Beulah: A Christmas Ghost Story

by Shani Struthers

"Shani Struthers is my go-to author for all things paranormal."

Close the curtains on a stormy night, grab a cosy blanket or light the fire, a warm and comforting drink to hand. Christmas is almost upon us. It must be time for a ghost story...

We never said goodbye.

It's 1974, and four students - Tom, Danny, JoJo, and Lara - move into a grand but decaying country residence near their university, attracted by its low rent. Whilst none of them love the place, Tom is the most unsettled. From the moment he enters the property, called Beulah, he imagines being alone there, engulfed by its shadows.

On the run up to their first Christmas, JoJo finds a Ouija board, and they decide to use it - encouraged by Danny's drugs. In the midst of the game, Tom makes contact with something, possibly the spirit for which the house is named.

When his friends leave for the holidays, Tom stays at Beulah, with only the Ouija board and Danny's leftover drugs for company. Shaken by recent events, he seeks an escape, only to find himself more deeply entwined with Beulah - a bond both terrifying and strangely compelling.

Beulah's presence intensifies, but what is she? And does her desire to possess Tom mirror his own dark fascination with her? As another Christmas nears, friendships fracture, and Tom faces the house - and whatever lurks there - alone once more.

~

Download today or READ FOR FREE in  

Psychic Surveys

Psychic Surveys Book The Haunting of Highdown Hall

Psychic Surveys Book Rise to Me

Psychic Surveys Book 44 Gilmore Street

Psychic Surveys Book Old Cross Cottage

Psychic Surveys Book Descension

Psychic Surveys Book Legion

Psychic Surveys Book Promises to Keep

Psychic Surveys Book The Weight of the Soul

Psychic Surveys Book The Devil's Liar

Psychic Surveys Book Field of Flowers

Psychic Surveys Companion  

A Psychic Surveys Prequel

Blakemort (Corinna's story)

Thirteen (Ness's story)

Rosamund (Rosamund Davis - Ruby's great-grandmother's story)

Jed (the story of one of Psychic Surveys most loved and mysterious characters)

This Haunted World  

This Haunted World Book The Venetian

This Haunted World Book The Eleventh Floor

This Haunted World Book Highgate

This Haunted World Book Rohaise

This Haunted World Book Resistance

Reach for the Dead  

Reach for the Dead Book Mandy

Reach for the Dead Book Cades Home Farm

Reach for the Dead Book Walker

Reach for the Dead Book The Spook Road

Jessamine  

Jessamine

Comraich

Summer of Grace - A Standalone Mystery Thriller

Christmas Ghost Stories

Carfax House 

The Damned Season

Wildacre

Alice

Beulah
 
A London Haunting
 
Morgan the Fay

Morgan the Fay Book Morgan

268 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2024

About the author

It's all about the ghosts...

Here's the order my books come in:

Psychic Surveys Series:

Psychic Surveys Book One: The Haunting of Highdown Hall

Psychic Surveys Book Two: Rise to Me

Psychic Surveys Book Three: 44 Gilmore Street

Psychic Surveys Book Four: Old Cross Cottage

Psychic Surveys Book Five: Descension

Psychic Surveys Book Six: Legion

Psychic Surveys Book Seven: Promises to Keep

Psychic Surveys Book Eight: The Weight of the Soul

Psychic Surveys Book Nine: The Devil's Liar

Psychic Surveys Companion Novels:

Eve: A Psychic Surveys Prequel

Blakemort (Corinna's story)

Thirteen (Ness's story)

Rosamund (Rosamund Davis - Ruby's great-grandmother's story)

Jed (the story of one of Psychic Surveys' most treasured and mysterious characters)

This Haunted World Series:

This Haunted World Book One: The Venetian

This Haunted World Book Two: The Eleventh Floor

This Haunted World Book Three: Highgate

This Haunted World Book Four: Rohaise

Reach for the Dead Series:

Reach for the Dead Book One: Mandy

Reach for the Dead Book Two: Cades Home Farm

Reach for the Dead Book Three: Walker

Jessamine Series:

Jessamine

Comraich

Carfax House - A Christmas Ghost Story (standalone novella)

The Damned Season - A Christmas Ghost Story (standalone novella)

Wildacre - A Christmas Ghost Story (standalone novella)

Summer of Grace - A standalone psychological thriller

Catch up with me via Facebook or on my website www.shanistruthers.com where you can sign up to my newsletter for all the latest information, offers and giveaways.

Reviews

[John Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atmospheric and character driven!

