definitely enjoyed it just the same and will eagerly await the next novel down the line.

*ARC from pulisher.*

[Jess Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Dead Silence so I was hoping to love Ghost Station. Both protagonists from Dead Silence and Ghost Station annoy me. I think this one, Ophelia, is worse. She just keeps making terrible decisions and not being rational or understanding to the people around her.

Ghost Station follows Ophelia or Dr. Bray, so is a psychologist brought on a mission to hopefully help prevent a type of PTSD people experience after these missions. There’s also the rest of the crew and most of it set on a planet that has a long dead civilization.

The pacing was off. The first 30-40% dragged and I struggled but then it speeds up but it feels like too much happens in a short amount of time. I didn’t connect to any characters, I didn’t feel the same tension, or eeriness that I did in Dead Silence, and I just wanted it to be over. It was fine.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows Ophelia Bray, a psychologist with a haunted past, who embarks on a mission fraught with uncertainty and foreboding. As she and her fellow crewmates set foot on the enigmatic planet, tasked with retrieving artifacts, they are immediately met with an unsettling atmosphere.
As this is a slow-paced narrative, I did find my attention waning quite a bit at times forcing me drop it and pick it back up a couple of times. My break in listening did help me refocus.
With its eerie setting and dark undertones, this novel is sure to captivate fans of science fiction and psychological thrillers alike. It's a journey into the unknown that will leave readers haunted long after the final page is turned.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this Audiobook ARC.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was entertained by this as a way to pass time, but honestly, the pacing was bizarre and the main character seemed dedicated to making the least reasonable decision possible at every turn. Fine but not memorable

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a fun little bite sized sci-fi mystery with a great twist and amazing character arcs.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read the summary for Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes, I was immediately excited. Space-based horror is one of my favorite sub-genres and Ghost Station does not disappoint.

Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS-a space based condition made famous following a case that lead to the murder of twenty-nine people.

She joins a small exploration crew in their journey to an isolated planet, spending time in a company facility situated near the ruins of an extinct alien society.

The atmosphere is delightfully unsettling, the tension growing as the characters try to determine whether the situation they’re dealing with is the result of a deadly space-based condition or an outside source of danger.

Ophelia is an engrossing and relatable main character, the conflicting natures of her families’ dual backgrounds leading her to reject genuine vulnerability, while constantly seeking an unobtainable absolution. The focus upon the extent by which genetics may influence personal choices and the difference between accepting personal accountability and claiming responsibility to escape guilt or further punish oneself are also interesting themes that are explored.

The consequences of rampant capitalism and the desperate choices made by those caught up in it help to make members of the exploratory crew more sympathetic, though I do wish certain members had received slightly more development before things went so very wrong.

Nevertheless, Ghost Station was truly everything that I had hoped for. Thank you very much NetGalley, Tor Nightfire and S. A. Barnes for allowing me to read such an incredible eARC.

[Devin The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing as how Dead Silence was my favorite book of 2022, I am so excited for this.

[Barbara]

3.5 stars

Dr. Ophelia Bray became a mental health professional to 'do good', and to make amends for her notorious family.



Ophelia's forbears, the Brays, founded the Pinnacle Company, a research & development enterprise that got extremely wealthy by mining asteroids and extrasolar planets.



Pinnacle "dumped it's employees out there" in dangerous environments, and spent as little money as possible to maintain decent working and living conditions.



The situation came to a head when Ophelia's father, Lark Bledsoe - a miner on the Goliath station - contracted a space sickness called Eckhart-Reiser Syndrome (ERS). ERS can cause insanity and violence, and Bledsoe rampaged through Goliath with a wrench and pickax, slaughtering dozens of people.



Now Ophelia is a psychologist at the Montrose Corporation, which also mines asteroids and extrasolar planets. Ophelia counsels Montrose workers, providing medication as needed, to reduce the odds of ERS.



Montrose sends Ophelia to a planet called Lyria 393-C, which is being surveyed for ore and other valuable components. One Montrose employee on Lyria, a woman named Ava, contracted ERS and died.....and Ophelia is tasked with counseling the remaining personnel, to prevent the spread of the illness.



When Ophelia arrives on Lyria she meets the survey team, composed of five people: Mission Commander Ethan Severin;



Pilot Birch Osgoode;



Inventory Specialist Suresh Patel;



Engineer Kate Wakefield;



and Scientific Coordinater Liana Chong.



The entire crew resists counseling, and Suresh and Birch are out-and-out hostile. Ophelia repeatedly tries to get the team to speak to her, and to demonstrate she can be useful, Ophelia joins the crew to do surveys; collect samples; etc.



