The Apparition Phase

by Will Maclean

Some ghosts never leave us.

Twins Tim and Abi have always been different from their peers, spending their evenings in the attic of their parents' suburban house, poring over reports of the unexplained. Obsessed with photographs of ghostly apparitions, they decide to fake their own, and use it to frighten a girl at school.

But what was only supposed to be a harmless prank sets in motion a deadly and terrifying chain of events that neither of them could have predicted...

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Gothic, Supernatural, Paranormal, Ghosts, Mystery

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2020

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s the 1970’s when we meet 13 year old twins, Tim and Abigail (Abi), who from a very young age have had a fascination with the paranormal, though it could be argued that it’s become more of an unhealthy obsession. Their knowledge of ghostly apparitions caught on camera, inspires them to create a ghostly photo of their own - a fake one of course, echoing the girls who said they’d taken photos of The Cottingley Fairies in 1917. But have they unwittingly attracted a malevolent entity or is it all in their imagination?

My thoughts on reading ‘The Apparition Phase’? - well, the psychological effects alone would make me unwilling to mess with the unknown!

There were some really strange and spooky events during the seances, (held of course in an old, dark, and creepy country house), and a heart pounding scene towards the end that left me breathless, not to mention terrified! A well written debut novel that is simply perfect for Halloween, or any other time of the year for that matter - as long you’re up for a spooky read?

* Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for an ARC. I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCERPT: I looked about me at our attic - the library, the horrible bits of Victorian taxidermy we'd picked up from junk shops, the dust-furred oil paintings of bleak landscapes, the interesting and peculiar objects that inevitably gathered on any horizontal surface in the vicinity of either of us. The only significant thing we hadn't added to the place was a large home-made dolls house, which we had discovered in the attic the first time we ever went up there, and had deemed both creepy enough to keep, and too heavy to move.

'We'll have to tidy up a bit.'

'Yes. Get some extra lights, hide the books, that sort of thing. Make it look respectable.'

Abigail must have read some element of doubt in my face. She leaned forward in her armchair and fixed me with her dark eyes.

'All we have to do is make out that it's all fine. We take her up here, she sees how absolutely unhaunted our attic and indeed our entire house is, and that's that.' Abi touched her fingertips to her lips. 'All we have to do is be normal for a while.'

And so it was agreed between us that Janice Tupp would come over to our house after school next Thursday, in order not to see a ghost.

ABOUT 'THE APPARITION PHASE': Tim and Abi have always been different from their peers. Precociously bright, they spend their evenings in their parents’ attic discussing the macabre and unexplained, zealously rereading books on folklore, hauntings and the supernatural. In particular, they are obsessed with photographs of ghostly apparitions and the mix of terror and delight they provoke in their otherwise boring and safe childhoods.

But when Tim and Abi decide to fake a photo of a ghost to frighten an unpopular school friend, they set in motion a deadly and terrifying chain of events that neither of them could have predicted, and are forced to confront the possibility that what began as a callous prank might well have taken on a malevolent life of its own.

MY THOUGHTS: 'My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose' - Haldane

I couldn't help but thinking of the Adams family children when I read the physical descriptions of Abi and Tim, intelligent twins with enquiring minds and a passion for the macabre.

Maclean has written an atmospheric and intriguing gothic thriller with all the required elements: a missing person, a select group of people confined together in a creepy old house, and unexplained phenomena. Mass hysteria? Cleverly orchestrated fraud? Or something darker and more sinister? This is what Maclean will have you wondering. His skilful machinations will have you changing your mind with every twist and turn.

Yarlings has a gruesome history and yet has never made it into the books of haunted houses, making it perfect for a scientific experiment to once and for all prove or disprove the existence of ghosts. 'It seemed that, no matter how bright the day outside, the interior of Yarlings was always dark, always gloomy, always permeated with a troubled air, as if overthinking its presence.' Ancient timbers crack like knuckles, the rooms are filled with an oppressing and brooding silence, almost an air of expectation, like it is waiting to be brought back to life, a place of 'weird emotional textures.' The ideal place in which to conduct a seance, or several.

