TL;DR

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is a horror story set on an abandoned planet following a crew of explorers as they try to solve a murder before succumbing to mental illness. Highly recommended.
Review: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes. Cover image: A person in a spacesuit walks down a corridor. In the foreground, blood and an empty space helmet lay on the ground.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

My sister, a doctor, told me that people go into healthcare to heal themselves or heal someone they love. I have to think that’s even more true when it comes to mental healthcare. But as with any person, therapists can’t escape their pasts, especially if they choose to run from it. One way we run from our past is the secrets we keep from others and the secrets that we refuse to confront in ourselves. And when humans venture into space, therapists will be needed. I believe they’ll be highly valued members of each crew. The distances and dangers introduced by space travel will necessitate, not only a physical health upkeep regimen, but a mental health one as well. Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes introduces the necessity of a therapist as crew member as the murder of a crew member could be due to a mental breakdown. This book looks at how secrets past and present tear us apart.

Dr. Ophelia Bray is headed off planet to help a close knit crew of an exploration crew come to terms with the loss of a colleague as they go to claim an abandoned planet. It’s a good time for Dr. Bray to leave as well. Her family, the insanely wealthy Brays who own one of the most powerful corporations in civilization, try to keep her from going, but as Dr. Bray works for their competitor, Montrose, the Brays can’t stop her. Dr. Bray’s arrival on board the ship prior to their landing on the planet gets off to a rough start. The exploration crew is tight knit and grieving. During the mission, Ophelia’s job is to help the crew adjust to the loss of their colleague and hopefully prevent ERS, a mental illness that results in violence or suicide. The crew is made of five individuals, and their mission is to lay claim to an abandoned planet. To do so, they will claim whatever structures were left behind by the previous exploration team. Naturally, the team is wary of outsiders, and add to that the fact that Ophelia is a shrink just makes it worse. It quickly becomes clear that the crew is hiding something from Ophelia, which is only fair because Ophelia is hiding something from them, from everyone. As they proceed claiming the planet, the pilot is murdered. Ophelia must find out who did it, and was it caused by the mental illness ERS? Or is something else at play?

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is a third person horror novel set on an abandoned planet. It is a slow build novel in which no one is trustworthy, and the pace picks up building towards a satisfying end. The characters aren’t likeable, but they’re worth reading about. Highly recommended.

Mental Health

Mental health is a big part of this novel, and normally I don’t like mental illnesses being part of horror. Part of the current stigma in our culture is attaching horrific actions to mental illness. At the same time, mental health will be an important part of space travel. Long distances of just the crew in small, confined spaces will necessitate close attention to mental wellness. As someone who regularly attends therapy to maintain my mental health, I want to see an author tackle the subject in a respectful way. S.A. Barnes does that here. ERS is a mental illness that is famous for violent, bloody incidents. Yet, it is an illness that can be prevented and treated. That is Dr. Bray’s life’s work. By making the illness a treatable and preventable one, I think Barnes is being respectful towards mental illness.

The Story

Previously, I read Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes. I really liked it, but it didn’t end well. Endings are difficult, and I can’t imagine how hard they are to stick the landing. At the same time, I just don’t think Dead Silence did it. It’s a lovely horror story. Ghost Station displays a level up in Barnes skill as an author. Not only did Barnes pull off a good ending, but the overall story flowed together better. There is excellent craft here in how all the threads come together with the psychology, the secrets, and the horror of an abandoned world. Ghost Station hit all the beats for me.

Not all of my questions got answered. When I closed the book, I had lots and lots of questions open. Yet I was satisfied because all the pertinent questions got answered. Barnes created an intriguing universe that I wanted to know more about. The unanswered questions simply fleshed out the world-building and were peripheral to the story. Part of me wants Barnes to return to this setting to develop it more; another part of me wants to see what universe they come up with next. Either way, I’m going to read the next S.A. Barnes story.

Conclusion

S.A. Barnes Ghost Station is a wonderful horror story set in a fascinating world. The story builds well with characters that aren’t likeable but are awesome. I enjoyed Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes, and I look forward to Barnes’s next work. Highly recommended.

S.A. Barnes has become a must read for me. I usually am not into space thrillers/horror, but the way Barnes writes keeps me thoroughly entertained.

I was intrigued from the beginning. From the moment Ophelia makes it onto the ship, I felt the claustrophobia. The atmosphere builds at a slow pace, but delivers perfectly.

I want to thank NetGalley, S.A. Barnes and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

I always seem to forget how much I truly enjoy reading science fiction until I dive headfirst into a book like this. While regular science fiction is near and dear to my heart, science fiction horror has become my favorite. Quite honestly thinking about actually living in space is terrifying to me as someone who’s never left Earth to be in an environment where if anything fails, you’ll more than likely die. The same goes for the ocean and deep water exploration – I’m not sure if I would be brave enough for that either. Love learning about both but from the safety of breathable air.