The Montrose team examines artificial structures, studies natural phenomena, takes core samples, makes analyses, etc. It seems Lyria was once home to intelligent beings called Lyrians, who left artifacts behind.



In addition, it appears a previous survey team left Lyria in a hurry, abandoning some of their personal possessions.



Before long, some Montrose crew members become aggressive, and Ophelia fears ERS is taking hold. This is followed by shocking discoveries; auditory and visual hallucinations; physical stigmata on the personnel; and a horrible bloody death.



It's clear SOMETHING is happening on Lyria, and since this is a horror-science fiction novel, it's something BAD.

The story is interesting and moves along at a brisk pace. My major criticism revolves around the character Ophelia, who's overly obsessed with her past. Ophelia constantly thinks back to terrible events that befell her, to the point she's almost paralyzed with anxiety.



I kept thinking, 'Ophelia, you're an adult and a medical professional with important responsibilities. Put the past aside and get on with your life.'

That said, this is an engaging sci-fi story that would probably appeal to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, S.A. Barnes, and Tor Publishing Group for a copy of the book.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com

[♡ retrovvitches ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ve been looking forward to reading this one, and it was another solid space horror mystery for me. chilling and atmospheric, definitely anxiety inducing with how it portrayed the teams slow decline into insanity (or something else entirely). my real big criticism was i felt some of the plot was rushed at the end and sorta unfinished. i wanted more from the ending, more action and gore, but it’s more of a personal preference thing tbh

[h o l l i s · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof, this one hurts. I was highly anticipating another scary spacey read, particularly from this author after having enjoyed DEAD SILENCE so much, but this.. wasn't horror. It leaned more towards a mystery but even that doesn't really work because there's never a thing to truly solve -- and we certainly don't get answers. So, what was this? It was a trip to space as one woman, isolated not only from humanity and her home planet as well as more or less cast off from her family of mostly horrible people, but also in the sense that the people she's on said trip with don't want her there, works through her trauma and comes to terms with finally believing that she isn't the sum total of her parents' faults.

And that's kinda it.

Okay fine, at a certain point GHOST STATION plays at being spooky -- though maybe uncomfortable is really as far as things go -- because there is some weirdness but truly this isn't horror, there were none thrills or chills (though your mileage may vary based on your overall tolerance), and so I'm disappointed both by the overall somewhat lacklustre experience but also that I didn't get what the marketing promised me.

I hope this is just a sophomore slump situation and there's still some spacey scares to come from this author but unfortunately this was a letdown.

** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **


---

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[Tammy (Thorns_and_Proses) · Rating 1 out of 5]

First book going on my 2024 shelf! Excited for this after finishing Dead Silence!

Update after finishing:
Thanks to Libro.fm for ALC. All opinions are my own.

How disappointing. How cliche. How lackluster. How unexciting. How unnecessarily long.

The first 30 percent of the book was all stuff that could have been explained in a single two page chapter. I don’t need to know every excruciating detail leading up the team ACTUALLY finally arriving on planet after 30 PERCENT OF THE BOOK IS DONE. And I should have known then that this was setting up the rest of the story to fall flat.

You think oh okay. Now we can maybe get some action going. No, let me stop you there. It’s full of predictable interactions, unnecessary angst — the adults did not read like adults with their discussions & behavior particularly toward the main character — and let me just tell you there is next to nothing when it comes to horror in this novel.

I’m just…sad. After Dead Silence we get handed this? Too often while reading this I just wanted it to be over. I pushed through hoping something would take an interesting turn, but I should have listened to my gut and DNF’d it. I was so bored.

[John (LHBC) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wormhole of suspense, propelling readers into a universe where the line between reality and nightmare blurs..…..

Book Information

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is a 384-page horror/science fiction novel scheduled to be published on April 9, 2024. Thank you to Tor Nightfire for providing me an Advance Readers Copy for review.

Summary

Dr. Ophelia Bray, a psychologist, joins a small crew on an abandoned planet. Her crewmates prioritize investigating the planet over trusting her expertise. When their pilot is brutally murdered, fear sets in. With trust scarce and secrets abundant, Ophelia and the crew must unite to uncover the truth and prevent a repeat of past horrors.

My Thoughts

'Ghost Station' by S.A. Barnes emerges as a compelling sequel to her debut success, 'Dead Silence,' and as a reader who thoroughly enjoyed her previous work, I found myself equally engrossed by this latest book. Barnes again proves herself a celestial architect of suspense, constructing a universe where fear and fascination collide.