The people who have been carefully selected for the experiment by Graham and Sally, are college students, all known to one another, and who seem to be a fairly ordinary lot. Tim enters the mix quite by accident, the seventh person, and catalyst for all that follows.

The Apparition Phase is unsettling rather than terrifying; unsettling, unnerving and deliciously creepy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.4

#TheApparitionPhase #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Originally from the Wirral, Will Maclean has been fascinated by ghost stories since he was a child, and has been writing them almost as long as he can remember.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CHjtU4bAy... and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim and Abi are identical twins. Some would call them precocious with their taste for all things macabre. They are both much more intelligent than their 14 year old classmates and they are well aware of this and use this fact to their benefit.

While in the attic of their home, where they developed their taste for darkness, they decide to create a ghost in which they'll photograph to trick another student. Sure it's just chalk and lighting that they capture on film but don't tell that to the girl they show the picture to when she faints in class.

In an effort to convince her it was all just make believe, they invite Janice to the house to show her the attic. Things don't go as planned when Janice starts throwing a fit and making claims that, at the time, seem impossible but, only too soon, come true. Janice seems to believe that they have invited an entity into their home. Abi disappears to never be seen again shortly after this visit.

Tim, a few years later, becomes part of a ghost hunting team investigating Yardley house. Is the house haunted or are the team just manifesting a *ghost* because they are all searching so hard to actually find one? You'll have to read this to find out.

A proper page-turning ghost story with an equally exquisite cover. Hallelujah! I have always adored ghost stories but most are never as impressive as their descriptions. This is a real peak through your fingers type of book which are undoubtedly my favorite kind. The dread seeps from the pages during the well executed séance scenes. Also, I should note, I adored Tim and Abi, and their forthright personalities which always makes my reading experience much more rewarding.

A great story with great characters that was absolutely perfect for the Halloween season! 4 *spooky* stars!

Thank to Overdrive for the loan!

[Ellie Spencer (catching up from hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up from around 3.5 stars ⭐️
Ever since October I have been looking for a really enjoyable paranormal book with a focus on ghosts/hauntings. This book fit the bill perfectly and I am so glad I have been able to read it.

The Apparition Phase follows Tim, after he and his sister Abi create a fake ghost picture. Showing this picture to a classmate causes a spiralling of events with life becoming darker and more out of control. Did they manage to create a dark entity?

I really enjoyed the plot of this book, it had so many of the elements I look for in a mystery/horror/thriller. It was fast paced, and made my heart race. The scenery was vividly portrayed, at times I often felt like I was truly in an old stately home. In fact, the imagery was so well portrayed, I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading this at night time. It certainly made me a bit nervous when I made that mistake myself!

I really enjoyed the characterisation, they all had their own personalities and struggles. There was love and hate displayed between the different characters as their secrets came to light. The ending was refreshing. Maclean wasn't trying to tie everything up in a happy bow. It was an ending that was both fitting and daring. Chills ran down my body as I read the remaining sentences of the last page, it was a truly heart stopping moment.


I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and author for allowing me to read a copy of this book so that I can give my honest opinion. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves thrillers/horrors. It would be an excellent one to read to set the mood at Halloween!

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

When there’s a new literary ghost story coming out from a respected publisher, especially if it’s by a debut author, I usually add it to my wishlist. It doesn’t have to sound like it’s going to break new ground: I like ghost stories in general so much that I’m more forgiving of their flaws, more willing to accept cliches. Which is to say that I went into The Apparition Phase with totally average expectations, thinking I’d enjoy it, but not anticipating anything spectacular. And I was blown away.

Part I of the novel introduces twins Tim and Abigail Smith. We first encounter them attempting to fake a ghost photograph with which to frighten their friends, and we learn that they are fascinated by all things supernatural. Their plan works rather too well: their classmate Janice is so terrified of the picture that she faints. The ramifications of this incident take over Tim and Abi’s lives; eventually they’re separated and sent to different schools. But their ghost fixation persists. In the early 1970s, it seems the world shares not only their obsession, but also their conviction that ‘an answer was just around the corner’.

