Ghostland (Ghostland Trilogy) Paperback – November 1, 2019

You probably recognize Duncan Ralston as the author of the extreme horror novel, Woom, that went viral in the internet bookspace. Bookstagram, booktok, etc. Maybe you think of him every time you see a traffic cone in an unconventional space, like my fellow Woomies do. I loved Woom because I like extreme horror, but I wasn’t in a hurry to read Ghostland. I don’t pick up ghost stories often. I don’t believe in things like ghosts, hauntings, or anything that implies an afterlife. That’s too big a leap for me so I tend to find ghost stories a bit boring. That said, Ghostland is on the BoH Indie Brawl list, so I read a ghost story. Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.So let’s talk format for a moment. I like to read along with audiobooks. I like to make highlights and notes to refer back to when I’m writing my reviews. I like being able to listen to an audiobook while I’m working or crocheting and popping over to my kindle to make a quick highlight. I own the kindle version and watched Libby for the audiobook. So imagine my joy when Libby notified me that the library had acquired this audiobook and it was available to borrow. I hit play and was greeted by the sound of one of my favorite narrator’s voice. Joe Hempel has narrated literally hundreds of audiobooks, and while I have not consumed nearly that many of them, every one that I have has been a delightful listen. I see Hempel and I just know I’m going to enjoy the narration.Ghostland is rumored to be the most haunted theme park in the world. The main attraction is a mansion haunted by a horror author named Rex Garrote who died in his home by self-immolation. Yeah. Dude set himself on fire and haunts his house. Aside from that, the entire theme park is home to hundreds of ghosts that can be seen by patrons via headsets. So there’s a lot of hype surrounding Ghostland, the hauntedest place on earth. This story follows Ben and Lillian as they venture into this new theme park, each with their own motivation for being there. Ben has a beef with Rex Garrote and Lillian has something to prove to herself and her therapist. Of course because they’re visiting Jurassic Park for Ghosts with Technology, shit goes awry. Like Jurassic Park, the bulk of the story is the exhibit that has no business existing not working as intended after a technology fail. Surprise, ghosts gonna ghost. Ben and Lillian fight for survival while rekindling their friendship. You’ll have to read it to find out how that goes. This is not an extreme horror book, but there are some pretty gruesome scenes. It’s great.When I originally sat down to write this review, I started as I usually do by checking out the author’s website. While most authors have one, it is often mostly a place where they sell things and announce their new books. Sometimes there’s a blog that hasn’t been updated in a while, despite the author’s level of activity on social media. Totally understandable. Getting people to read your blog is a chore. Ralston’s website is all of these things, but it is also a rabbit hole I eagerly fell into. If you found yourself wondering about Rex Garrote like I did, you probably googled him and ended up reading the Rex Garrote saga on Ralston’s website. This book is full of recognizable horror references, so naturally the reader would wonder about Rex Garrote. I won’t spoil it for you, but I will suggest that you read it from the beginning and enjoy the ride. Ralston is one hell of a storyteller. I thought the book was pretty great, but this added another dimension that pushed my rating up a bit.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. If you love horror and Woom is the extent of your exposure to Ralston, it’s time to remedy that. Don’t be intimidated by the page count (414 for the kindle version, 1000+ for the omnibus edition). It’s fast paced and fun! The horror references and their footnotes made this book feel like Ready Player One for horror fans. I read the first part for the BoH Indie Brawl, but I will be reading the entire omnibus because it’s just a really good story.

It was pretty good. I liked the idea of a theme park involving multiple types of haunted “houses” that hold different types of malignant ghosts. It kept things from becoming boring and it was great to see what powers each ghost had when able to interact with the physical world. I also really liked the premise behind why the characters end up in the park itself.I will say that Lilian got on my nerves a bit. I know why she was abrasive and I’m not unempathetic, but it did feel at times like she was being adversarial for the sake of it and reminded me more of a preteen than an 18 year old. However, she does get better and becomes a more full character later on.I found the book entertaining and worth a read. This is not a book on philosophy or anything deep—just a fun romp and if you can turn your mind off and just enjoy, I recommend it.I do try sometimes to include warnings for things that not everyone likes in my reviews, so here goes:There’s gore. A lot of gore. A lot of violence, either seen or implied afterwards. Some victims are children. No animals were harmed, no sexual violence (may be vaguely implied assault with one ghost). The ending is bittersweet.