Only expect the best from Shani Struthers and you won't be disappointed. This story, in my opinion, was her best so far. It is told in two timelines, ghosts of Christmas present and ghosts of Christmas past, if you like. It is the story of four young university students who rent a dilapidated country house as a base for their studies. Drugs and alcohol were the norm for university students back in 1974, and these friends were no exception. Then, one Christmas, they experimented with a Ouija board and invoked the spirit of a young 'girl' named Beulah. She began to take possession of one of the group and carried on until the friendships fractured, and they all went their separate ways in life. Fifty years later, at Christmas, one of the former students returns to where it all began. This was a heartfelt and thought-provoking story, an ideal Christmas chill. Highly recommended!

[Monty · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ Beulah: A Christmas Ghost Story by Shani Struthere ~

A great way to spend a wet and windy Sunday afternoon... reading a horror novel 😁

I loved this book. The pages just kept turning, and I read it in an afternoon!

No giveaways - I don't want to spoil it - but I would recommend saying "Goodbye" if you ever do play a Ouija board.

If you like Jonathan Aycliffe, you will love this one!

A brilliant and very atmospheric ghost story👻😱

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom, Danny, Lara and JoJo move into an old neglected country house, it’s 1974 and has hard up students the rent is too good to turn down. Tom feels weirded out by the house and during an ouija session under the influence something makes contact. As Tom spends Christmas alone in the house the presence makes herself known. But what does Beulah want and why is Tom so drawn to her?

It’s not Christmas until the annual ghost story pops on my kindle from the wonderful Shani! A perfect winter’s take best read by candlelight. Told in dual timelines, the 1970’s and present day this is as always a deeply haunting tale of darkness and desire.

What festers in the house? why is Tom compelled to seek it out? Who is Beulah? How can a house hold such sadness?
A story of the curse of loneliness, the longing for connection and the desperation for redemption, wonderful!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

Wow! What a Tour de Force from Shani Struthers, with her latest Christmas ghost story!
I always look forward to her annual ghost story,  but Beulah has surpassed all of my expectations  this year. This is probably my favourite of Shani's impressive repertoire.

As Christmas ghost stories go, this one tops my all time list easily.
Shani's imagination and incredible storytelling abilities never cease to amaze me.
No spoilers here, but this is a must read for all of Shani's fans. She never disappoints.  Excellent! Very highly recommended to all. Easily 10/10

[Jon Matthews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Shani Struthers and with a couple more reads, I'm completely up to date with her work.

However, I didn't enjoy this one. I found it messy and I had no connection or feelings towards any of the characters. In truth, it was heading for a one star review but the final chapter pulled the score up slightly.

Shani has a wonderful way of concluding her stories with really well written, emotional and thought provoking finishes.

Unfortunately, for me, the rest of the book was just not ticking my boxes.

[Miss Lorraine Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars plus

This book had me up all night I didn't want to stop reading it. It would be amazing if the characters in this book were in the psychic survey book. Shani Struthers is the queen of horror writing and all of her books are so worth a read.

[Lynne Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

I always look forward to my Christmas ghost story. Beulah was no exception and another brilliant read. Echoes of Blakemort and the same creepy vibe I get walking past a certain house on my way to work. Thank you Shani for another good Christmas read

[Fiona Seabrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book

The story lines was very different to other ghost or horror stories. Thoroughly enjoyed the story from start to finish

[Annemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can houses truly be evil and cause suffering for those who dwell within it's walls? They unleashed something that Christmas Eve but was it truly evil or just scared and alone?

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas ghost story

Shani has done it again another great Christmas story, love all her books but especially the Christmas ghost story ones.

[Karen Grierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow!

This was indeed a strange one but, as good as all the others. I can’t wait to read the newest book.

[Lorna Squiggle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story and I highly recommend the audio version for those spooky vibes. The narrator was fab!

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Four uni students rent a dilapidated manor house on the edge of an English town. Pretty quickly after moving in, one of the friends, Tom, begins experiencing supernatural events linked to the house.

The entire novel is told from Tom’s first-person POV. This is a weakness because we get scenes where the housemates are telling Tom about creepy things they’ve seen him do while he’s sleepwalking, for example, and Tom can’t remember any of it. The narrative would have been more successful if we had POV chapters from all of the characters. Or even the ghost herself (spoiler alert, I guess). Horror told from the POV of a confused and sometimes blacked out person does not work. Also, the author is clearly trying to pay homage to Shirley Jackson, but none of the underlying unease of Hill House exists at Beulah (which is the name of both the house and the ghost).