Our thinking on the subject of ghosts [was] that science might, one day very soon, explain them, understand them, and in doing so open up a whole new way of thinking about the world. This was a perfectly reasonable expectation, back then. We were not alone in believing it.

And then an earth-shattering event changes everything: Abi disappears.

This first section of the book is spellbinding. In parts, it reminded me of Nina Allan’s The Rift, my personal ne plus ultra of ‘missing person’ novels. (There is also one scene – in which Janice lashes out at the twins with what seems to be a prophecy or possession – which is truly chilling, almost cinematic in its intensity, and sure to remain lodged in the reader’s mind.) The blurb gives the impression that Part I is the backbone of the entire story. So it was a bit disorientating to be yanked from all that sublime scene-setting into Part II, which, it turns out, sets the tone for everything else. Set a few years later, it involves Tim joining a group of ghost hunters at a country house called Yarlings.

A number of new characters are introduced, one of whom is intolerable, and there’s – horror of horrors – a romantic subplot. I floundered for a while, wondering if the first hundred pages had been as good as it would get. But The Apparition Phase finds its groove again, and when it does, it’s thrilling and intriguing in an entirely different way. Tim’s world opens up, but we never lose sight of his grief, and alongside him we are caught up in the romance, hope and terror of the ghost hunt, the ever-shifting dynamics of the quickly intimate group, and the question of what might really be going on behind the scenes. It all culminates in an indelible sequence with Tim traversing the Suffolk countryside by night, a journey as metaphorical and (yes) haunted as it is physical.

There are traces here of Sarah Waters’ The Little Stranger; the way in which Tim falls in love with Yarlings, and everything it represents for him, is very reminiscent of Waters’ Faraday. It also reminded me a lot of Gary Gibson’s novella Ghost Frequencies, itself inspired by The Stone Tape, which is mentioned here as a favourite of Tim and Abi. As for that hallucinatory trip through the darkness, the triumphant final sequence of Catriona Ward’s Rawblood comes to mind.

I loved both the broad details and the specifics of The Apparition Phase: its scope and themes in general, but also the level of detail we’re given about settings, characters and relationships. A great ghost story can’t always also be a satisfying novel, but this is definitely both. A brilliant surprise.

I received an advance review copy of The Apparition Phase from the publisher through NetGalley.

TinyLetter | Linktree

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that has some nice spooky bits, but is oddly paced. Too much downtime, so to speak. I mean, I understand you have to have lulls between the spooky bits, but you have to keep some sense of dread going during those lulls. Here the tension just drops away.

The ending felt rushed, a forced climax that doesn't work. The last paragraphs should've hit me like a train (ha), but because there wasn't a sustained sense of dread, they are more of a shrug. Especially noticeable as the main character mentions Nigel Kneale's excellent The Stone Tape, which expertly builds its sense of doom.

Also, towards the end, one of the characters Says The Name Of The Book, and I laughed.

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t quite believe that what I have just read, is a debut novel. Although Will Maclean is an experienced television scriptwriter, his first published fiction novel “The Apparition Phase”, is a stunning literary debut with excellent narrative, an engrossing, unsettling storyline and diverse characters that are instantly endearing.
Teenage twins Abi and Tim, spend their evenings in their parents attic, discussing the macabre and unexplained, researching folklore and the supernatural. When they come up with a plan to fake a photo of a ghost, to frighten an unpopular girl at school, they set in motion a series of events they couldn’t possibly have foreseen. Is the insensitive and cruel prank about to take on a life of its own and how will the girl react when she becomes further entangled in their lives?
What I particularly liked was how the author included real life suspected ghost photos and published references to hauntings, some which intrigued me enough to research whilst reading. This ensured the story stayed in the realms of reality instead on the totally impossible. There’s a fine line between what you want to believe and what is actual when suffering from grief. Attending seances etc in the hope you’ll receive messages from lost loved ones or visiting haunted buildings that you know the history of, can blur your interpretations of what you believe you see. The moral of “The Apparition Phase” asks the reader to question what is real or what is invented when the mind is tricked and is there even a difference between them?
I loved Tim and I felt I was personally with him every step of his tortuous journey. Set in the early 1970’s, the decade I grew up in, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the era and the way the story was told from Tim’s recollection. It positively held my attention from the first chapter to the final jaw dropping page! A fascinating and spooky denouement, kept me on the edge of my seat and I can’t think of a better read for this Halloween than Will Maclean’s suspenseful and entertaining “The Apparition Phase”.

