Wow, "The Apparition Phase" by Will Maclean is like nothing else I've ever read.  The story starts off with twins and their unusual and dark interests in the attic, moves through what happens with a classmate (and how this "haunts" Tim through later life), how Tim deals with tragedy and how he ends up in a ghost experiment at a country house.

It is difficult to discuss without giving too much away but it was very atmospheric and truly believable.

Wow, this is an amazing debut! Thirteen year old twins who are basically obsessed with the paranormal. Takes place in a creepy country house. Love it

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for providing me with a review copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean is gothic horror fiction. I am not a big fan of horror in general because I am a wimp when it comes to the genre. But for some reason, I wanted to read this one when I saw it on NetGalley. It had similar themes to Girls Of Brackenhill and Home Before Dark. The secluded gothic-looking mansion in the countryside, surrounded by forest, ghosts, and supernatural events...Ring any bells?? So it is safe to say I was intrigued. It was spooky and dark!!

The story setting and the writing was very atmospheric and eerie. The gothic vibe was ever-present throughout the book. The dark and creepy, hair-rising moments felt very real to me, and I loved the pacing, as well. It wasn't too slow or too fast. I found that it was the right speed for a book like this. The attic, the mansion all added to the story very well. The prophecies, background ghost stories were all amazing to read about. I also loved how seances, ghost hunting exercises, spooky, and strange noises made it very real. The real-life stories included in the book were a marvelous addition to the story making it even more fascinating. The supernatural occurrences or what seemed to be part of it did keep me on the edge of my seat, and I was intrigued by the whole story. The epilogue was alone enough to unsettle me. 

Overall I had a great time reading this. It was engaging, entertaining, creepy, and unsettling all in one go. The disturbing sequences of events will make you question what's real and what's a product of imagination. If you love horror stories, with creepy houses, atmospheric writing, and unnerving instances that cannot be explained by science you might want to give this a try. I gave the book 4 stars. I highly recommend checking it out. It's not a scary book, but a macabre and engrossing one.

Twins Tim and Abi Smith have always been a bit odd: precociously intelligent and obsessed with esoteric subjects such as folklore, ghosts and the macabre, in an effort to try and make their humdrum, 70s suburbia existence as exciting as possible. One day, they decide to fake a ghost photograph, to see if they can get someone to believe in it. Although successful, they then have to come to terms with the fact that their prank may have actually unleashed something after all.
Will Maclean is already an award-winning screenwriter, and this, his debut novel, shows that he's a great novelist too. Beautifully written, 'The Apparition Phase' reads like a forgotten 70s classic, or like a supernatural drama of the period, along the lines of 'The Stone Tape' (which gets a mention) or 'Children of the Stones' (I can easily see it being adapted for the screen in that style). Of course, having not been around in the 70s myself, there may be some little inaccuracies I didn't pick up on, but it definitely feels like it got the essence spot on.) The story looks at the nature of haunting, and the coincidences that might be a sign of something real or a trick of the mind, and whether there's really a difference between the two. For me, the cover quote from actress Alice Lowe ('Garth Mahrengi's Dark Place', 'Prevenge etc) sums it up best & most succinctly: "a carapace of cosy nostalgia wrapped round a solid thread of dread." Genuinely eerie & unsettling, and lingers on in your thoughts even after you've put it down. Highly recommended if you love a good ghost story (especially in time for Christmas).
(Also bonus points for references to things like 'Ace of Wands', 'Doctor Who' & Harry Price :D)
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for review.

This would have been perfect for Halloween as it seriously creeped me out. I can't believe this assured story is from a debut author. If you want a classic ghost story, you can't go wrong with this book.

Abi and Tim are 13 year old twins at the beginning of the 70's.  They are fascinated by ghost stories, hauntings and the after life. When they decide to fake their own ghost photograph and show it to a girl.in their class, repercussions abound.

This is a YA coming of age tale. I loved the first one third, the twins' story and their interactions.  It was pacy, engaging and had me eagerly turning the pages. Being fairly heavy on details in the following chapters though it dragged for me in the middle section and unfortunately didnt get my attention back fully.

I would read more of this author's books as I really felt the first one third of the book was exciting reading.