One intriguing aspect of Barnes as an author is her background as a High School Librarian. My wife is also a librarian and I run a book club called The Librarian’s Husband’s Book Club—so admittedly, I may be a bit biased. :)

In 'Ghost Station,' Barnes masterfully navigates the blurred lines between horror and science fiction, crafting a narrative that ignites the imagination and leaves a lingering sense of cosmic unease. The novel effectively immerses readers in an atmosphere of eerie suspense, evoking the unsettling sensation of being trapped in a situation where you know something is wrong, but the underlying threat remains elusive.

At the story’s core lies Ophelia Bray, a psychologist grappling with the phenomenon of ERS, a space condition notorious for its association with a brutal massacre. Despite displaying elements of juvenility, Ophelia's character possesses layers of complexity that contribute to the story's depth.

The pacing of 'Ghost Station' is deliberate, starting slow and gradually building momentum before catapulting readers into the heart of the action—this strategy sustains engagement throughout.
Barnes successfully builds a fascinating world, seamlessly integrating elements of space exploration, alien environments, institutional corruption, and familial dynamics into a cohesive tapestry. Despite the multitude of characters, Barnes adeptly manages the narrative flow, ensuring clarity.

'Ghost Station' offers a lot to like, encompassing elements of mystery, intrigue, and interpersonal conflict which should cater to a diverse audience. However, amidst its strengths, the story occasionally leaves certain threads unresolved, introducing elements that are not fully explored—an aspect that may leave some seeking greater closure.

At the end of the day, 'Ghost Station' showcases Barnes' talent for storytelling, delving deep into the realms of speculative fiction. Its engaging mix of genres, well-developed characters, and immersive narrative make it a compelling read for anyone seeking a thrilling journey into the unknown. As Barnes cements her place in the literary world, 'Ghost Station' stands as a shining example of her ability to captivate readers and keep them hooked until the very end.

Recommendation

'Ghost Station' ignites the cosmos with a supernova of storytelling brilliance, proving that even in the darkest voids of space, Barnes' narrative shines bright. Its plot twists and vividly drawn characters keep you guessing until the very end, while its exploration of themes like human psychology and the unknown depth of space adds layers of depth to the story. Whether you're a fan of science fiction, horror, or simply enjoy a gripping tale that challenges your imagination, 'Ghost Station' offers a riveting adventure that will linger in your mind after you turn the final page.

Rating

4 Paranoid Stars

[Scott Rhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

S. A. Barnes’s debut novel “Dead Silence” was, I thought, a decent effort. It was atmospheric, definitely creepy in parts, and well-written. It didn’t, however, wow me, especially with its ending, which I thought was a bit of a cop-out. Still, I could recognize that Barnes had a talent in writing scary-good sci-fi horror.

Her sophomore novel, “Ghost Station”, was considerably better. It managed to click off a lot of the boxes that I look for in a good space-opera scream fest: a desolate planet, ancient remains of an alien race, unexplained phenomena, ghosts and phantoms, a well-developed ensemble of characters, and a believable final girl heroine. It also gave familiar nods to Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House”, George R.R. Martin’s “Nightflyers”, and Ridley Scott’s “Alien”.

The protagonist, Dr. Ophelia Bray, is a good-hearted heroine who genuinely wants to help people. She is, however, hiding a deep dark secret that could ruin her career and reputation, if not her entire life. We know, as readers, that she has one, but we don’t know what it is.

Her latest mission is to a planet that harbors its own secrets, some that could be deadly. When crew members start acting weird, Ophelia worries that it could be Eckhart-Reiser Syndrome (ERS), a mental illness that affects space travelers, especially those who spend lengthy amounts of time on space ships or on space stations. Or it could be something else, something more sinister.

The suspense builds to a wonderful crescendo in this, making this one of the more un-put-downable horror novels I have read in a while.

Barnes has hit a home run with this one, and I look forward to more from her in the future.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.

I was hoping I wouldn't align with the mostly mediocre early reviews that have been coming out, but what it comes down to for me is that while I really liked the story elements of this book, the style it was written in was not engaging for me, and I had to push myself to finish it (and had a hard time paying attention while I was). Maybe also the audio narrator didn't help things, but at this point I can't really tell. They sort of melded together for me.

The style was slow, a little melodramatic, and certainly very serious, not to mention told in first person present tense, which it takes a pretty strong and unique writing style for me to enjoy that, so that wasn't helping here either. I wish there had been more humor, more variation in tone. I had much less of a problem with this after about the halfway point, but it was a real struggle to get there. This tone helped with the creepy vibe, but was a detriment to my enjoyment while reading.