5 stars

[Jacqui · Rating 2 out of 5]

And so the first thing my twin sister and I did, when we finally got access to a camera of our own, was fake a ghost photograph.

That sentence alone is the reason I wanted to read this book. Unfortunately, it was not what the book was about. The beginning was great, opening with thirteen year old twins Tim and Abi concocting a photo of a ghost in their attic. The picture triggers a series of unfortunate events for about a quarter of the book in which I was hooked. However, the story took a detour early on onto a completely unrelated path. What followed was basically a coming of age story, with a hint of the supernatural, told by a now adult Tim. I felt completely misled by the blurb, which is only a very small part of the story. If your a fan of The Secret History you might like this, as it follows a similar vein of adolescent camaraderie with seances instead of murder. There was also a romantic element with the naive Tim.
This was most definitely a young adult novel, despite the narrators adult prose. Tim sounded like an adult but repeatedly acted like a child throughout his life. I don't even know what to say about the ending. It barely made sense and felt unrelated to the rest of the story, which was, at times, a mess. A coming of age story with a (dim) supernatural twist.

**Thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and Netgalley for my early review copy.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the 1970's this novel begins with precocious and insular twins, Tim and Abigail, who are obsessed with the supernatural. They decide to fake a picture of a ghost in their attic and use it to scare an unpopular girl at school. However, Janice Tupp does not react in the way they imagine and, trying to improve the potential crisis of adults become involved simply results in the situation escalating out of control.

The beginning of this book is unsettling and creepy. When we meet up with Tim again, he is in therapy and his psychiatrist, Mr Henshaw, takes him on a trip to Yarlings Hall, where a researcher is aiming to investigate the house, which is said to be haunted. After his earlier experiences, you would have thought that Tim would have learnt his lesson, but he enthusiastically embraces the chance to take part in a seance and later joins the group at Yarlings.

I loved the Seventies feel of this book. I could imagine the corduroy wearing Graham Shaw, intense and enthusiastic, along with the young ghost hunters. This is a character led read, with a good sense of the period, and enough chills to make this genuinely disturbing and ominous. I really loved this and will be looking out for more by this author.

[Ends of the Word · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in a London suburb in the early 1970s, teenage twins Tim and Abi Smith are obsessed with the uncanny – not just ghosts but also “standing stones, witches, curses, the British countryside, the ancient Egyptians (with particular emphasis on their burial rites), the Vikings, voodoo, vampires, the mythical giant squid, real-life accounts of people being attacked (and, even better, devoured) by large wild animals, Dracula, Doctor Who, space exploration, the futuristic domed cities that people would one day live in on the ocean floor, pond life, medieval history, medieval weaponry, medieval siege warfare, eclipses, coral reefs, escapology, how to start fires, UFOs, card tricks…” They spend hours together in the attic, discussing the frightening and the macabre. Accordingly, when they decide to play a practical joke at school, their idea involves faking a ghost photograph, portraying “a creature of smoke, of cobwebs, of moonlight, made of insubstantial mist that faded as soon as it was perceived”. They show the resulting image to Janice Tupp, an unpopular student in their class and her reaction exceeds their wildest expectations. Visibly rattled, she faints. Then, on a visit to the attic where the photograph was created, not only does Janice not accept that she was taken in by a forgery, but in a frightening trance-like state, she ominously declares that the twins have “woken something up… ” And it certainly seems that the prank has triggered bad karma, because tragedy soon hits the Smith family.