I loved this book – I think it's the spookiest thing I've read in a really long time. What starts as a practical joke when Tim and his twin Abi decide to fake a 'ghost photo' in their attic to trick a girl at school quickly gets out of hand, and when tragedy strikes the family a few years later, Tim navigates his adolescence learning all the different ways in which a person can be haunted. There are some proper sleep-with-the-lights-on scenes and a real Shirley Jackson vibe throughout. Can't wait to see what this writer does next.

The Apparition Phase is so perfectly attuned to my tastes it could have been written for me... evoking the banality of 1970s suburbia, the feeling of being an outsider, a rural MR Jamesian ‘haunted house’ and referencing the ghost books and TV series that a decade or two later would also indelibly mark my tastes, this book is at times a genuinely chilling tale. I went in fairly uninformed about the direction of travel and so the early shift in tone as events start to go awry was deliciously unexpected. It’s a proper page turner (with a view to TV?) and perfect for a miserable November.

I could rave for longer but i recommend other readers go in as unspoilt as possible.

There is a certain inevitability to the events that unfold after Tim and Abi sketch a ghost in chalk on the attic wall, but though the tree falls it seems impossibly difficult to predict where it’s going to land. Will Maclean weaves the grit and glue of 1970s Britain into one of most descriptive and surprising books this year.

What we have on our hands is a ghostly tale; one that rivals M. R. James for prickly creepiness. However, it’s the fluency of the narrative and intricacy of the prose that work such magic on this story. It’s immersive and three-dimensional, with a literary fizz that makes you feel each conversation, each noise, and each discovery.

Horror fans will find an intelligent blitz of everything: Premonitions, a creepy mansion, twisted dreams, and series of séances that spin events into a dangerous frenzy. The rendering of characters throughout keeps everything perfectly believable, the immaculate portrayal of normal lives grounding the book and making the impossible so very plausible.

The braiding of the plot, the horror elements, the characters, and the writing style make this book rather unique. You could enjoy it for any one of these, but together it’s a bit special. Will Maclean is the kind of writer that can’t just say it’s raining… it’s bubbling against a fence like hot fat, or descending in a drenching, cancelling curtain through a rat-black night.

Will Maclean is definitely an author you need on your radar.

This book is well written, unsettling and pretty creepy - ideal for Halloween. 
There are twists and turns and just when you think you know what’s going to happen, it changes direction. It’s certainly not predictable.

This literary ghost story grabs you by the hand and doesn't let go even after you've finished reading it.  Will Maclean's debut novel shows that this is an author who knows what he's doing (he is an experienced scriptwriter and it shows).  He captures the 1970's so well, he took me back to my childhood with references to popular culture and drew a perfect picture of what it was like growing up in the 70's.  We know immediately with the opening line to expect the unexpected...."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”.  We meet twins Tim and Abi who are fascinated with all things paranormal/supernatural, they are incredibly bright and spend their time together in the attic of their house discussing the occult and hauntings and from this the idea of faking a ghost photograph forms, however this will lead to tragedy.

The narrative is told through Tim, the novel moves through the 70's leading us ever deeper into the world of the paranormal.  This is a literary ghost story at its best, it unnerves and unsettles the reader whilst bringing to life the characters and the world they live in.  I absolutley loved this and can't recommend it enough.

This book almost feels like multiple books in one.

At the start, it’s the story of twins Tim and Abi, who are obsessed with ghosts. They become so obsessed with ghostly images in photographs they decide to fake their own, scaring a classmate who goes on to make a terrifying prediction.

The first half of this book was my favourite. I don’t want to give too much away but I love the mystery, almost thriller element of the start and the initial twist and the family drama around it.

I don’t think the synopsis I read have much away about where the middle section of the book would go, but it was a surprise to me and it wasn’t what I expected. I found it interesting but not as spooky as I had hoped.

I did however, really enjoy the twists and turns in this book, and the epilogue in particular.

4 stars

„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”.

The book starts with one of the best first sentences I’ve ever came across in a book. I just love it. Tim and Abby are fourteen and have always been a bit different. They feel superior not only to their fellow pupils but to everyone else, too. Including their parents. They live in world of their own. They know everything about ghosts and occult things. They have read every book that is out there about that stuff. So it is quite natural for them to come up with the idea of faking a picture of a ghost. Then they decide to show it to someone and they choose a girl from their school. But this turns out not like they thought. The girl tells them that they have no idea what they did with creating this ghost. 