"The outdated attitude that feelings are a weakness – or an inconvenience at best, instead of simply human and a necessity to address – lingers in this industry."

The mental health angle and the effects that space could have on humanity were something I hadn’t encountered previously. Each crew member has their own secrets and history which added to the general feeling of unknowns and unease with the Doctor. The atmosphere of the planet was desolate and haunting – the perfect setting for a book like this one.

The ending felt a little convenient and slightly rushed – I wanted more explanation of the planet’s history and the spires. The romantic feelings in this one did fall flat for me & it could have been skipped completely with no impact on the storyline.

I have yet to get to Dead Silence but I am hoping to rectify that situation with a quickness – especially considering I already have a copy. Cold Eternity was also announced with a release date of April 2025 and after reading this book, I will be checking that one out next year. A huge thank you to Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read Ghost Station – I will honestly admit it kept me up well past bedtime, freaking out in the darkness. All opinions are my own.

Ghost Station is a slow burn space horror with space exploration, capitalism and deadly secrets.

This is a real slow burn following a complex MC working to prevent a future type of space PTSD. There many intertwining mysteries that play out at the beginning creating a sense of dread and claustrophobia as the crew navigate the mission. Of course, since the crew has their own secrets of their own, they don't want a doctor poking around their brains.

The plot became repetitive at the halfway mark and the characters didn't have as much time to connect with one another. The atmospheric tension didn't ramp up enough for later to carry the novel. The length of time it took for the MC Ophelia to come clean surrounding her past with the first person POV didn't work for me. Perhaps third person with head hopping would've been more effective for me as a reader.

Once some mysteries were solved, I regained interest until the ending left me wanting. There is some skin-crawling body horror but I could've used more!

Overall, an alright read and I tried not to have my expectations too high after loving Dead Silence.

CW: death, blood, violence, body horror, mental illness, suicide, gun violence, medical content, death of parent, child death

Three stars is a gift. The book had some promise, with a good story premise, potentially interesting characters and what appeared at the beginning to be a plot, although that sort of collapsed. Decent audio narration. I listened to the whole thing, despite my hatred of present tense narration. What really destroyed this book for me was a main character so totally consumed with guilt--over stuff her parents did during her childhood--that she was almost paralyzed. I don't think any of this is a spoiler, but stop reading if you don't want to know much of anything about this book. What a weak person! So her dad went nuts and killed people. He was sick and crazy so most of that behavior was out of his control. So her mother tried to cover things up. Why does that impose blame on her?

MC, Ophelia, had opportunities to grow, but pretty much failed to do so, often acting not quite indecisively, but making decisions based on guilt instead independent instincts. And if she wanted to feel guilty, she had some room for it all on her own.

This book was pretty much a waste of my time. It failed to entertain, inspire, or teach me anything

4.5 stars rounded up.

S.A. Barnes is now an auto-buy author for sure.

I loved Dead Silence, and Ghost Station delivered on a lot of what I liked about her horror debut. Set in an abandoned research facility on an alien planet, Ghost Station follows Ophelia, the company-mandated therapist on a small research crew. Sent to monitor the crew for signs of a particular type of psychosis that frequently affects these long-term interplanetary missions, she finds herself equally haunted by the legacy of her own messed up family. The crew don't trust her, but when things start to go awry on their mission, they are forced to come together to stay alive.

I love (well-written) horror that forces you to question what is real and what is a product of the protagonist's own mind. S.A. Barnes delivers that in spades without relying on lazy, stigmatizing depictions of mental illness. She gets it.

The root of the horror in this book was completely novel (to me, at least), and I loved watching Ophelia piece it together. Quite literally, my only complaint with this book is that I wish there was more of it. I'm dying to know more about the planet's original inhabitants, and I wish there was more meat to the epilogue. I have questions, Ms. Barnes!!!

All in all, Ghost Station was a creepy, fascinating, and totally unique horror story that nevertheless called to mind the things I love most about Dead Silence. I can't wait to dive into some more sci-fi horror, or whatever S.A. Barnes writes next.

A space horror story. This trope is probably the most frightening to me. Being stuck in space with the thoughts that there is no help in sight. In my opinion that scenario is scary. Dr. Ophelia Bray is on a mission to study the Eckhart-Reiser Syndrome. It's a priority to her to find out more about this syndrome and maybe find a way to prevent it. There was a case study of this syndrome that took many lives, and she is on her way to an abandoned planet. Dr. Bray feels like the crew is hiding something from her and she is bound and determined to find out the truth. Until some of the crew members start to experience some symptoms of ERS or is it something else? There are deep, dark secrets that everyone seems to be hiding and with that trust in each other becomes nonexistent. Exciting storytelling, characters, and amazing writing. An exciting addition to any horror story enthusiast.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book can basically be summed up as: Daddy issues in space.