Years later, still trying to come to terms with these traumatic events, Tim gets involved with a group of paranormal researchers who are investigating the purported haunting of a sprawling manor in the Suffolk countryside. You would have thought that Tim would have learnt from his earlier brush with the supernatural to give this sort of stuff a wide berth. Yet, he enthusiastically joins the experiment, partly, one suspects, because he is seduced by the glamour of the upper-class set to which his new friends belong. As séance follows séance, it soon becomes apparent that, once again, “something is woken up…”

Will Maclean is an established screenwriter and, whilst this is his debut novel, it is clearly the work of an assured and experienced author. The Apparition Phase grips you from the very first pages and never lets you go. The plot twists and turns, and the scarier passages are scary indeed. The work taps into what I feel is a current fad for 1970’s nostalgia, especially amongst the horror-loving community. (I’m thinking, for instance, of Dead Ink’s Eden Book Society project, whose books I have reviewed elsewhere on this blog). Much of the atmosphere of the novel is, in fact, provided by the historical cultural references to that decade, including the famed BBC TV productions which brought the uncanny to the mainstream.

The Apparition Phase sometimes feels like two books rolled into one. On the one hand it is a work of suburban horror, where the supernatural events almost pale in relation to the more mundane terrors of drug and alcohol addiction, derelict housing, bullying, vandalism and random violence. On the other hand, it also provides the familiar chills of traditional supernatural fiction, with more than a nod to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Tim provides the link between these two worlds, even though, admittedly, they sometimes sit uncomfortably together.

For me, The Apparition Phase is a resounding 5-star read. It might not be perfect: I feel that sometimes the plot is a tad too tidy, too revealing of its machinery. For instance, interesting and promising characters are unhesitatingly disposed of when they are no longer needed to further the story. And the ending, whilst certainly brilliantly addressing some open questions (and tantalisingly raising new ones), also comes across as rather “convenient”. Yet, despite these reservations, I found it a gut-wrenching, spinetingling roller coaster of a ghost novel. I’m no Janice Tupp and do not have any knack for prophecy. However, I will take the plunge and predict that The Apparition Phase will be nothing short of a horror sensation.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review soon! This would be a perfect addition to your spooky season/fall TBR. It's emotionally devastating with its heavy themes of grief and tragic loss, it's spooky and sometimes even scary, it's original and entertaining.

[Nigeyb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenage twins Tim and Abi Smith growing up in the early 1970s are obsessed with the paranormal, ghosts, standing stones, witches, curses, etc. After faking a photo of a ghost in their attic bad stuff starts to happen. The Apparition Phase (2022) opens in an unassuming and unremarkable small town milieu but before long Tim is living with a bunch of hippy paranormal researchers in a big old haunted house in the Suffolk countryside.

In addition to being an increasingly creepy tale there's a fun evocation of the early 1970s and a very English sensibility which also embraces the class structure and British attitudes to grief. I wondered if Will Maclean could pull all the disparate strains together and was gratified by a very accomplished ending. If you remember the 1970s you'll get even more from this novel. I'm a sucker for weird England stories but, putting that to one side, there's still plenty for most readers to enjoy and appreciate. It may all be slightly silly but it's also a genuinely unsettling book about twins, chaos, loss, mental health, grief, memory, the 1970s, hallucination, hysteria, and hauntology.

4/5





More about The Apparition Phase...

An atmospheric and stunning literary debut, reminiscent of the gothic suspense of Shirley Jackson and the ghost stories of MR James

Tim and Abi have always been different from their peers. Precociously bright, they spend their evenings in their parents’ attic discussing the macabre and unexplained, zealously rereading books on folklore, hauntings and the supernatural. In particular, they are obsessed with photographs of ghostly apparitions and the mix of terror and delight they provoke in their otherwise boring and safe childhoods.

But when Tim and Abi decide to fake a photo of a ghost to frighten an unpopular school friend, they set in motion a deadly and terrifying chain of events that neither of them could have predicted, and are forced to confront the possibility that what began as a callous prank might well have taken on a malevolent life of its own.

[The Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg, this book was so good! I listened to it every chance I got the last few days. I didn't want to stop until the story ended, but I have a life I had to get to. And it's like 13 hours of listening.
This story brings about such an interesting theory, though, I understand why the kids would be so upset.
This is the perfect story for the season. I highly recommend it!