The first third of the book is gripping. The second part drags a bit when we follow Tim coming to terms with was has happened to his family. When he finds his way into a group of young people who are investigating a haunting in a mansion in Essex the story speeds up again. The story itself develops into something different than I expected. But it was all the way entertaining and interesting. For the first half I would have thought this is a solid 5 star book. But because of the lengths in the middle I make it 4 stars. It is an unusual book with an unusual story and the writing is superb. I especially liked that it finds to a satisfying ending. Ending such kind of stories is often a problem but here the author brings it all together with a nice bow. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

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

Very much written in the vein of Shirley Jackson, this is an atmospheric, ambiguous and often powerfully evocative literary tale. Maclean excelled in his portrayal of the twins in the first of the book’s four parts, and this was by far my favourite segment. At times, I wished this relationship had remained the focus of the story, because it was so vividly written, and I loved the interplay of the Addams Family-esque siblings. But I enjoyed the ensuing mystery/character study, and in particular the nods to Harry Price and Borley Rectory. Looking forward to seeing what Maclean rustles up next.

Tim and Abi are twins, fascinated in ghosts and everything paranormal. Different than others, they stick to themselves. They photograph a home-made ghost as a joke, but after that their lives escalate into something sinister. 

Well written and developed story mostly about growing up, sadness, grief and friendship.

The Apparition Phase follows precocious twins Abi and Tim as they attempt to scare a girl at their school by recreating a photograph of a ghost. Unfortunately, this works out to be more effective than they planned and over time, leads to Tim becoming embroiled in a seance at a manor house that is rumoured to be haunted by its previous owner - Tobias Salt.

Although well-written, well paced and filled with moments of tension, I found this novel to be fairly lacklustre. Whilst categorised as an adult novel, I felt it would be better listed as a young adult novel.

Despite adequately exploring Tim's trauma, focusing solely on his character lets the book down somewhat as I felt the other characters he meets during the seances had plenty of room for character development, yet this was sadly unexplored.  I also felt the ending to be completely disconnected from the rest of the book and lazily written as if the author had run out of ideas. 

Thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Story

The story begins with the twins Tim and Abi, who are unlike other teenagers of their age. They are voracious readers and have a keen interest in the occult. 
Living in a London suburb in the 70s with wit as good as their's, Tim and Abi are usually bored. So they decide to fake a ghost photograph in their favorite place, their home attic. 
Not content with just that, they decide to prank a friend at school, and that's the tipping point of our story. Janice Tupp, the girl who they showed the image and told a made-up backstory, has a fit during a class, leading the twins to reveal her the truth. 
The story is sad after that for the first part, and it somehow transitions into a Shirley Jackson styled ghost hunt in Yarling, a victorian era manor in the countryside of Suffolk. 

My Review

Simply put, I loved this book. And given the fact that this is a debut novel, I'd say the author has done an exemplary job in creating tension and a sense of foreboding. 
I loved how the scenes ended without becoming tedious. The entire story was very well-paced. 
But I couldn't help but notice that the story looks more like two different ones rather than just the one. The first part of it deals more with the general teenage horrors of the 70's suburbia like bullying, drugs, etc. However, suddenly after tragedy strikes the Smiths, Tim, unable to cope with the events, becomes a shadow of his past self. 
After his therapist decides to prove him wrong about the supernatural that seems to be haunting Tim, the story moves to its second half that is a complete contrast to the first part.
The second half of it mostly feels like a coming of age novel dealing with teenage emotions, and of course, a spooky ghost haunting the manor they are staying.
I would have loved to read a little bit more about the characters involved in the second part of the novel. The ending was the best part of the story, which will leave you both spooked and also a bit thoughtful about how reliable the entire narration was from Tim's perspective. 
As final thoughts, I will keep an eye out for future endeavors from Will Maclean. 
Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliantly written, haunting debut novel. I was surprised at how quickly I read this. The story is so well paced that I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. 

This is another author who has just shot to the top of my must reads list. Can’t wait to see where we are taken next. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy.

This was a mystery with a ghost story, and I really enjoyed it. It has hints of horror too. It's very well written and gripping.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.