This is a ghost story but with an original premise that I really enjoyed. Because these aren't your typical spirits and this isn't your typical haunted house.

I always love when authors can take a standard horror trope and do something new and fresh with it. That's certainly the case here. There are plenty of ghosts in this novel, some seemingly benevolent almost and one in particular that just wants to kill our main protagonist.

Without giving away spoilers, this book imagines ghosts and hauntings from a time/space almost sci-fi perspective and there are enough red herrings and opinions from other characters that keeps the reader guessing until the truth is revealed.

This book is well paced and not overly wordy when it comes to mundane things. The characters are all different and fleshed out but the main focus is on the protagonist and what he's experiencing. Some of these situations are disturbing and frightening and these scenes solidify the mental state of the protagonist.

I really enjoyed this book, and even though the religious cult aspect fizzed out near the end with no resolution, there's still more than enough great stuff to give this book five stars. I do recommend it!

I tend to love the more psychological horror side of things and this gave me that. It had what I wanted from a ghost story, and I was invested in figuring out who "Fitz" was and why the main character needed to kill them. It was what I was hoping for and did everything well. I enjoyed all the characters in this world and getting to go on this journey with them. I enjoyed the way Steven Hopstaken wrote this and can't wait for more from him.

“Shush. This is the brainstorming phase. The poking holes in theories phase comes later. Third ghost, the mangled-face guy. Could he be a real person? Not hard to make a mangled face with makeup and prosthetics. But why is he breaking in? Why is he trying to scare you?”