I still really want to read this author's first book because it sounds more like what I was wanting from this one, and people overall seem to have liked it more.

[Matt M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a huge disappointment for me. Horror in space? This came with a great premise and the execution was greatly lacking. This moves at a glacial pace. I’m a sucker for a good slow burn as long as you can keep the tension going or keep a compelling mystery or interesting characters at the core. The writing is overwrought, repetitive, and serves to kill the tension in so many scenes that SHOULD be scary. This read like a first draft and an editor should have reigned this in. A good novella exists here. But an almost 400 page novel? Nope.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for an advanced galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lorelei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like creepy space horror? Did you like Barnes's first book, Dead Silence? Then you're really going to like her newest book, Ghost Station.

Dr. Ophelia Bray is a psychologist specializing in ERS, a space induced psychosis that can turn anyone into a raving murderer. She joins a small band of explorers on a mission to study a planet with alien ruins, hoping to help them avoid ERS. Despite her good intentions the crew resents her and her ties to her megacorp, ultra rich family. Amid the tensions she begins to notice that things don't quite seem right on this supposedly lifeless planet. What happened to the crew that was here before them? What secrets are the crew keeping, and can she hide her own? Is there really something going on, or is it all in her head?

This book was a fast read for me, because I couldn't put it down. It's very atmospheric; we have the backdrop of a universe filled with planets with alien ruins, but no aliens. What happened to them all? Points for mentions of the Great Filter and the Fermi Paradox! We have an eerie, storm lashed planet, isolated from any chance of help or escape. And a tight knit team that is clearly hiding something from Ophelia. The story builds tension and pacing to an explosive finale.

Ophelia is a mixed bag. She's here out of a sincere desire to help these people, but she's also assuaging her own guilt at the excesses and actions of her family. She tries to remain calm and patient, but also has to fight the urge (sometimes unsuccessfully) to pop off whenever the team smartass makes a cutting remark. She comes across very young and a touch naive, quite vulnerable, but sincere. She feels more like a grad student than a full doctor; does she really have enough experience to be out here in space on her own yet? She mentions previous patients so we know she's been practicing for a while, but some of her decisions and reactions feel like a much more inexperienced doctor.

We get some flashback action, alternating between the horrors of the current dilemma and the past in a way that gives us a greater insight into her character. Poor Ophelia, she's had a rough time of it. We get nail biting suspense, the fear of not being alone in the house, body horror, alien horror, space horror.

Part of me wishes this was a series instead of a standalone, so we could explore this universe more, learn more about the dead civilizations, really delve into that wider world... but I also recognize that's not what this story is about. It's about this woman, and this team, and this planet. The tight focus really keeps the narrative moving and keeps us focused on what matters.

I loved how Ghost Station dropped small creepy things here and there. A tooth all by itself. How random! Wait, what are those long scratch marks there? I'm sure that's fine. Who moved my shoe in the middle of the night away from my bed? Ok, that's weird... Building up the horror drip by drip. I really enjoyed this book, and I think it will appeal to anyone looking for a creepy, one-off space thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was really good. Not as good as the other one I read, but I had fun with the creepy atmosphere and annoying characters. *lol*

A lot going on here at the moment though so I wasn't able to post regular status updates and I'm not able to sit down and really reflect on the book right now either, sadly.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I love a good spookiness in space story and this one wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either and the author tried to jam far too many plot points in one book. Unnecessary and it meant none of them got fully fleshed out. Oh, and I never like insta-love. Ick.

[Chantaal]

Officially throwing in the towel on this one at 17%. I've tried my hardest but I can't seem to bring myself to care enough about the characters or the plot setup to go on.

This has a promising premise: our main character Ophelia is a psychologist specializing in ERS, which is a space-based condition that can cause people to go mad and possibly murder their fellow crew. Ophelia is assigned to a ship that just lost a crew member in an attempt to help them process and hopefully prevent ERS. The ship docks somewhere and I presume that horror ensues from there. I didn't get far enough to even get to the horror bits, which is a shame.

The main roadblock for me here was the characters and the plot setup. Ophelia is part of a billionaire corporate family, and she's escaping some sort of big dust up that her family is involved in when she accepts the assignment. The crew on the ship don't appreciate her coming into their space while they're mourning, and the tension from the outset just feels so...contrived. It feels stupid. It made me absolutely dislike every single person in this book, especially Ophelia.

I love the idea of space horror, and I want more of it. I just wish I could have gone on longer with this one, but I just couldn't.

Many thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.