This book is sure to find an audience with teen readers. A group of YouTube famous ghost hunters tries to solve a murder in a haunted hotel on Halloween. The story is very loosely based on the real life mystery of the Hotel Cecil, which will appeal to true crime fans. The book is the right amount of scary for a teen audience-- a bit of a thrill but not enough to keep anyone up at night!

As I read this book, comparisons kept popping into my head:

OK, so this is kind of like teenage Ghost Hunters.
Oh, and...the story they're going to investigate is basically Elisa Lam at the Cecil Hotel in a *barely* concealed sort of way.
Red herrings aplenty... so I'm feeling very Scooby-Doo Gang vibes here.

That's basically what this is. The Scooby Doo kids except with modern ghost-hunting equipment and a makes-them-do-stupid-things desire to hit a million subscribers on YouTube, all investigating the mysterious disappearance of a girl from a questionable hotel.

The story was kind of fun though entirely predictable. This is definitely YA so there's plenty of repressed feelings and romantic subplot, but there's also some mystery and a whole slew of ghosts and come on, it's a haunted hotel on Halloween night. Not exactly scary, but with enough ghost-y tropes to keep you reading. As long as you don't go into it expecting great literary horror but maybe just some oooh-let's-get-in-a-spooky-mood vibes, you should be good.

Also: kudos to the cover artist because the cover is gorgeous.

I will pretty much pick up any horror title and this cover definitely sold me. It is beautiful. I loved the story.

I've seen more horror books and movies take place in hotels recently and I think it's a good setting. There are a lot of people in and out, lots of rooms where things could happen, and even some real life inspiration like H.H. Holmes. I was definitely interested in this book right off the bat because of the title and awesome cover (it's so pretty and creepy) and knew I had to check it out.

Some parts of the story were interesting and a bit scary, but the romance and obviousness of who the killer was dampened it for me. I would describe the various crushes as a square, since four people are involved. I know this is a YA book and having a romance side plot is basically required, but I could have done without it. I just wanted murder and ghosts and teens trying to survive a scary hotel without whining that the person you like isn't interested.

It was pretty clear who the main suspect should be in these killings, but most of the cast were blind to it for whatever reasons. I hoped it would be a bit trickier to solve, but oh well. I did like the psychic parts and seeing the victims get justice by the end.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Underlined and NetGalley for the copy.

The Ghost Gang has an opportunity to stay at the most haunted hotel but will they be able to check out before it's too late? Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki are members of the Ghost Gang and are ready to take on all the supernatural activity. While the book starts off with promise it quickly starts to unravel with the many narrative changes. Going from each member of the group's perspective, every angle is covered but at what cost. Sometimes it feels thoughts go unfinished and are not allowed to fully understand what is going on. While the cornerstone is eerie and supernatural occurrences, McClaren relies on gore and blood to push the story. I was hoping for more of a visceral effect. I wanted to have the sensation of being watched or a presence that is not natural but all I got was a gag reflex of uneasiness due to the over-detailed description of gore and blood. The inter-relationships also relied on attraction instead of their mutual love of the supernatural.

This was a little too young adult for me, so I did not finish it. But from what I read, it would make a great read for a teenager who wants a good atmospheric spooky book.

I enjoyed this one. I thought there were several spooky and gory moments. There was a bit of teen romance, which I don't really like, but it didn't bother me too much. I do feel that some of the things could have been more fleshed out and I felt that a couple of things were left unresolved. This isn't one of those YA books where you can't really tell it's YA. Overall, this is a very quick read and it's decent for a YA horror book. I would love to see an adult novel based on the Cecil as it's such a creepy place.

Not as thrilling as I'd hoped. We all like a good scare now and then but this one isn't properly frightening. There's a decent sense of dread, of wrongness, but no real threat. There are some strong scenes but the plot on the whole is more gross and exploitative than properly frightening.

I found this book to be very atmospheric and it had a lot of promise! The teenagers acted just like teenagers, which is a good thing in my opinion. I liked the dynamic between the group and the setting. Ultimately i think a little extra length to flesh things out could have helped the overall plot because at a point it seems to rush too quickly to the finish line. I will definitely try more from these authors though! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for my free copy for my honest review! Love you lots<3

First the cover for the book! Every horror fans dream!

Short but sweet review! Great book for your teenager who wants to get into the Horror genre! Quick spooky read. Writing was kind of slow, but got better!

Good, creepy fun! Horror Hotel really pulled me along. The characters had distinct voices and compelling relationships, and I loved the ghost hunting meets slasher vibes.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Horror Hotel is an introduction to the Cecil Hotel and the mystery behind Elisa Lam and so many other cases that happened at the infamous site. The book follows events and history of the Cecil very closely, to it's credit, while bringing a modern feel to it. Even the cover resembles the Cecil marquee. This felt like a letter to the Cecil and the victims, then and now, of not forgetting.