[˚⋅NataliLit ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ|Reading Horror Lit⛧‧˚]

Meh.
Mostly, it was a disappointing read.Part of it stems from that there are some stronger debuts than this one. Another, though, is that the book's blurb disservices the book greatly, promising a story covering less than a quarter of the actual content.

It is supposed to be a tale of how things go wrong after teenage twins create a fake ghost photo, which is technically true. However, we spend too little time with the witty and energetic twins. The initial part is written so well that fellow reviewers, myself included, fell into the trap and continued reading despite the tone and plot shift.

Most of the book, though, delves into the life of a lonely, depressed boy left to his own devices. At some point I was sure that we will go into full Trainspotting mode.

Mentally, the book divides into three parts: something happens with the twins, nothing happens with the boy, and finally, something happens with the boy, leaving us to guess what exactly it is. In this part there is one, I would dare say, creepy moment, that also got me mad, as I saw that the author can creep out, but just... doesn't.

To avoid spoilers, the narrative follows like this: the twins conjure something, it goes unnoticed for a major part of the book with hints that it might still be present, and then the boy has an opportunity to join paranormal investigators in experiments that aim to uncover the entity, but it kind of works, but kind of doesn't?

By the way, the boy is introduced to this group of investigators by his psychologist, seemingly as part of exposure therapy ("you're coping with your trauma by believing in the paranormal, let me expose you to people who share your delusions to show you how wrong you are!"). Someone needs his license removed.

While I initially enjoyed the writing style, the more the plot unraveled, the more I perceived the neatly chosen words and metaphors as merely added "for the vibe." I started skipping paragraphs to hasten towards the climax, and haven't missed anything . Apart from the climax, as it never arrived.

If you find my review lengthy, confusing, and still don't understand what is going on, better don't read the book then lol.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twins, Tim and Abi, form a self-contained unit. Their gifted brilliance, their snarky humour, and, most importantly, their interests in the occult, also mark them as different from their peers. This last point is what so closely bonds them but will soon also be the thing that forevermore drives them apart.

I was immediately invested in the story of these twin teens. Tim provides the reader with his insight into their relationship and also the events that occur after this bond is shattered. It was, therefore, a far more emotional read than anticipated and I thought Maclean harrowingly rendered the different human responses to grief.

Predominately however, this remained a haunting tale. I was immediately granted dreadful premonitions and spine-tingling chills, which is exactly what I desire from the horror fiction I read. Later events only proved to become more focused on the supernatural, with an abundance of scenes directly focused on conversing with the dead, ensuring these feelings continued throughout. I did guess some of the twists that occurred but not the final one, which guaranteed I was gripped throughout and left desperately yearning for more after the sinister open-ended conclusion.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Will Maclean, and the publisher, Random House, for this opportunity.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE APPARITION PHASE ist die Geschichte einer Geisterbeschwörung, angesiedelt im England der 1970er Jahre. Eine Vergleichsgröße wären die Romane von Shirley Jackson, die wie Macleans Roman auf Psychologie anstatt auf blutigen Horror setzen. Doch auch wenn THE APPARITION PHASE eher zu den klassischen Geistergeschichten zu zählen ist, würde ich den Roman keinesfalls als "cosy" bezeichnen, wie es etwa auf dem Klappentext an einer Stelle vermeldet wird. Und auch wenn wie bei guten Romanen Zeit und Landschaft einen nicht austauschbaren Hintergrund bilden, so sollte auch nicht zu sehr das Nostalgie-Element betont werden, das eher durch den Erzählton als durch den Zeitgeist befördert wird. Kurzum: keine cosy nostalgia, sondern ein Schauerroman, der mir beim Lesen deswegen große Freude beschert hat, weil er wirklich gut geschrieben ist und mit den Elementen des Genres geschickt spielt.
Ich will nicht beurteilen, ob die Konstruktion des Romans in allen Einzelheiten makellos ist, aber eines steht für mich klar im Vordergrund: Ich fand die Geschichte sehr spannend und stimmungsvoll erzählt und mochte das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen. Es wird mir gewiß lange als Highlight im Gedächtnis halten werden.
(Und falls sich Leser fragen sollten, was genau die Apparition Phase ist: Es ist der Moment, wo sich bei einer Seance ein Geist manifestiert.)