I really liked the author's debut, Dead Silence. It was such a great space horror that hit all of the story beats and kept me on the edge of my seat. So, of course, I had high expectations for her sophomore novel.

It turned out to be a let down.

If you're a huge fan of sci-fi space thriller/horror, you're already read this or watched this play out many, many times before. There's seriously nothing new here.

The pacing was godawful slow. The first 50% moved at such a glacial pace (which, coincidentally, perfectly fit the ice planet setting lol) that I kept looking to see how long it would take to finish the book.

The first half of the book we're lost in the FMC's head space 90% of the time that the action happening outside didn't really matter. If you're familiar with this specific subgenre, it plays everything out to a T. The FMC has a weird crush/not-crush on the captain that read more like a high school crush weighed with severe daddy issues. No one in the team trusts her. Yada yada yada.

The second half of the book was more engaging. There's action, suspense, and life and death situations. If the book started out in the second half, then I would've been riveted.

But sadly, it didn't. And I was left feeling really bored and unimpressed. Even the daddy issues didn't grip me, and I'm a huge sucker for books that deal with daddy issues.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley.

I really loved S.A. Barnes Dead Silence so decided to pick this up as well. I really enjoyed the narrator and the world building in this novel but felt the story line was just a little flat. If you enjoy heavy sci-fi with a little horror in it, I'd still suggest giving this a try. The narrator does a fantastic job of keeping me engaged so I would also highly suggest checking out the audiobook version.

This was a fantastic deep space horror that felt like a block buster movie, a slow burn supernatural that was incredibly atsmopheric, very goose bump inducing! Claustrophobic but also exhilirating this was cinematic and would definitely work as a movie too

It brings me great sadness to say this book was a bit of a disappointment. I thoroughly enjoyed Dead Silence and was on the edge of my seat waiting for Barnes' next book. And while there were several things I enjoyed about this story, the overall experience was a bit lackluster.

Had this been marketed as a thriller in space, rather than space horror, I might have had different expectations. It was a bit of a slow burn with far too much inner dialogue from the main character (who, in my opinion, was the most boring part of the book). There wasn't anything particular scary or unsettling, and all the things that were supposed to be shocking.... well, they weren't. An abandoned space station, a few dead bodies, some mild body horror... all paired with a main character that makes very questionable decisions and develops a school girl crush way too fast. Oof. It was just a lot to get through for what felt like very little reward at the end.

With that said, Barnes does know how to craft a story and keep a reader hooked. Even though the pacing was slow, I didn't find myself setting the book aside in favor of another. The "locked room" mystery was enjoyable and you'll find yourself questioning the motives of everyone involved. Even though I didn't fully enjoy this particular story from her, I do look forward to her next book.

i think the strength here is the atmosphere but not so much the characters. ophelia especially didnt work for me. alas. all good though, no hard feelings

Ghost Station (and Dead Silence, S. A. Barnes' previous Scifi title) is instantly interesting and bingeable. Barnes feeds you info on a need-to-know basis, so no fear of choking down unnecessary interplanetary info. Just kick back and enjoy how a semi self-aware Psychologist, with daddy issues (hell, all around family issues) navigates her first outting with a tense, fractured R&E crew, new tech and potential hallucinations, all while on an abandoned planet in extreme isolation.
Barnes is quickly becoming a favorite author on the Scifi front. Bonus points for the horror-mystery additions.
An all around good time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the eARC!

Ghost Station is the latest scifi horror book by S.A. Barnes. It follows psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray as she is assigned to assist an exploration crew. When a member of the crew is murdered, she is set to investigate the cause of the latest violence. She questions it's connection to ERS, a mental disease that has caused several deaths. Unfortunately, answers don't always come quickly as she and the crew work together.

Overall, it's a good read. There is plenty of twists and turns laced into a dark and sinister atmosphere. Like Barnes previous book, the plot is well thought out with plenty of surprises. The pacing does a move a bit slower than Barnes previous endeavor, Dead Silence, but a lot of the same elements that made that book such a hit are still there. I really enjoyed the book. It's very readable especially for those who are just recently introduced to space horror. The characters are interesting and I think Bray has a lot of depth and even growth through the story. It's definitely one we will add to our library shelves.

3.5/5!

Books I don’t read enough of: space horror!

I absolutely love when a horror/mystery/thriller book is set in space. The level of claustrophobia is usually at its peak in these stories and I feel like that makes them extra exciting for me to read.

A few years ago I read Barnes’ book Dead Silence and instantly clicked with her writing style, so Ghost Station made it to my most anticipated reads list for 2024 and it did not disappoint!