This novel reads as a mixture of Jurassic Park meets the movie Thirteen Ghosts. An ingenious idea of a ghost-flavored theme park on the fritz - what could go wrong? Well...everything.My hat is off to the author as the story was scary, inventive, and vivid. The scenery was described in such detail that I could envision myself within each of the park's exhibits, following along with the main characters. The author also sticks to a few key characters to ensure a mostly tight story line. The horror aspect was great too - the kills were gruesome at times, though not to the point of gore for gore's sake. The buildup to the end was also well-executed in my view, building up the right amount of tension that you couldn't wait to see what happened. Very happy here!One of my other favorite parts was the included footnote section. What a great experience that the author used to develop an entire universe, PLUS including those details in the book for us to read up on. Worked great on my ipad and my kindle paperwhite. The author even developed an accompanying website for the theme park and created a mini-universe on his blog. What a great effort!There were a few shortcomings for me though. Ghosts create havoc among hundreds of park goers almost instantly...yet the main characters can walk around for ~30 minutes without a problem? Also, the "rules" for what the ghosts can and can't do are unclear, confusing, and at times contradictory, not to mention they are sprinkled at various times throughout the book in different spots, so it was hard to keep track of those details. I think the work would have benefited strongly from an early chapter, perhaps in the style of a 60-minutes interview while a character was waiting to do something? This would then make it much clearer. The author's notes says that Michael Crichton was a strong influence, but his books included a much more solid basis of fictionalized science that allowed the reader to buy the rest of the novels. I sort of feel as if this was glossed over too much. Again, the action was great, but without a better understanding of the context, I felt less than satisfied.My final qualm came with the ending. I will not put spoilers here, but I will agree with another reviewer - it sort of felt as if the last chapter was missing. It reminds me of an 80s/90s Stephen King novel where there is a really great buildup to an end...that is over in less than half a page. It does a disservice to the otherwise great action sequences and character development that the author otherwise painstakingly (and with heavy effort) laid out throughout the work. I can only hope a flashback sequence would be included in a future sequel.In the end, I can say I have never read anything like this before. The sequences were well thought out, the characters were developed very well, and the author created an immersive experience for the reader. Issues with the fictionalized science and the ending personally left me a bit dissatisfied, though I'd still recommend it to anyone wanting a great horror read if these issues aren't dealbreakers for you.

A really great story with plenty of blood and gore. Great characters as well. I'm very invested in the plot and can't wait to read the next book in the series!

It took me a while to realise how much I was enjoying Ghostland, which is by the author of the notorious WOOM, a book I love and have read multiple times. I'm more used to serious, traumatising horror, but this book has none of that. There's gore, yes, as well as death, peril and pain, but it's as much of an adventure as it is a piece of horror.Fast paced, breezily written, and FUN, once Ghostland is moving it's simply action-packed setpiece after setpiece.Highly recommended for anyone who wants a creepy, speedy read that's dripping with blood, ghouls and excitement.Wonderful.

Se você curte tecnologia, video games e ficção cientifica, esse livro é pra você. Estilo de escrita ruim, segundo livro desse autor que não me agrada. A ideia de um parque temático, só que com fantasmas com muitos efeitos especiais, na minha opinião, funcionaria melhor em filme. Esperava uma história com mais atmosfera e terror.

Die Geschichte kommt sehr stark an einen meiner Lieblingsromane heran : Jurassic Park! Und man kann gut und gerne sagen das der Autor sein bestes gibt um diesem Werk zu huldigen. Was auch fast klappt. Diverse Stellen sind sehr blutig und kein Abenteuerroman für Jugendliche. Auch die Technik hinter dem Park ist interessant aber absoluter Quatsch.

I heard someone say that this book is like 13 Ghosts and Jurassic park had a baby… and it’s true!I L❤️VED this book and am excited to read the next 2 in the series!! Well done Duncan Ralston and thank you for this awesome book! I really liked the footnotes on the different ghosts 🫶 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️