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Perfectly capturing the weirdness of the 70s,where the tv schedule was full of the paranormal and the apocalyptic, not just aimed at adults but kids too. Some excellent pop references, Dr Who, The Stone Tapes and those brilliant Ghost Stories For Christmas that the BBC did, the influences are plain to see.

One slight grumble. Part one is so good, meeting Tim and Abi as young teenagers, the observations and the whit almost perfect. The rest of it falls away, just a little, but it's still excellent.

So, if you love ghosts, books by Neil Spring, Adam Nevill and pretty much anything weird from the 1970s, this is probably a good book for you.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very atmospheric read! That I feel whilst borrowed heavily from Shirley Jackson still stood up as a moody read on its own.

I found myself needing to know more about Tim and his journey and I felt for his character throughout all the parts of the book.

Whilst I certainly have questions about what happened at Yarlings I still felt satisfied with the story.

But what really sticks with me is that last paragraph!

[Shell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book began with a lot of promise. But suddenly the author seemed to abandon the whole plot to change it to a boring haunted house story where nothing much happened. He suddenly seemed to remember the initial plot towards the end when the whole thing fizzled out with a rushed disappointing flop. It's definitely a young adult novel. If you find a few loud noises and a bit of furniture moving terrifying, then this is the book for you. It tries very hard to be literary, but at the expense of all the thrills. A poor show.

[Kirsty Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written with great characterisation and an intriguing concept but the ending was badly executed and left me with more questions than answers. The parts of the storyline that intrigued me the most were unfortunately left by the wayside and yes, I like my divergence from reality as much as the next person but some of the leaps were just TOO convenient and much for my taste.

[Lisa - OwlBeSatReading 🦉📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was so good. So good!

4.5 ⭐ rounded up to 5. Not quite perfect, but pretty close! I had a theory about the ending and thought I was one step ahead of the author, but I was wrong! 😂 A well written and twisty paranormal story, I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though the subjects covered were pretty heavy at times.

[Contrary Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading the teaser ARC with around 50 pages and I actually feel like this book was written just for me. It unfurls like a malign phantom- bringing its chill to a hot summers day. Let’s just say teenaged twins inventing a ghost photograph sounds like just the kind of thing I would have liked to have done. Perfect plot. Perfect writing. Only downside: the full book is not out until October. I honestly would have been swallowed by this one if I had the full copy

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small group of people join together to prove the existence or not of a phantom from the 17th century.

However, all is not what it seems as each participant has already been affected by serious trauma or personal tragedy which, ultimately, may have some bearing on the outcome of their ghostly experimentation.

Realistic and down-to-earth, with lots to enjoy on this trip into uncertainty and the big unknown.

No shocking thrills or OTT gruesome ugliness, just an all so very British ghost story based around a strong storyline which simply meanders along on its merry way to an unexplained possible source of absolute finality.

Rating: 3.8 stars of pure pleasurable goodness.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more than a simple ghost story, but as frightening as one regardless. I ADORED this. I didn’t want it to end and I loved the exploration into grief and peer pressure. I also loved the descriptions of the haunted house; I could picture myself there. All tinged with a 70s backdrop which made it even better. Please Mr Maclean, please write more books!!!

[TheNinjaReadsHorror · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read dissapointed me. It started out solid in the first quarter but the rest of the book was as though the author switched plot lines (and ultimately momentum) and switched to writing another storyline altogether. I was waiting for it to tie back to the first part (which, by the way, is the only bit that even matched the description and subsequently what brought me to read it). I felt so frustrated by the end when I realized the intrigue that kept me reading and the suspense built was leading nowhere. While the ending essentially did give a plain answer as to what happened in the first portion, it was a letdown on how it was revealed. I would also say this book was neither scary nor frightening.