Ghost Station is a claustrophobic and tense story told through the eyes of Dr. Ophelia Bray. Our narrator has some secrets she wants to keep hidden that make her at times an unreliable narrator for readers. She’s not the only one hiding something. Turns out the crew she’s been assigned to has some baggage of their own and the deserted location they’ve been sent to explore has a few dark reveals up its sleeve as well.

I loved the sense of dread that oozed through this story. I found myself thinking about what might happen next or what the crew would find next when I wasn’t reading the book. Despite the overall slower pace to this story, I was able to fly through the pages and consume large chunks when I would pick it up. The pacing is certainly something that won’t be for everyone, but I think if you know about it upfront it’ll help to level expectations.

This is more of a quiet horror story without any gore or jump scares waiting for readers. Those who enjoy a more psychologically-based and isolated location story will enjoy this one!

4.5 Stars. S.A. Barnes has done it again! Ghost Station is a creepy, unsettling space horror that will keep you guessing.

Dr. Ophelia Bray has committed her life to studying/preventing ERS, a condition that can lead to violence and self-harm. Ophelia thinks it’s necessary to help patients on board spacecraft rather than treat then when they return home, so she volunteers to join the crew of Resilience who has just lost a member due to suspected ERS. The crew lands on Lyria 393-C to explore and document any changes to the planet. Immediately, Ophelia feels a sense of wrongness as they set up at the ghost station.

I loved how creepy this book was. Setting was key here and Barnes really created an unsettling environment where it was impossible to feel safe. Whether inside the ghost station or exploring the planet you just don’t get a respite. There was also quite a bit of body horror! It was done well and quite gross, which I am a fan of. One of the things that kept this from being a true 5 star is that I found the plot a bit slow to start. Once the action started picking up I couldn’t put it down.

I really liked this author’s first novel, Dead Silence, but I think this one was even better. I’ll definitely read from this author again and can’t wait for their next novel. Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for a review copy.

"But I think if you let the past haunt you, if you can't accept it, it's that much harder to make better choices in the future."

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is my first read by them, and while I don't know what I was truly expecting, only knowing that it was a space exploration with a death, I felt like it was way more naturally science fiction than horror.

I did really enjoy Barne's writing style, but I think the main problem I had with Ghost Station was the pacing. The summary makes the main twist out to be near the beginning of the book, when it doesn't happen until at least halfway through. I feel like it had more of a focus on the team, and while the team is an important part, until around 60% in, the true danger wasn't a huge part of it yet.

I felt a certain disconnect with Ophelia, a psychologist who's sent to help with the team. To help escape her trauma, she comes along with the team to explore a planet, and is sucked right back in. There could've been a lot more understanding coming from both sides of her coming along, especially from Ophelia herself.

Ethan was probably my fav character. He just wants to help, and make the most out of a bad situation, but after the team's lies and deception, he feels frustrated and sad cause he blames himself for everything that's happened. He's just a huge teddy bear, be honest.

Overall, if you're a fan of sci-fi, horror, body horror, and Barnes, you will enjoy Ghost Station.

tw // Death, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Child death, Body horror

#space #sciencefiction #scifi #scifihorror

Strange, deadly happenings on Lyria 393-C

Dr. Ophelia Bray is put into cold sleep on Earth in 2199 and wakes up three months later onboard the exploration-short duration vessel Resilience. She is a psychologist and will be working with the team, looking for signs of ERS, a syndrome that manifests with sleep deprivation, depression, violence, and sometimes even a psychotic break or insanity.

Reclamation and Exploration Team #356 heads to the surface of Lyria 393-C to document and survey this ancient planet with nonhuman remains that was actually deserted by a previous R&E team.

From the beginning there are inexplicable happenings and Bray and the rest of the team fear for their lives.

Oh, and Dr. Bray has quite a backstory too.

Sci fi, horror, and psychological thriller all rolled into one.

I received this Digital Review Copy from Tor Nightfire through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review. This is that review.

I started this in ebook format and ended up finishing it on audio. Loved the story and the creepy vibes. It reminded me of The Deep by Nick Cutter, which is a favorite of mine. I submitted a longer review with NetGalley on the audiobook I requested of this title.

I really enjoyed Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes. This is the first book I've read by the author, and I plan on purchasing her previous book to read very soon! This book was very compelling, and I didn't want to put it down. I can definitely see this being made into a movie. There were multiple layers of mystery, and each was skillfully handled so that I was not disappointed with any major unanswered questions. I do wish this was the start of a series, because I'd love to know more about the aliens (both of them?). But, not knowing more does not detract from the story as a whole. Overall, this was a great book, and I will probably go out and purchase it to add to my personal library.