I actually had more fun than I expected reading this book. I enjoy watching paranormal shows and true crime, and this definitely fits right into that. I liked the Ghost Gang characters and their friendship and concern for one another. I was able to guess whodunit fairly early, so that was a bit of a bummer. But I did enjoy the setting and the premise of the book. I think readers that enjoy paranormal, true crime and slasher flicks will enjoy this one.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I want to preface this review by saying, I thought this was a pretty decent book. I genuinely enjoyed the concept of this story and how the horror / paranormal elements were written. The story was interesting and kept you guessing on where everything was going to go. I like not knowing whether the events happening are paranormal or real, and this book definitely tows that line.

I personally did not like that it changed perspectives so much. Keeping up with all 4 characters internal monologues and views had me at times looking back to double check who I was following in the chapter. For me, if a book switches more than 2 perspectives, it starts to all get muddled for me. I understand the reasoning behind it, as it attempts to give off a real Ghost Hunting vibe, but it just was not for me.

There's a lot of teen angst in this book and lovelorn characters. Even with that, the paranormal horror moments were not ruined by the love stories happening.

I think where this book shines are in the moments where paranormal things occur through the lens of Chrissy, the only character that can see ghosts. The descriptions of the paranormal were ominous and just vague enough to add to the menacing of the figures.

There was a parallel between the hotel the kids were staying in and the events of that transpired with the true crime of Elisa Lam. Which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, I think it is interesting to pull from an event that actually happened at a hotel. On the other hand, Elisa Lam was a real person and fictionalizing her last days made me feel a little icky (for lack of better words). I ended up having to read it pretending this was completely fictionalized instead of being somewhat based on what happened in real life.

I would say, if you are looking for a book that has horror, true crime, and social media elements, then give this book a chance. It has some nice moments that were visceral and terrifying.

This cover is stunning!!

This was pretty good! Super quick read, I think those who love a good ya spookiest will be a perfect audience for this! Myself being horror buff it was right on the line but I ended up loving it.

Loved all the characters and personalities 🥰 friend circle goals!

My only reason for a star off was it seemed choppy and disconnected moment but I could look past it and move on. I’ll definitely be trying more from this author!

Thank you!

A quick & entertaining read for anyone who enjoys true crime! Reminiscent of the mysteries of the Cecil Hotel - this story follows a group of teenaged ghost hunters looking into a suspicious death that occurred at an infamous hotel.

This was an enjoyable book and a quick read. While it was pretty easy to identify who the killer was, it still did make for a cute read.

I normally love paranormal mysteries, but this one was a miss for me. The real-life stories that helped inspire (at least, I assume helped inspire) are too easily identifiable and made me long to just read about those. I wasn't a fan of the writing, but since the book is for the "TikTok" generation, I'm not their intended audience (even though I do love TikTok). Overall, I am sure many readers will love this, but it wasn't scary and fell short of what I expected after reading the description.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This book just wasn’t for me unfortunately. I found the characters to be pretty dull and the setting seemed very recycled and almost a rip off of a famous hotel story in Hollywood that most of us know of. It could be that this reads to young for me but I have read plenty of YA/Middle Grade so it was the writing that suffered.

In this YA horror with a murder mystery twist, we follow Chrissy, Chase, Emma and Kiki, a group of four friends who are amateur paranormal investigators, and who also have a Youtube channel. They are a good ensemble of characters, and even though at the beginning of the book their relationship is mainly because of the channel, little by little they learn to be good friends and grow stronger together. I specially loved Chrissy and Kiki, as I feel I would be much like Kiki in many of the situations that happened in the book. With Chrissy, I found her psychic powers to be fascinating. I also appreciated seeing how the character struggled with these powers and how they affected her life. As for the setting, this story takes place in the Hearst Hotel in Los Angeles. This hotel has been the center of multiple bloody incidents as well as strange occurrences, including the mysterious death of a young woman. The Ghost Gang, as the main characters call themselves, travel to investigate this murder, and soon learn that they are in for something more than they can chew. The pace of the book flows rather quickly, as the book only has 224 pages, but because of its shortness and fastness, I felt like it missed a lot of opportunities to further develop the story, or to add more tension to it. I also had a hard time connecting with Chase specifically because he was made as an asshole at the beginning of the book, though his behavior changed as the book progressed.
Overall, it was an enjoyable story with the integration of social media, ghosts with heartbreaking stories, blossoming relationships and terrifying secrets.