[Kev Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure I can say there are a lot of books which have actually scared me. The Apparition Phase is one of them.
Long after reading, I thought about how carefully crafted this story was, and that's beyond just the prose. Every twist and turn of this tale took me by surprise, but in that way where they always made sense. Maclean lulls you into following along, engrosses you so much that you are never thinking far enough ahead to see the next big moment coming until it's upon you. On a par with the very best mystery writers.
Easily going down as one of the best ghost stories ever.

[Kathy K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Umm - this was a trudge to get through. It seemed as if the author started one story, and then changed his mind 100 pages in. What started as a creepy ghost story morphs into a weird coming of age story set in a so-called haunted house. Very disjointed narrative.

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t quite believe that what I have just read, is a debut novel. Although Will Maclean is an experienced television scriptwriter, his first published fiction novel “The Apparition Phase”, is a stunning literary debut with excellent narrative, an engrossing, unsettling storyline and diverse characters that are instantly endearing.
Teenage twins Abi and Tim, spend their evenings in their parents attic, discussing the macabre and unexplained, researching folklore and the supernatural. When they come up with a plan to fake a photo of a ghost, to frighten an unpopular girl at school, they set in motion a series of events they couldn’t possibly have foreseen. Is the insensitive and cruel prank about to take on a life of its own and how will the girl react when she becomes further entangled in their lives?
What I particularly liked was how the author included real life suspected ghost photos and published references to hauntings, some which intrigued me enough to research whilst reading. This ensured the story stayed in the realms of reality instead on the totally impossible. There’s a fine line between what you want to believe and what is actual when suffering from grief. Attending seances etc in the hope you’ll receive messages from lost loved ones or visiting haunted buildings that you know the history of, can blur your interpretations of what you believe you see. The moral of “The Apparition Phase” asks the reader to question what is real or what is invented when the mind is tricked and is there even a difference between them?
I loved Tim and I felt I was personally with him every step of his tortuous journey. Set in the early 1970’s, the decade I grew up in, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the era and the way the story was told from Tim’s recollection. It positively held my attention from the first chapter to the final jaw dropping page! A fascinating and spooky denouement, kept me on the edge of my seat and I can’t think of a better read for this Halloween than Will Maclean’s suspenseful and entertaining “The Apparition Phase”.
5 stars

[Feli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery did a lot of things right. Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot.

What if you take a picture of a ghost and then terrible things start to happen? We're in the 70s in Britain and hauntology is starting to be a thing.

I loved everything about that first part of the book. The kids, the ghost faking, the drama. It was very well written and fast paced and I thought 'Okay, here's my favourite book of 2020, finally.' I actually got scared by one of the scenes and that never happens with me and books.

The next 3 parts then dealt with another cast of characters, another setting and although our protagonist still was part of the group, it felt was most definitely different from part 1.

That's okay, it really is and the book in its entirety makes sense. I guess I can appreciate that approach more with a re-read, though. My problem just was that I waited for answers about those first pages I so loved and waited and waited and thought: 'Okay, maybe in the next part'.. and I realized too late that those answers will never come and that the first part was some kind of 'preface' providing a background story of the actual story. And I liked the actual story. I just couldn't appreciate and enjoy it while reading because I so much wanted to read the rest of the before told story.

So, that's the reason this book is only 4 stars instead of 5 to me. Also, I wasn't a big fan of the last chapter before the Epilogue. It just wasn't for me and felt out of place and didn't add anything new. It was meant to be creepy but I was just.. bored? I am sorry, I really loved the book but not that chapter. It made me loose interest in the rest of the story, so it was kind of a bummer for me. Maybe it works for you. And if you are into mystery, haunting stories you should definitely give this debut my Will Maclean a try. I can't wait to read more by him because this really was a promising debut and I couldn't put it down.

[Nancy Oakes]

This is a book that had been gifted to me, not really on my radar at all. I've just finished it and was actually quite blown away. This could have totally tanked in a couple of spots but it was like the author knew not to go there so it worked and worked very very well

It also led to a long list of things I want to spend time looking up when I'm home again, which is also when I will post more about it.

It's a very big yes. More to come.